HELP -NO POWER to the car

quote:

Originally posted by Mark:
your going to have to check the power input to the key switch....pink wire i think????

I have seen that pink wire on the ignition switch come loose before and it does shut down all the power.

thx will check itt out tomorrow morning
thx Mike

thx will check it out tomorrow morning
thx Mike

Without sounding like a smart A**! Did you hook the battery up? Don't ask why I ask!

Dont worry but its a good question (even though we thinks its a simple question)and yes I trickel charged it for 24 hrs and then connected it up - NOTHING !!!

Is it just switched power that doesn't work or is everything dead? Do the parking lights, interior lights, horn, etc. work? If everything is dead look to the ammeter connections.
Forest

Forestg nothing works @ all and checked the amp guage wiring & its correct.
OK Mark - I had installed a amp guage from Stewart Warner

OK guys anyother thoughts ???
thx in advance Mike

I would get a test light and start at the battery and go on from there. It seems like you have either a bad battery or a bad cable connection. If you have power from chassis ground to batt positive then move to the ammeter and make sure you have power on both sides. I'm guessing that by the time you get there you will have found your problem.
Forest

thx and will try ur suggestion
thx Mike

Ok guys need to reverse last satement - I inmstalleda Volt guage !!

Would this make a difference in the electrical using a volt meter vs Amp guage ?
another question is does the orig. amp gauge have a circuit that passes through it to make all other guages, switches work etc ??
alot of the older cars had this type of system like Mopras etc- could this creat my problem?

Ok have power to my "VOLT " guage and then nothing to any other switches etc.

Yes, everything went through your ammeter. When you remove it you need to connect the two heavy gauge wires together. Connect your volt meter to ground and a switched 12 volt source. If you connect to nonswitched source the gauge will run the battery dead.
Forest

Mike,

If you wired the voltmeter identicle to the ampmeter, that's the problem. The ampmeter is designed for all of the current to pass through the meter, but not the voltmeter. Ampmeters have very little internal resistance, voltmeters have 20,000 ohms internal resistance, or more. Current through a voltmeter at 14 volts is perhaps 0.7 milliamps.

Follow Forest's instructions.

cowboy from hell

Well then I think I wired it wrong- I wired it the same the neg wire (Black) to neg & the red wire to positive
thx Mike

Ok think I got it and thx- when you saw the 2 heavy wire you dont mean the neg & posi together ?

Yes, connect the red and black together. They are both positive wires. Look here.
http://www.panteraplace.com/Electrical/BATTERY%20CHARGI...TEM%20(PAGE%201).pdf

quote:

you don't mean the neg & posi together ?

Yes. I know they are red and black, and prior experience sure says that means one is positive and one is negative. But not in this case.

Just imagine what could happen due to the two bottles of wine lunches Guido and Luigi took prior to wiring your car.

And I wouldn't be surprised if your new voltmeter is now fried, as it was trying to be the bridge for all the car's power due to the way you wired it.

That voltmeter, or the new replacement for it if it is fried, needs to tap into a positive and negative source to measure the voltage in your system, by the way.

Ain't electricity fun?

Larry

WOW thats blows me away- electricity and her I think of connecting a outlet or something like that on a house-that would be a big problem. Ok thanks for the greaph and yesmy new volt meter is stuck on 35 maxed out to the right on the guage- I will probally go back to a amp meter since I have to buy another guage now and if I dont then I will put the 2 big wires toghether.
Ok another I hope simple question if I change my fuel guage to a Stewart Warner or autometer or whatever do I need to change the sending/fuel float level also ?
thx again Mike

quote:

if I change my fuel guage to a Stewart Warner or autometer or whatever do I need to change the sending/fuel float level also ?

The Pantera sender is 200 ohms empty and 0 when full. These values match nothing else you will find for sale.

If you get lucky, you may get a gauge that will at least move in the right direction as the tank empties. Remember our fuel tanks are not a nice square/rectangular shape, and thus there isn't much linearity in the needle movement in relation to actual fuel levels.

Thomas Tornblom in Sweden solved this issue with a home brewed electrical correcting unit.

Someone else did the same thing here in the US, but I can't find that info right now.

View this page -

http://tinyurl.com/344htm

Larry

Pantera fuel level sending unit spec:

Full = 0 ohms

Empty = 200 ohms

Purchase a fuel gage with a range of 0 to 240 ohms (Auto Meter). You then have 3 options of how to use the gage.

Option 1: do not modify the measuring circuit

The gage will be accurate at full, but would read 17% full with an empty tank.

Option 2: add a 40 ohm resistor to the measuring circuit

The gage will read 83% full when the tank is 100% full, but will be accurate at empty.

Option 3: split the difference, add a 20 ohm resistor to the measuring circuit

The gage will read accurately at 50% full. The gage will read 92% full when the tank is 100% full, and the gage will read 8% full when the tank is empty.

(I have always had the habit of filling my fuel tank when the gage gets to the 1/4 mark. So I would add a 30 ohm resistor to make the new gage accurate at 1/4 full.)

cowboy from hell

Thx guys for the great feedback & info
Mike #7042