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86 Spree - CURSED wiring/ no start

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 7:07 am
by SpreeBoi4
Hello! Long time lurker, first time poster.

Picked up an 86 Spree for $100! I have restored a few motorcycles and dozens of cars, so I'm pretty handy. But this spree I bought seems to be haunted (tis the season). Okay not really haunted but I'm running into an issue I haven't encountered before.

When I bought the spree, it came with a dead battery that wouldn't hold a charge, and when the key was turned to ON, no lights, no horn, nothing. I went ahead and bought a brand new battery and trickled charged it, so now I have 13v+ (for the sake of simplicity, it's a little higher than that).

So, I did the reasonable thing and scoured these forums for hours on end. Busted out my multimeter and here is what I DO know:

-Ignition switch is good, fused RED wire is providing full power to the switch.
-When turned ON, black wire is getting full power as well.
-Initially, nothing else came on. No tach or speedo lights, nothing.

-I got curious and tested the taillight because I read that IT was also one of the first sources to recieve power, but it has no power at all.

-I read that rectifiers can cause some wonky issues in regards to power, so I unplugged it and the red oil light came on! Progress. Also tested the horn at that point at it was a nice healthy/loud sound.

-HERE IS WHERE IT GETS WEIRD. I popped the taillight bulb back in, and when I did I lost all power again.

-Took it back out, and the oil light and horn were operational.

-Also noticed that when I switched the turn signals on, it caused all the lights to go off/ lose power as well.

-At no point did the starter ever want to click or turn over.

-The wiring all looks factory/ no weird splices or anything.

So at this point, and PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, it sounds like I have a short somewhere? I have the wiring diagram, I guess I just don't know where to start. What would your procedure for diagnosing this look like? Any help is appreciated friends!

Re: 86 Spree - CURSED wiring/ no start

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:33 am
by mousewheels
...I popped the taillight bulb back in, and when I did I lost all power again.
-Took it back out, and the oil light and horn were operational.
-Also noticed that when I switched the turn signals on, it caused all the lights to go off/ lose power as well.
Those symptoms point to a high resistance issue in either the ground side or the black wire +Vbatt switched.

Troubleshooting:
Common Setup: Place multimeter ground probe directly on battery terminal.
A) Ground side test
- Place the other meter probe on frame ground
Turn on power with tail light or turn signals 'On'
Reading should be close to zero.

B) +V batt switched test
Connect non-grounded side of meter to the Black wire, right at the ignition.
Turn on power with tail light or turn signals 'On'
Reading should stay close to V battery.

Edit - Add --> The problem could be downstream from the above, you can work your way from what is good to what is not from there.

Re: 86 Spree - CURSED wiring/ no start

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 11:32 am
by SpreeBoi4
Those symptoms point to a high resistance issue in either the ground side or the black wire +Vbatt switched.
I'll run these tests and report back shortly!

In the meantime can you explain to me what +Vbatt switched is?

Re: 86 Spree - CURSED wiring/ no start

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 12:30 pm
by mousewheels
In the meantime can you explain to me what +Vbatt switched is?
Should have put that in parenthesis as 'black wire (+Vbatt switched)'. It's a habit of differentiating
unswitched power (VBatt) from the switched side - in this case after the ignition switch.

Re: 86 Spree - CURSED wiring/ no start

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 1:31 pm
by SpreeBoi4
That's what I figured, just wanted to make sure!

Re: 86 Spree - CURSED wiring/ no start

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2020 1:08 pm
by SpreeBoi4
I ran both of the above stated tests, both of them tested good/ normal.

As I’m standing looking at the Spree, I notice the starter relay is not hanging where it should be (on the right side of the battery tray), so I go to put it back, and I see that it’s been hanging upside down so long that water must have pooled in it/ corroded the wires.

I popped it off to investigate and as soon as I did all the blinkers and taillight started functioning as they should.

By the looks of it, the starter relay is toast, so I went ahead and ordered another online for $16.

Fingers crossed that this solves the haunted wiring issue!

Re: 86 Spree - CURSED wiring/ no start

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 7:10 pm
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

You can see a lot just by looking. - Yogi Berra
Nice Job! I have a good feeling about this. - Han Solo