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RTR Distributor/relay help please

Well Nacho ,,, I tried several different attempts. And I'm getting no power, no crank at all. Except what I believe to be the horn or light relay is humming sometimes.
 
Ok you can check the starter relay conditions with a jumper wire between ign terminal and big stud on same relay. It should crank.

For power... check if you are getting power at red wire on ign switch plug. If you are, then make the attemp to crank it and check the yellow wire at the same ign switch plug. If you are, there is some problem all along the yellow wire, mostly sure at bulkhead. If you don't get power on ign switch yellow wire, ign switch could be damaged.



You also should be getting power on ammeter wires of course, which is just right before the ign switch.
 
Nacho-RT74 said:
Ok you can check the starter relay conditions with a jumper wire between ign terminal and big stud on same relay. It should crank.

For power... check if you are getting power at red wire on ign switch plug. If you are, then make the attemp to crank it and check the yellow wire at the same ign switch plug. If you are, there is some problem all along the yellow wire, mostly sure at bulkhead. If you don't get power on ign switch yellow wire, ign switch could be damaged.



You also should be getting power on ammeter wires of course, which is just right before the ign switch.
Click to expand...
okay i will check this today, thanks for the tips
 
So I jumpered it like you said and voila I have cranking then had to replace yellow ign wire it was broken, now i can crank from key switch!
 
Got another question where does the violet or purple wire go that is coming from the bulkhead connection? Is that reverse light from trans wire? I have 3 wires coming off my nss center pin I know is the one that goes to starter relay but where do the other two wires tie into?
 
Ok, just remembered you have a 76 tranny, where the violet wire was used on NSS. Earliers got black there.

3 wire colors on laters NSS are, black power from fuse box ACC source ( outer pin ), brown with yellow trace to G ( ground) prong on starter relay ( center pin ) and Violet runing to back up lamps ( outer pin )

Outer wires/pins can be mixed up, but that was for correctness. Earlier color code for outer pins were black and black with white trace. These used to become white and white with black trace inside the cab.

The other violet wire runs up to temp sender in front of the engine.

And the other violet wire but with white trace runs for low beam headlights.

Those are all violet wires on engine bay.
 
I have power with key off to my headlights and brake lights... also no lights in dash
 
All the lighting system must get power with key in off. It's a straight batt source, without ign switch play.

Dash lights are normally sourced from parking lights circuit to feed the dimmer wheel. Can tell on your car, but probably there is a fuse around for that circuit
 
Nacho-RT74 said:
All the lighting system must get power with key in off. It's a straight batt source, without ign switch play.

Dash lights are normally sourced from parking lights circuit to feed the dimmer wheel. Can tell on your car, but probably there is a fuse around for that circuit
Click to expand...
Here is some pics maybe it will help for a picture

20200324_180156.jpg 20200324_180149.jpg 20200324_180156.jpg
 
Nacho , are these the 3 wires coming from bulkheads that I tie together to feed my hei one wire distributor ?

20200324_235118.jpg
 
from bulkhead it should be 2 wires... brown ( ign 2 ) and blue traced ( ign 1 )... the 3rd one should be blue too for the coil and originally was spliced into the brown wire.

But you could get also a splice to feed the regulator attached to the blue traced wire, dunno if 65s are like that. My 74 for example got the blue wire splice hidden down the tape.
 
alright so i will trace the brown wire to see if it is spliced into a blue wire. so with the blue traced and brown wire together i should be able to get 12 v and send that to distributor? i have found a black wire that is 12v feed with the key on, so that wire i ran to my gm one wire alternator. should that work out alright?
 
I can't talk from the distance on this case. Wiring can be hacked up or some colors changed along the years ? dunno
 
that fix should work... wondering how it burnt? it seems to be the one which feeds the Voltage limiter for the gauges. Becarefull and test the limiter before give power. If is damaged could get burnt the gauges ( if they are not burnt yet ).

To test the VL just need a test light or analog multitester to check for voltage pulses coming out from limiter. If light ( or analog tester needle ) is fixed, or doesn't light up, limiter is damaged. Even more dangerous if light is fixed because will pass the full 12 volts to the gauges, burning down them.


About the engine harness I hope this helps. MSD dist ilustrated with coil... HEI will be the same just without the coil in the middle. Bulkhead is based on 71/74 B bodies ( and E bodies ). Since you are upgrading alt and looking at the harness conditions you have, I suggest bypass the bulkhead ( or run parallel paths ) as the thread I mentioned earlier.

RTRdist diag2a.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it. I finally bought myself a complete service manual so hopefully I will be able to do some research of my own lol
 
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