To fix or replace wiring harness

[mallard]

First off it felt good to read through the forum and still see most of the same names posting here!

A few years ago my A1 died one day when driving and had to tow it back. I put it in. Shipping container, then I had kids and havnt had time to mess with it. With all the rain we just got the shipping container will probably flood in the next couple days so I brought it home and put it in my garage so now I have to get it fixed if I ever want to park in there again.

Before I bought it 20+ years ago the previous owner of owners have hacked the wiring on this. The brake lights, rear running lights, front blinkers, instrument lights have been converted to 12v. The head lights are 24v but on a toggle switch. There is an external 24v fuel pump on the front fender by the air filter that is tied to the on-off switch.

Now on to my problem. Today after I charged up the batteries it would turn over but nothing else 24v worked. I found it was broken, corroded right where it hooks to the foot starter. After fixing that I chased down a couple more broken and corroded wires until I couldn’t find the next one and had to take a break.

I am not getting power to the coil and when I pulled a spark plug I get no spark. The two wires coming out of the on/off switch both are cracked and I can get a multi meter to probe them and I’m not getting voltage out.

I used the meter to jump 24v power to the back side of the on-off switch and with everything off I am getting 3.5A draw. I assume this means I have another short somewhere.

I say all this to ask the question. Should I continue to track down the broken wires and corrosion or spend the $250 on a new a2. Front harness and try that? Also there is already a 24v alternator installed.

[lpcoating]

If the wiring is that bad, buy a new harness. I'd shop around and see if you can find a better price. I bought an NOS harness from John Murray a few years ago for my A2.

Guy

[Hambone]

There are several good articles out there on how to convert an A2 harness to A1, This is the best deal out there for a NOS front harness.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/231821967564?_ ... R9iQ1vzBZQ

[rickf]

Might as well get the rear harness also. I will guarantee it is close to the condition as the front one and probably hacked up just as bad. If you already have the A2 alternator then the front harness will be a bold in. If you are still running the original in tank fuel pump there are a couple of options depending on whether you want to keep the safety switch. I always run a safety switch on any electric pump.

[mallard]

Thanks for all the help, I went ahead and ordered the harness so will get to installing it in the next week or so.

Is there a section in the manual to cover installation of the harness? If not any tips on where to start? I assume work from the instrument cluster outward since that will be the most space constrained area.

I am going to print out the new wiring diagram on big paper to make it easier to visualize while working on it.

Any reason not to start ripping out the old harness? I assume I will be better off trying to pull it out completely vs cutting it out so I can try and see the memory of the wire to help figure out where everything goes.

Any other tips or suggestions?

[Hambone]

Just pay attention to how the old one is routed, just match the #'s on the harness, may have to extend a few wires like the front blackout lights and turn signals, don't remember exactly. You can use the wiper circuit for the electric fuel pump if you are still running one but you will lose the safety circuit, with a little extra work you can wire that in. Biggest thing is, take a small pocket screwdriver and run in between the connectors to loosen them up,or you will wind up pulling some of the wires out of the connections. here is a cheat sheet that may help.

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[lpcoating]

As Buddy said, pay attention and take pictures of the routing. When I replaced mine, getting the harness around the steering column and master cylinder was the biggest challenge. BEFORE you pull the rear harness out, take some wire or strong string and tie to the harness. As you pull out the old, string or wire will follow. Tape new harness to wire or string and pull back through.

Guy

[mallard]

Thanks for all of the help so far, I now have the A2 wiring harness at home and plan to start removing the old one tonight. I have already taken several pictures but will take more as I go to help make sure I get it back together. Any last minute tips before I start pulling everything out?

also I plan to get my wiring in order in a couple stages. as i said before the current wiring is hacked and a mix of 12 and 24 volt. I plan to bring it back to original as much as possible.

step one will be install the wiring harness and connect to anything that is there currently, this should allow me to get it running.

step 2, i would like to convert to an a2 style mechanical fuel pump vs wiring in a new inline 24v pump. would y'all recommend getting a .mil pump or .civ pump?

step 3 will be to add the correct front turn signal, and black out lights.

step 4 will be to replace the rear harness and get all the rear lights tied into the new 24v system.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions along the way, thank you for being patent with me, I'll post some pictures as I go.

[Mr. Recovery]

My only suggestion is, don't cut off any of the wires in the new harness that you do not use, they can be used for other things later on. I have a aftermarket body called an Alley Cat, that uses all the 151 parts, I have been modifying the crap out of it such as, LED 24-volt headlights, a 24-volt GMC alternator and other mechanical parts. The wire connecting ends are available, so I just made up some jumpers.

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[glcaines]

I would recommend using an original military fuel pump. Then, you or any future owners will know exactly what is installed and you know that it is 100% compatible. I'm still using an original fuel pump on my A2 that was still on the engine even after decades of storage. No problems "yet". My other A2 had an original fuel pump on it as well, but it was toast after decades of storage. I had it rebuilt for a reasonable amount of money.