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Instrument cluster and pigtail problem

DennisvdB

DennisvdB

New member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Location
The Netherlands
Installed LH2.4 with Buchka wasted spark in my 1976 244, but I have a problem.

The instrument cluster will light up (the symbols like oil pressure etc.), but when the car is running they're still on and won't go out. I'm using the old style cluster for now, until the R-sport is ready. But that shouldn't be of any value.

The original pigtail from the car itself was not compatible with the LH2.4 pigtail so we had to make a new one:

k69v.jpg


0lbf.jpg

Yes, brown wire was cut to see if it made a difference, but it's not (isn't that cooling temp wire?)

Is the black/blue wire (with the tape on it) the speedo signalwire which usually goes to the new cluster? (edit: apparently not because it's coming from the old '76 wiring)

oul1.jpg


Could anyone tell me where I need to hook this one up? (the red wire I'm pointing at).

Thanks in advance.
 
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Not meaning to be a smartass here.....but do you have the wiring diagram of the year the harness was from? Or is the entire harness home-made?

When I swapped over from 2.2 to 2.4 there was a couple similar inline plugs that were for test ports or something EGR related I didn't use.
 
Not of a '76 but from a '77. The red one on the last picture, is that for AMPS to cluster amp bulb? (If I read the wiring diagram correctly).

But that still wouldn't solve my problem? Where does the cluster get it's signal from if the car should be running or not?
 
DennisvdB said:
Not of a '76 but from a '77. The red one on the last picture, is that for AMPS to cluster amp bulb? (If I read the wiring diagram correctly).

But that still wouldn't solve my problem? Where does the cluster get it's signal from if the car should be running or not?
Click to expand...

The connector your finger is pointing at looks like a starter test socket. Nothing gets connected to the test socket unless you're using it to test the starter. The wire isn't red, just the part number ID sleeve on it. Look underneath to get the wire color -- if yellow or blue it matches what was used in 240s for that function.
 
DennisvdB said:
You sure Volvo had those testers in 1976? Because that socket is original from the loom of the car...
Click to expand...

Oh, no, I certainly don't know they had the test socket in '76. In fact, my '79 does, and the wiring diagram shows it; the diagram for the '76 does not. Did you check to see if that is just a thick red wire, or a thinner wire of another color with a red marking sleeve over it? Wire color goes a long way toward identifying circuits.
 
Did not check it yet, no time.
About the black/blue wire, it has 12V and if you ground it the fuse of the instrument cluster fails.

cleanflametrap, do you have a digital wiring diagram for a '76? Because I can't find it anywhere on the internet.
 
cleanflametrap said:
Oh, no, I certainly don't know they had the test socket in '76. In fact, my '79 does, and the wiring diagram shows it; the diagram for the '76 does not. Did you check to see if that is just a thick red wire, or a thinner wire of another color with a red marking sleeve over it? Wire color goes a long way toward identifying circuits.
Click to expand...

Now that I look at the manual again, I see the diagram for '76 does indeed show the remote starter test terminal. Just not on the main drawing, or the starter drawing; it is in the detail circuit breakouts on p. 64. Look under that red sleeve for a blue wire -- that's your starter test socket. Verify it by connecting a test light and observing battery when you turn the key to KP-III. (Don't test things by grounding them to see what fuse blows. ;)
 
Thanks a lot, I can rule the socket out for this problem.
The car used to have a voltage regulator, but with the upgrade to LH2.4 and a modern alternator, a voltage regulator is not necessary anymore? I left it out, but putting it back in could that be the solution of the problem? Tried hooking up a few wires to the regulator but nothing happened.
 
Guess I lost track of your problem attempting to help you identify that connector you were pointing at. What was it? Not knowing how the cluster gets power? Now you mention voltage regulator for the alternator in the same sentence with "modern alternator." The modern ones have the regulator built in with the brushes. They need the D+ wire from the cluster's battery light, normally a small red wire. I'm gonna quit following this thread unless you take the 5 seconds it requires to verify that red sleeve on the test terminal. My time is worth at least what yours is.:-D
 
Yes, with "Thanks a lot, I can rule the socket out for this problem. " I meant to say that it was the starter test socket.

Main problem is: cluster warning lights won't go out when car is running, and neither is the parking brake light.
I have the D+ wire from the alternator, but it's hooked up to the LH2.4 loom. From there on out I'm lost.

edit: tomorrow I'll try to make a red wire directly between D+ and the red wire of the connector on the picture, maybe that'll help.
 
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DennisvdB said:
Yes, with "Thanks a lot, I can rule the socket out for this problem. " I meant to say that it was the starter test socket.

Main problem is: cluster warning lights won't go out when car is running, and neither is the parking brake light.
I have the D+ wire from the alternator, but it's hooked up to the LH2.4 loom. From there on out I'm lost.

edit: tomorrow I'll try to make a red wire directly between D+ and the red wire of the connector on the picture, maybe that'll help.
Click to expand...

That should do it. The cluster warning lamps will go out once the engine starts if the D+ terminal on your new alternator connects into the small red wire going through the firewall to pin 9 on the round connector of the instrument cluster. If it doesn't, be sure the alt has a good ground past the isolation bushings, and that the brushes are long enough. The red wire is the correct one.
 
It didn't work out.
I guess I'll try to make a separate loom to connect to the connector on the firewall.

The colors from the car loom are (after taking away some tape, these are the original colors) : yellow, black, red, yellow/blue and blue/red.

I found this: yellow goes to coolant temp, black for oil pressure, red to D+ on alternator. That leaves me with the yellow/blue and blue/red wire. Could anybody tell me where these should be connected to? Can't find them in the wiring diagrams..

edit: blue/yellow to starter?
 
You've got it blue/yellow is the starter wire. Blue/red is normally the wire supplied by fuse 5, so I'm not sure what that is doing on the engine side of the firewall in a '76. Closest it gets in a US k-jet 76 is the airflow meter relay for gating power to the pumps. A solid blue is designated to heat the warm up regulator. Sure it is blue/red? If so, test light there would go on with the key and off again if you lift out fuse 5.
 
Hooked up the four wires except the blue/red one directly on the car loom but still no result. Took the alt off to check for the regulator, I don't know if it's worn out but all the connections inside are quite rusty. Also the brushed are concaved and unequally in height. Im on a phone now so I'll upload pictures of it later.
Could this be the solution to the problem?

Edit: yup, it's blue/red.
 
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