So this is my first post on this forum and hopefully its in the right place. Iv got 71 skylark (350 4bl/ th350) in which, a few days ago, i installed a new water pump, as im sure everyone well knows, this involved unbolting the alternator to remove the v-belt. when i did this i disconnected the alternator (without remembering to disconnect the battery first, even when the big red wire sparked against the back of the alternator casing) and continued with the water pump replacement, which went well enough, but after i was all done and was replacing the alternator, the R/F plug just disintegrated in my hand,so i figured, 'that's fine, these are the same kind of plugs as these other ones iv got' (pics below) so i took note of whith one goes on which side and rewired the things thinking it'll be simple, and of course i got in backwards, tried to start it, heard a click and saw the GEN light go out, so i swap them back, another click. After days of research, tearing apart the wiring loom and pouring over the chassis manual im no closer to figuring out what iv done. when i look at the fusible links they seem fine, normal fuses to. there is also a little yellow wire that iv singled out in the pics, iv fixed that wire previousely down by the starter when it was keeping the car from starting in a similar fashion, it was fine after that, till now anyway in summary: im an idiot battery appears to be fine car doesn't crank (no power aside from headlights) looked at fuses and links and advice is appreciated
So there are two fusible links in the car- one for the headlights, one for everything else. So it seems that one of the fusible links have gone bad. Look at the starter- the fusible links are connected to the large stud the battery cable is connected to. A fusible link is just a piece of special wire that burns up when there is a short. One is 14 gauge that protects the 10 gauge red wire. The other is 16 gauge that protects the 12 gauge red wire. And you really need to clean up that wiring
ah yes i looked for that first, the pic second from the bottom where im holding a yellow wire that splices into a blue one? thats that wire, no links, just a normal wire (i could be wrong about what im looking at though)
Yes. Looks like the insulation is cracked and copper exposed on that power wire to the right of the OP's pinky near the valve cover. A "wire fire" is a real killer, no pun intended. 50-ish years of under hood heat and petroleum, as well as the weathering, hot/cold/wet/dry combinations and often some jack leg dicking around over the years, is a "perfect storm". Overall time and money invested in a car, replacing harnesses makes sense and some of the best insurance one can buy. None of my cars are anywhere near concourse, but I sure hope that such "judging" would give a strong pass to wiring given the importance of the safety, and make allowances for "not perfect stock appearance" where wiring is concerned.
Yes, those cracked, dried out wires need to be replaced. Here's a pic of the starter on my car. The two links are connected to the main stud. One is black, one is a brown/ tan color . If you look closely, you can see the heat shrink tape and the red wires that they're connected to. Nice and neat! The yellow wire connected to the small stud is the resistor wire bypass and the purple wire connected to the inside stud is from the ignition switch
Welcome to the site. I'd give Todd a call and he can hook you up with a new Harness and other parts you may need. http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/wiring-harness-buick-gs-gsx-skylark.330528/
Here's what you DONT want to do- use regular wire in place of the fusible links. This is the picture of the same wiring when I bought the car. One short circuit and the car would of gone up in flames
Thank you everyone for the input, the harness did look better before I tore it all apart looking for those fuse links, but I think I'll have to bite the bullet and give mr. Todd a call about that nice new set of wires
I fought with a wiring mess like you have for several years until I finally bit the bullet and bought a new engine harness .. out of the thousands I've spent on the car, it was the BEST $150 I ever invested in it. .. your hair (the ones you havent pulled out yet ) will thank you for it
Thank you for the referral. I spoke with Sean today and was able to hook him up with a new harness. Thanks again Sean - nice chatting with you today. Much appreciated! Todd
I am really not "electrical" so when I did my car ( headlights to taillights ) it was a real process . slow , one step at a time process . I bought a Ron Francis basic "retro" kit . went along fine . what really helped me wasn't the instructions so much ( they were fine and each wire was marked well ) was their catalog . it contained a whole section ( like about 10-12 pages ) of facts and helpful hints about what to do , what not to do and why . 2 pages at least just on grounds . I think the catalog is free . I just went to their website and ordered one up I think . other company's may do the same ? but not painless - got one of those catalog's .
