Painless wiring ammeter wire

[Jakedog]

Just looking for confirmation on the 2 ammeter wires in the painless wiring harness. Do I plug the 2 ammeter wires into each other?
From what I have read it seems these 2 wires have to be connected to complete the charging system.
I am not running stock gauges.

It would be nice if the instructions just said "plug these wires into each other."

Thanks.

 

[DirtDonk]

Not stock gauges, so you no longer have an ammeter at all, but are just looking for confirmation about the plug? If so that's easier since you don't even need to know which direction the wires go through the ammeter loop.
In which case, yes, you definitely connect the two together.

What color are they at the connector? Both larger Black wires, at least one of which has a yellow stripe?
I thought the instructions did say that, but perhaps that got left out.

You'd know soon enough if you need to though. If you leave it open and nothing works, then that's for sure confirmation. But with matching colors and the only connector in the area similar, the two halves definitely go together.

Paul

 

[ransil]

yes plug them into each other.
if you are using stock gauges the wire goes thru the loop in the amp meter.
other gauges just connect together.

 

[DirtDonk]

Correct.
However I'm going to check out the instructions (the older ones on our website) to see how they talk about it.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

This is from Page 40 of the early instructions (dated 2014) still active on our site:

"If After Market Gauges are being used, either in conjunction with the factory
cluster or replacing the cluster, see the AFTERMARKET GAUGE section of this
manual. The 2 wires of the AMMETER must be connected even if an AMMETER is not
being used your charging circuit will not function, and the Painless harness will have no
Power if they are not connected."

I think I have a copy of an instruction book around here somewhere dated from last year maybe? I know they've gone through at least one revision. What's the date showing on your front pages?

Paul

 

[Jakedog]

Thanks for the help.
Paul, you are correct about the wires being black/yellow and black.

I didn't get to work on it today but tomorrow I should be finishing it up.
The last items to hook up are the reverse switch and the DUI distributor, and then I'll test everything.

 

[Jakedog]

Tested the new harness last night. All the lights, signals, wipers, and heater worked.
The headlights came on but the passenger headlight was really dim. When we did the harness we added the WH night lighter set up, too.

I checked the grounds and everything seems to be hooked up properly. The headlights have H4 type bulbs that were installed by the p.o.

Any ideas?

 

[DirtDonk]

Yes. Test the ground potential of the body by running a dedicated ground wire from the battery to the grounding wire of the headlight on that side. No need to make it permanent yet, just turn on the lights and run a jumper by hand between battery and bolt.
If the light gets brighter then it's not your ground wire that's at fault, but the metal core support itself. Yes, it happens!

If it does not get brighter, then something is either wrong with the wiring in the relay kit (don't remember it happening, but it can't be impossible), the connection at the ground wire (very common), or something amiss with the headlight itself (very rare I would think).
If the grounding trick does not yield any success, you might have to swap things around a bit to find the culprit. Even though it's only one light and each relay handles both, I would still swap the relays just to find out if anything changes. Not likely, but it's still a legit test in case something is wrong with the wiring in the relay socket. Or if the relays have two outputs and a separate left-and-right wire is on each, then a defective relay could absolutely cause this issue. I don't think that's how they're wired, but I have not pulled a kit apart lately so can't guarantee that.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[JeepGuy]

Perfect timing. Wiring is the next big part of the project and I'm using the same wiring set up. Thanks for posting.

 

[DirtDonk]

Good deal. It's always intimidating, but always entertaining as well. It's a learning curve, but a relatively easy one to get through even if you haven't done it before. And if you have, you're aware of the curve.

Just remember what we always say here. Don't throw any of the old stuff away until you're finished with the whole project. you might still need some of it.

 

[DirtDonk]

And regarding the grounding issues that can crop up, the core support and many of the body parts we're grounded to each other by their spot weld connections. But after 50 years of rust and dirt and paint, some areas can deteriorate.
Especially the core support. Sometimes it needs its own dedicated ground wire.

 

[73azbronco]

Tested the new harness last night. All the lights, signals, wipers, and heater worked.
The headlights came on but the passenger headlight was really dim. When we did the harness we added the WH night lighter set up, too.

I checked the grounds and everything seems to be hooked up properly. The headlights have H4 type bulbs that were installed by the p.o.

Any ideas?

I ran a ground wire from most of the lights to at least the frame/ground, specifically the headlight harness. I installed a an electrical ground block by the battery, since we are not using a pulse width style new vehicle system, multiple grounds is not an issue in an EB, all things being more or less stock.

 

[Jakedog]

Update:
Got the headlights figured out. Made sure all the grounds were tight and making contact, and then unplugged the harness and plugged it back in to make sure everything was plugged in completely. Pulled the switch and all was good.

Got it started last night after figuring out the neutral safety switch wires need to be plugged in to each other to complete the loop.
It seems all my new auto meter gauges are working correctly.
I made my own gauge panel for the new gauges using a piece of plate I bought at home depot. It looks good to me, but it's definitely not a show piece.