A few electical questions...

avendlerdp · avendlerdp's Garage

Hello all-

I am plugging away (no pun intended) on my new 914 V8's many electrical issues. Considering that it had only two fuses in place when I got it I am amazed at what I got working so far.

Here are two nagging issues:

One is that the right side headlight will not rise. I think the bulb is burned out. Will that keep the motor from working? The wiring to it looks fine and the left one works great.

The other thing is the alternator. It is a GM one and has an external regulator. It seemed to work but would charge at 16 volts! I replaced the regulator and it worked better but the car would not shut off with the key! Pulling the Field wire on the alt would kill the motor if the key was off. Does anyone know the correct color wire for the switched source to the regulator? I know I can go with a single wire setup but that requires a new alt and it seems a waste to toss the one I have.

Thanks for your feedback.

Alex

914GT · 02-28-2005, 08:59 AM

Alex

The bulb shouldn prevent the motor from working. I'd check the relay (swap from other side), the ground connection by the headllight, or finally the switch.
Not sure what the deal is on your alternator. The 12V to the ignition should be switched off by the ignition switch. Something is miswired and keeping 12V up on the coil.

avendlerdp · avendlerdp's Garage

Thanks for the tip on the relay. It was the problem!

Now for this odd backfeeding issue. Can anyone tell me the color of the hot wire to the coil on a 914? With this info I can see if mine it wired right.

Thanks

914GT · 02-28-2005, 02:12 PM

Sure, that would be a black wire with purple stripe.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

No, Guy. That's the wire that carries the tach signal--it gets hooked to the (-) side of the coil, not the (+) side.

The wire that carries power to the coil is just plain black in some years, and is black with a red stripe in other years. It is fatter than the black/purple wire that carries the tach signal. (The stripes can and do fade over the years so they can be tough to tell apart. I usually just look for "the skinny black wire" and "the fatter black wire".)

--DD

914GT · 03-01-2005, 10:15 AM

Congratulations! You passed the test and were paying attention.

My mistake... hurried look at my diagrams on the laptop rather than pulling out my big hardcopies. Thanks for the correction.

avendlerdp · avendlerdp's Garage

Thanks for the replys. I have the correct wire going to the coil now. The next issue is the alternator field and idiot light wires. If I can figure out which wires go to the voltage regulator I'll be set. Thanks!!