Ameter Install

[natemoen]

Dang it! That switch is a real pain to get off with a pacifico fairing on there. That upper mount really gets in the way.

[3Phase]

Find the voltage drop

Dang it! That switch is a real pain to get off with a pacifico fairing on there. That upper mount really gets in the way.

It's aggravating working around the fairing mount but at least the bike's at home. I hate to say it but now is really the best time to find and fix a voltage drop at the ignition connector/switch.

If it's not convenient now, try working on it after it burns out when you're riding 70 MPH at night on the freeway with a 45-55 MPH crosswind. Yes, there were even the freaky Hollywood cliche' dust clouds and giant tumbleweeds rolling out of the farm fields and across the freeway too. I felt like I was in a bad movie; a very bad, very dark movie with no supporting cast, crew, or budget.

When the connector and switch gave up the entire bike died and instantly went dark, then suddenly came back to life again when I started to pull over, then died, then picked up again.... I have a fairing too and I had a good idea what was happening so I reached over the instrument cluster with one hand, squeezed the connector cover bag and the bike came alive and stayed alive.

I rode leaned forward on the tank and holding that stupid bag with one hand for about a hundred miles (King City Ca. to Salinas, Ca.) until I got to the motel for the night. It wasn't a whole lot of fun but squeezing the connectors together and holding the wires 'just exactly so' made it work until I could get to my motel and sleep, then work on it in the daylight. If it still had everything stuffed in the stock headlight shell I'd have been tearing it apart along the road in the dark.

It did it again a few months later. It died when I passed a couple of trucks just as we all entered a really long four-into-two-lane elevated freeway interchange with a high brick wall on the right-hand side, a straight drop to the other freeway below on the left-hand side, and no shoulder at all for almost a mile until I reached a very small emergency turnout.

When I got home I was so angry I literally ripped out the switch and the wiring harness, then replaced the stock Red wire with #10 wire all the way from the starter relay to the shiny little contact button inside the ignition switch. I replaced the plastic ignition switch connector with ring terminals, brass nuts and machine screws.

The ring terminals aren't as easy to work with as the stock connector but they stay tight and I don't usually take off the ignition switch anyway. The ring terminals do not rely on spring tension so they won't ever get soft and squishy, then slowly burn up.

Old wires and connectors! I 'spit' in their general direction! Find the voltage drop.

[natemoen]

................fine

[Crusty Snippets]

Tractor

[QUOTE=Jerry;415871]Off-topic...I have a '48 8N Ford with a 9N engine. Bought a '52 8N for parts mostly because it had the correct engine for the '48. Eventually I'll have one correct '48 with the upgraded (twin oil seal) later rear axles.


Good plan. The 9N rear seals are not the best invention from Ford.
I also visit the Ntractorclub.com good bunch of guys with lots of information.

Unkle crusty

[3Phase]

Nate,

I'm not trying to make you angry! Honest!

To cut my unsolicited and overly-long personal rant short: 1V across a crusty light bulb socket or something -- pfft! It's annoying but not a big deal. The ignition switch carries the full electrical load of the bike. A 1V drop with a ~15A load is the same as 15W soldering pencil. And nowhere near as useful.


Again -- sorry for the rant in your thread!

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[natemoen]

Nate,

I'm not trying to make you angry! Honest!

To cut my unsolicited and overly-long personal rant short: 1V across a crusty light bulb socket or something -- pfft! It's annoying but not a big deal. The ignition switch carries the full electrical load of the bike. A 1V drop with a ~15A load is the same as 15W soldering pencil. And nowhere near as useful.


Again -- sorry for the rant in your thread!

.

Absolutly no offense or anger taken! It was more just me pouting because I knew that is what I really need to do! Your answer was taken as the friendly warning it was meant to be.

[natemoen]

Another resolution post. Problem solved.

I replaced all the wires in the ignition switch with new 12 gauge wire. The red wire had some melted insulation that I could not see with that plastic sheath on.

[3Phase]

Nate,

Thanks for following up with the resolution and the fix, that must have been fun -- not!


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[natemoen]

Oh it sure was. Once I got a proper soldering iron to do it.

Funny little side note. Lately I have been having some strange power losses where the bike would just totally shut of, only ever happened when downshifting to slow down at a light or whatnot. Seemed like shaking the bars and sort of bouncing the bike would make things come back on. Kept checking connections, replacing connectors, etc. Nothing was fixing it.

Today it dies right as I pulled in to the garage (never done it at home only on the road). I start shaking and pulling on wire up front and can't find anything. Check the meter connections, nothing. Pull the seat, and tank, nothing. Pull the side covers, nothing. Start hitting the starter solenoid, bike comes back on. WTF? Start poking around...one of the connectors that I put in when installing the ammeter was loose. I could squeeze it in my fingers and make the bike come on and turn off. Put new wire and connector on there and she is glbetter than new now!

[3Phase]

Argh! I hated it when it died at low speed!

It almost looked like the same trick as that guy on "Laugh In" with the raincoat on the tricycle.

It's much better now!


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