Wiring Questions...

I am working on rewiring my 61 JC5, and have come across some issues. I bought the ezwiring 12 circuit mini, and of course it has way more wires than I need, but I am also getting confused by the wiring diagram in my chilton's. We (me and dad) have been able to get most of the front end wired up without an issue, least, I think so, but, according to my wiring diagram, I am supposed to wire my light switch to my horn...is this right??

We also think we got the wires in the right area, but I would like to make sure, the wire labeled "selenoid power" connects to the selenoid that the battery connects to? and alt power, I think we have it in the right area, but there is a black cylinder on my fire wall that we connected it to. I dont know how else to describe it, but it also connects to the alternator. I can take pics if you need them.

Malachai

 

i have a 12 cir mini also. solenoid power goes to the solenoid. alt power goes to the back of the alternator. crimp a larger ring on that one. Solder everything you can and use di electric grease on all crimps. good luck

 

the alt power line we have we are running to a box on the firewall that is running to the alternator....should we just bypass it altogether then and run straight to the alternator?

 

That does look alot better than the one on the chilton's book, but only because it is in color....I still see the horn connected to the light switch, which really confuses the heck outta me! :S

 

Look again, the horn is not connected to the light switch technically, but simply drawing power from the live circuit on the switch. That way the horn has power when the ignition is off.

 

Battery connects to the light switch first and then to the ignition switch.
The horn power is from the battery connection on the light switch. Could just as easily come from the battery connection on the ignition switch.

 

On the color diagram available through the link given by bkd (thank you very much again), there is a double grey rectangle that the oil sending unit, temp sending unit and a few other lines go through, but is not labeled. What is that representing?

Also, see the attachment, I want to know what the unit and wire circled are. I have one wire left that I am not sure where it goes, it is labeled "alt excitor".

Thank you guys so much, you have been great so far!

 

That looks like the voltage regulator for the alternator.

 

It's not there in my Sixty either.

Are there more than one wire coming from that box?
External alternator regulator would have three wires.

 

I can only see the two wires, one from teh top and one from teh bottom...

 

Mopar used a 2 wire v/reg on early model alternators. It would work on Gm and Ford early alt's as well. That's what it looks like to me. If it is a two wire relay, it would only be used to control the horn as it requires grounding to honk.

 

Ok, thanks for the help so far guys, I only have a few more things to clear up I think. I still would like to know where the "alt excitor" wire goes. Also, I have been going nuts trying to figure out how to wire my headlamps, but I think I figured it out, in my head at least. The coil that goes to steering column has a wire for high beam, hi beam indicator, low beam and dimmer power...are these the three wires that are listed off of the dimmer switch? If so, I need to run these through the firewall instead of to the steering column, since my dimmer is a foot switch. Could someone please verify if I am thinking right on this??

 

I'll take a stab at this. monkeys
You other guys correct me if I'm wrong.
The "alt excitor" wire would normally go from the fuse block to the # 1 post on the alternator.
On the back of the fuse block, the wire connects to a terminal that's also connected to the "wiper" fuse, "gauge" fuse, "elec fan" fuse and the "ign switch acc" wire (which goes to the "ign" post on the starter switch). When the alternator senses resistance, it turns on (starts charging) - in this case the current used by the gauges causes the resistance.
There is another source of resistance - the little red light on the speedometer that says "AMP". By connecting the "alt excitor" wire from the #1 post on the alternator to the light on the speedometer, you get the same effect - you switch the alternator on to charge the battery. To do this, you have to cut the wire loose from the fuse block and connect it to the "AMP" charging light. Be sure to cap the wire where it's cut from the fuse block so nothing shorts out.
I chose to use the light on the speedometer, but if you don't want/need to see the light, leave the wire connected to the fuse block - it works either way.

 

Got so carried away with the first part of the question, I forgot to answer the second.
You're right - the wires you're referring to do connect to the floor mounted dimmer switch instead of the steering column.
Looking at the dimmer switch from the engine side with the three terminals facing you, power comes in on the "dimmer power" wire from the headlight switch to the center post. The post to the left is the high beam post to which the "high beam" and "high beam indicator" wires connect. The post to the right is the low beam post to which the "low beam" wire connects. On second thought, the left and right posts can be used either way as long as power comes in on the center post.
It sounds like you're only a day or two behind me in wiring, but I'm pretty slow, so I may be asking you questions before either of us are through!

 

DKillam, thank you very much! With this knowledge, the only thing I really have left to wire would be my speedo and turn switches. Speedo will be no problem, but still waiting for my switches to come in from jcwhitney. You will probably finish before me, but thats ok! I ended up replacing my taillights to some wrangler replacement lights, that way I had a reverse light also. This is only a temporary replacement until I get all my body panels replaced, which will be farther down the road.

Thanks again!

 

hmm, nother question then if alt excitor goes to #1 post on alternator, where does alt power go?? I have 2 posts on the alt that I am aware of, one comes off a pigtail from the positive battery cable, the other I have connected to alt power.

 

Malachai,
Hold up on the info I gave concerning the alternator wiring hookup. I was thinking GM style alternator.
It sounds like you have a Mopar type as Walt said. If you have the EZ Wire book, look on page 11 that shows the Mopar "early" charging system. It shows the "alt power" connecting to the "BAT" post on the alternator and the "alt excitor" wire going through the two post relay you described earlier in this thread. The "alt excitor" wire comes from either the fuse block or the "AMP" gauge as I told you earlier to the "IGN" side of the relay, then from the "FLD" side of the relay to the other post on the alternator. Sorry for the confusion - I didn't read the thread thoroughly before commenting. Hope this helps!