-Darren- '81 Malibu, Vortec'd 350, 4-speed Saginaw, 2.29s. Rusty. '78 Malibu, de-framed, getting the

The largest community of 1978-1988 General Motors cruising world classic plastic G-Body cars. Chevrolet Malibu, El Camino, Monte Carlo; Oldsmobile Cutlass, 442, Hurst/Olds; Buick Regal, Century, T-Type, Grand National; Pontiac Grand Am, Grand Prix, LeMans, Bonneville; GMC Caballero
I finally connected my Cutlass to the battery, after dropping in the new 307. I have most of the wires hooked up. As soon as i connected the battery to the wireing harness, a [oil/choke] light came on. The key was off. When I turned the key on, nothing changed. The [oil/choke] light remained on, but i had no power to anything else. After some investigating, I found that one of the previous owners put a pushbutton ignition in the car I have no idea if the ignition switch is even connect to anything anymore. I will check when i get back to school in the morning. The picture below is a schematic i made of how i have the car wired. 1. all thin black lines represent lines that are definatly 100% hooked up right (ex: coolant sensor) 2. All of the lines with grey circles at the end represent wires that have yet to be connected because i don't know where they go. 3. All colored lines represent lines that i have hooked up, but i don't know if it's right. 4. the things i don't have hooked up include the starter solinoid, thermal heater switch, A/C temp sensor, under hood lamp, and cruise control diaphram If anyone has had this problem, please shout. if anyone needs more info to help, just ask, and i will retrieve it. THANKS GUYS!!!
cruising world classic plastic 2fit661ca 1989 Chevy S-10 Blazer 4x4 4.3L V6 (My Baby) 1990 Buick LeSabre 3.8L 3800 V6 The Snow King 232,993 cruising world classic plastic miles (4/10/10) R.I.P. She will allways be in my memories... 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham 180 h.p. Small Block 400 1991 Buick LeSabre 3.8L 3800 V6 57,160 miles, a young gun 1993 GMC C3500 Crew Cab Flatbed 454 5-Speed 4.10 Gears.
Sounds wierd, cruising world classic plastic like the ignition is already On when you connect the battery. Have you checked to see if power is going to the ignition coil even though the key switch is turned off? Maybe a wire on the alternator that supposed to get power only with ignition On is connected directly to the battery side of the alternator. I did that one time by mistake while the car was running- I jumpered some wires to check for voltage cruising world classic plastic drop etc. and incorrectly jumpered power to the Ignition side of the alternator, then the car wouldn't shut off.
79' Grand Am Coupe, Painted Cadillac Escalade pearl white, 400 Pontiac, #670 GTO heads, cruising world classic plastic 4 tube headers, Lunati 292 cam, Super T-10, 3:73 posi 8.5 rear, full interior, 3450 lbs, last time at the 1/4 mile she ran 12.18 @ 109
okay, so was wrong about the ignition switch. everything under the driver's side of the dash is connected properly. that pushbutton ignition switch ran behind the back seat and stopped. it wasn't connected to anything
2fit661ca 1989 Chevy S-10 Blazer 4x4 4.3L V6 (My Baby) 1990 Buick LeSabre 3.8L 3800 V6 The Snow King 232,993 miles (4/10/10) cruising world classic plastic R.I.P. She will allways be in my memories... 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham 180 h.p. Small Block 400 1991 Buick LeSabre 3.8L 3800 V6 57,160 miles, a young gun 1993 GMC C3500 Crew Cab Flatbed cruising world classic plastic 454 5-Speed 4.10 Gears.
Here's the pictures of the wires I'm having trouble with two red and one purple wire coming from the back side of the fuse box, and i have them ran behind the distribtor one brown and one white single wire slide connector coming out of the fuse box and ran behind the distrbutor. i think one is for the hood light brownish-red wire from passenger side of car, behind airbox, ran towards the carb red two prong wire w/ quick connect, ran towards the temp sensor
2fit661ca 1989 Chevy S-10 Blazer 4x4 4.3L V6 (My Baby) 1990 Buick LeSabre cruising world classic plastic 3.8L 3800 V6 The Snow King 232,993 miles (4/10/10) R.I.P. She will allways be in my memories... 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme cruising world classic plastic Brougham cruising world classic plastic 180 h.p. Small Block 400 1991 Buick LeSabre 3.8L 3800 V6 57,160 miles, a young gun 1993 GMC C3500 Crew Cab Flatbed 454 5-Speed 4.10 Gears.
Take your distributor cap off and spin in 180* and put it back on so that the plug-ins are on the driver side. Those connectors you're holding in the second pic plug into the distributor cap. The white plug with the pink wire is for the battery, cruising world classic plastic the brown plug is for the tach.
'85 Oldsmobile 442 --Olds 455-TH400-8.5 -3.73s-T-tops-non a/c '83 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser --Chevy 350-TH350-non a/c Past G's --'81 Regal, '84 El Camino, '79 Cutlass Supreme, '87 Cutlass Salon, '81 Monte Carlo, '81 El Camino, '79 Malibu Wagon, '81 Century Estate Wagon
pimplogic wrote: ok i believe there should be a wire from the batt goin to the distributor ... The batt connection is like Blake said... it's supposed to be turned on/off with the ignition switch. If it doesn't turn off, something is wired wrong or shorted. The purple wire in this pic is likely for the starter solenoid: If you attach a voltmeter to it and have 0v in start/crank, then something is either wired wrong or not connected (could be no power to column switch, could be disconnected harness on column switch, could be NSS disconnected, could be someone rewired it at some point). The two red wires next to the purple wire are likely for power to the fuse block, were they originally run down to the same lug on the starter as the positive battery cable? There should be a 3rd and 4th I believe, but I'm a little fuzzy there (had to do a repair to mine on the side of the road one day a few years back). Double check and see if you have any larger gauge wires running to the bulkhead on the driver's side of the engine compartment cruising world classic plastic (where the wires go through the firewall), that may be part of your issue (why there's no power) if those are indeed the 12v feed wires to the fuse box. There's also a chance (unlikely if you haven't messed with the ignition switch on the column at all besides connecting the harness) the ignition switch is out of adjustment. This looks like it could be for a ground of some sort, but I'm not sure what for, there aren't many places that would require a ring terminal that size (only things that come to mind are the battery lug on the starter solenoid, or a bolt on the block - when it would be used as a ground). The red plug I'm not sure about, could be HVAC-related, or if you have the original carb, double cruising world classic plastic check and see if it goes to something there. Did the car originally have an air pump? I believe there's some sort of solenoid or valve that has wiring going to it, but all the G-Bodies I've messed with have had that stuff removed for a long time.
-Darren- '81 Malibu, Vortec'd cruising world classic plastic 350, 4-speed Saginaw, 2.29s. Rusty. '78 Malibu, de-framed, getting the drivetrain/suspension from the '81. '92 Sierra, Vortec/TBI 383, 700R4, 3.08s '87 Fiero GT, 2.8/5-speed Looking to convert to a manual trans? Click here. 3XBrownCutty wrote: ...ill check my nuts...