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Removing auxiliary gauge - wiring question


JohnP_02

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I decided to remove the stock dash gauge to clean it out and swap the housing for an older black one. While I had the cluster out I decided to remove an auxiliary 3-gauge pod installed by the PO, I removed the entire auxiliary 3-gauge pod, traced and removed the two ammeter wires, but I only taped off the ends of the other two gauges (oil pressure and temp) because I realized that I did not have the stock senders to replace with the VDO units that go with the auxiliary gauges. I reinstalled the stock gauges with the "new" black gauge housing and reconnected the speedo cable. I then reconnected the battery and tried to start the car - nothing. I checked the battery (which is only 2 months old) and the the fuses were all fine. I am not sure where to go, any advice would be helpful. I am very new to working on my car, so just wanted to put that out there. Thanks all! John

Edited by NowhereFast

1976 2002 Fjordblau (currently Verona, 3rd owner)

1969 2002 Granada, 2nd owner

Too many steering wheels

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Thanks Daron (and Ray!) that diagram explains why I the car won't turn over, it appears I cut off the ignition off when removing the ammeter and it needs to be rewired. I am assuming that the diagram indicates the original path is ignition to starter to distributor and starter to battery.

 

I guess I could try to reconnect the ammeter back up to make sure thats what it is. 

1976 2002 Fjordblau (currently Verona, 3rd owner)

1969 2002 Granada, 2nd owner

Too many steering wheels

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Was the car fine before you worked on it?

Andrew Wilson
Vern- 1973 2002tii, https://www.bmw2002faq.com/blogs/blog/304-andrew-wilsons-vern-restoration/ 
Veronika- 1968 1600 Cabriolet, Athena- 1973 3.0 CSi,  Rodney- 1988 M5, The M3- 1997 M3,

The Unicorn- 2007 X3, Julia- 2007 Z4 Coupe, Ophelia- 2014 X3, Herman- 1914 KisselKar 4-40

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If you solder the two wires disconnected from the ammeter will be the quickest way to 'fix' this beyond stripping all of the wiring out.

Truth be told ammeters are too much of a liability versus the info it gives on a car equipped with an alternator.

rtheriaque wrote:

Carbs: They're necessary and barely controlled fuel leaks that sometimes match the air passing through them.

My build blog:http://www.bmw2002faq.com/blog/163-simeons-blog/

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Hi Andrew, yes the car was running great prior to this. 

 

Simon, It appears that you are correct. Ugh, I think I may just try to reinstall the ammeter for now to keep the car running until I can come up with a plan to restore/rewire the ignition correctly when removing the gauges. 

1976 2002 Fjordblau (currently Verona, 3rd owner)

1969 2002 Granada, 2nd owner

Too many steering wheels

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A properly wired ammeter is wired in series through the car's main hot lead.  When you removed the ammeter, you disconnected this lead, so all you really need to do is solder the two former leads back together and you're back in business.  Be sure and insulate your repair carefully as there's  lot of current flowing through that wire.  

 

Voltmeters are much more useful for determining the electrical health of alternator equipped cars...

 

cheers

mike 

'69 Nevada sunroof-Wolfgang-bought new
'73 Sahara sunroof-Ludwig-since '78
'91 Brillantrot 318is sunroof-Georg Friederich 
Fiat Topolini (Benito & Luigi), Renault 4CVs (Anatole, Lucky Pierre, Brigette) & Kermit, the Bugeye Sprite

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Thanks all. I took the easier route for now and just rewired and reconnected the ammeter (thankfully I took pictures of the original wiring configuration before uninstalling) and the car started right up! 

 

Mike, thanks for that info, I will do just that at some point, but I am saving the electrical re-wiring for when I have more time a better idea of what to do.

 

On a side note, IMHO the early black housing for the stock gauges looks SO much better than the wood, to me that is much worse than the change from round to square tail lights which look fine to me, but admittedly not as vintage as the roundies. After I cleaned the stock "wood" one  up and cleaned the glass it actually look almost good enough to put back in. 

 

John

1976 2002 Fjordblau (currently Verona, 3rd owner)

1969 2002 Granada, 2nd owner

Too many steering wheels

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  • 2 months later...

If you solder the two wires disconnected from the ammeter will be the quickest way to 'fix' this beyond stripping all of the wiring out.

 

Which wires to connect together? The pic below shows the current wiring set-up with the two red wires coming from the ammeter, one to the battery (then from the battery to a relay) and the other into what appears to be the wiring for the headlights. 

 

post-48194-0-97487400-1455251012_thumb.p

 

Daron's diagram makes me think that I am missing a connection from the ignition to the starter?

 

post-48194-0-39715700-1455251181_thumb.j 

1976 2002 Fjordblau (currently Verona, 3rd owner)

1969 2002 Granada, 2nd owner

Too many steering wheels

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The ammeter is effectively wired into the main feed from your battery/alternator to the back of the ignition switch and to the unswitched fuses in your fuse box. To remove this properly you need to rewire these feeds (don't have access to any wiring diagrams at the moment so can't be too descriptive).

As said previously, for a quick fix you disconnect the heavy wires from the back of the ammeter and solder these together, insulate well and then secure out of the way.

rtheriaque wrote:

Carbs: They're necessary and barely controlled fuel leaks that sometimes match the air passing through them.

My build blog:http://www.bmw2002faq.com/blog/163-simeons-blog/

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