RHD 3.8 Instrument panel wiring.

[rswaffie]

Hi,

I have a new complete set of RHD looms from Autosparks, and have been diligently tracing through and labelling up the terminals for the engine bay, left and right sides and boot sections. So far, so good. Now that I've restored the instrument panel, gauges & switches it was time to get the dash looms in place and trace/label them up. This is where I'm having a few problems.

1. Just an observation - I'm using a combination of the Coventry 3.8 Wiring manual (very useful), the full wiring diag from the Forum and various pics from the CMC 3.8 Restoration Manual. What I have found so far is that restorers on the whole seem to choose not to wire up the right hand fuse boxes as per the Coventry manual - they swap sides for the connections. Looking at the way the loom is aligned, I can see why this may be slightly more convenient.
2. Having traced and labelled connections, I seem to be left with a green braided spade end connector that is bundled with the other green wires in the vicinity of the fuse box that does not trace through to any other terminal in the dash looms. It's not the Horn relay from F3, nor any of the other non-dash green wires.
3. The green and green/black wiring from the dash regulator is also stumping me. There is a green 'piggy-backed' wire with ring terminal and spade from the loom and a single green spade & ring terminal 'sleeved' wire supplied in the Autosparks 'sundries' pack. These are supposed to connect regulator/oil/fuel & water guages. The position of the regulator (left side of the panel) and the various gauges and switches that these wires are supposed to connect to, makes it impossible for them to all reach. I have positioned the dials and switches as per the Coventry manual, which corresponds to the panel legend strip and other RHD panels that I have seen. I am going to move the regulator to the right hand side, but I'm not convinced this will resolve it. Autosparks say they haven't had any issues reported regarding this, but I guess it could still be a wiring length error.
4. I also seem to have a lot of piggybacked red/white cables for the panel & edge lighting that don't seem to match up to the Coventry wiring diags.

Now, I'm the first to admit that vehicle wiring isn't my specialist subject, but I like to think I can follow a diagram and work in a logical manner. Everything else seems to have traced & connected up ok.

I am going to remove all the green wires from the fusebox and check the tracing as I could have made an error, but it would be good to get some detailed photos of RHD 3.8 panels that clearly show the routing/positions of the wires. The Factory Fit section seems to have mainly LHD vehicles as does XKE Data. The car was originally LHD so the dozens of pics I took during stripdown are not that useful.

Anyone got any detailed pics or suggestions to help me out?

Cheers,

[steve3.8]

Richard ,

Although a little blurred these photo's may be of help , i've scanned them the best i can , them they came with my 64 3.8 rhd taken by a previous owner '
Steve

[rswaffie]

Great, thanks Steve. I’m in the garage now, checking the fuse box connections. Once they’re done, I’ll use your photos to check the gauge/switch terminals.

[Polse7317]

If it can help..... The colored diagram has been a great help for me

[rswaffie]

Thanks Yves, I've got this one and the XKE Data b/w one blown up to A3 on my garage wall! (As well as the exploded view of the IRS that came in handy when I rebuilt it).

[Robbiee]

Hi all
I’m just restoring my central instrument panel and fuses/wiring
It’s a March ‘62 RHD OTS which still has the original loom

I have the latest prospero Garage diagram which seems to have been updated

My question is: according to the jag service wiring diagram and prosperos chart certain wires are as follows eg fuse1 dipper switch (blue/yellow), fuse 2 dipper switch (blue/green), fuse 5 lighting switch (red/black) plus some others BUT on my car the wires are covered in a white braided cloth finish (I noticed this was the same in the above pictures). Is this normal for that period? Perhaps the wires are correct under the white cloth? It makes identification a little tricky
Any views anybody?
Regards
Robbie

[Robbiee]

I’ve given them a slight scrub and there appears to be some blue stripes on a couple ...so maybe just a bit grubby!!

[Robbiee]

I don’t think red/green colourblindness helps much!

[rswaffie]

Thanks all for the pics. They have enabled me to make more progress.
I have checked all the fuse box connections, labelled & traced them through with my trusty multimeter to their terminations and all seem correct. Also, the gauges & lamps are all connected up, minus the earth wires. However, I still have two wires from the loom that I can't account for. The first and most puzzling, is a purple braided wire with a spade connector, that leaves the loom at the same point as the three non-braided purples that connect to the fuse 8 position. It's roughly the same length as the others but I can't see this on any diagram and neither does it trace through to any other purple, or purple combination wire in the panel, dash, or engine looms. What the hell is it?????? The second is a longer black wire, non braided with a spade connector. I expect this is an earth but I cant see what it connects to. It doesn't trace through to the wiper motor loom, nor the washer motor. This is a bit puzzling, but not as much as that purple one. I'm beginning to think there may be a disgruntled Autosparks employee trying to push me over the edge!
Any thoughts?

[Gfhug]

Richard, are any of the wires for optional items or those that were fitted during later years of production and Autosparks include them to cover all options? Can they (not the disgruntled employee ) advise?

Geoff

[rswaffie]

Possibly, Geoff. The looms are sold as specific to the RHD 3.8 and the only option it caters for that I am aware of is the fog lights (red/yellow).It seems odd that it doesn’t trace through to any of the other purple wires, and there aren’t that many of them. The ‘sundries’ pack does contain surplus wires that are clearly covering a number of options. The only thing I could think of was the radio, but as I can’t find the other end of it, I can’t tell!

[ralphr1780]

Richard, the braided purple should go to fuse 8 with the other two non-braided purple ones.
The black with a spade is an earthing one that goes to the frame of the light switch, you should have a male spade fixed under one of the three bolts holding the switch.

[rswaffie]

Thanks Ralph.
There are already 3 non-braided going to fuse 8 - the braided purple would make it 4 wires at fuse 8 (I can't see four wires at fuse 8 on any diags). What does it do?
Thanks for the tip on the black wire - one down!

[Robbiee]

My fuse 8 has 3 purple non braided wires Two thick and one thinner but no other purple wires going into the loom at the same point.
I am attaching a picture and one showing the earth spade connector on the light switch mounting
Hope it helps
Robbie

[Robbiee]

The short earth wire actually goes to the cigar lighter earth

[Robbiee]

Here’s the fuse 8 three purple wires

[rswaffie]

Thanks Robbie,

My loom with the offending braided purple wire, not labelled as I don’t yet know where it goes!

[Robbiee]

Here’s the position of the separate earth links

[rswaffie]

Excellent, many thanks.

[Robbiee]

Here I am again
The 2 o’clock mounting post also has an earth connection..this then disappears into the main loom with the white wires from the ignition switch and a green/black wire (amongst others)