Reading the Electrical Schematic

http://forum.grantorinosport.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=16377&PID=208064&title=1976-gran-torino-coil-oil-pres-temp-conne#208064

Guys, have a look at this other thread where I was discussing the connector under the hood which I _thought_ was for the coil, oil pressure and temperature gauge. I have a correction which I will also post here :

Indeed there is a COIL wire ( Red with Light Green stripe ) and the OIL PRESSURE wire ( White with a Red stripe ) are there and they are correct.

(Though I think that coil wire will come in to play later on when I am sorting out the tachometer .. there is another wire ( Red w/ Light Blue ) that goes nowhere and I think should do something with the coil / tach wire .. more on that later )

However, that THIRD wire - the Red w/ Yellow Hash - I somehow incorrectly identified that wire as the negative side of the Temperature gauge.   ( Well I know how .. it's because I plugged in the dash cluster before I ever knew it was not original to the car and my testing results were obviously wonky ). In any case .. that connector does NOT contain the wire which goes to the temperature sending unit.

There was another loose wire hanging about from the firewall plug .. a Red w/ White stripe ( imagine that lol ) and when I connect it directly to ground .. BOOM the temperature gauge WORKS.
In any case, both the Oil Pressure gauge and the Temperature Gauge are now correctly identified and sorted.

So now I need to figure out exactly what that Red w/ Yellow Hash wire is all about.   On the schematic in the engine side, it shows that wire going to some vacuum sensor and indicator light ( the light is in the cluster ? trying to understand that ? ) and also it goes to some emission control switch located on the carburetor ??   So I know that my carb doesn't have any sensors or electrical switches other than the electric choke, which I thought was part of the alternator wiring somehow ?   So there is still more sorting to do here.

i've seen the red w/yellow wire before... don't recall what it went to??? some cars had different lights on the side of the bezel low fuel econ, door ajar, brake i think? which you may not even need.

 it could be for the a/c idle dashpot solenoid?

red blue stripe iirc one of the tach wires is that color?
dash lights are lt blue w/red stripe!  thats weird they come on like that, must be something jumped somewhere??? could be an incorrect bulb jambed in a socket somewhere....

i may have a good buzzer... i saw one the other night in the garage

couple of questions for my sanity.

The key switch -- should I be able to turn it "backwards" from the OFF position ? The keys in all the cars I remember my parents having ( I was born in '76) you could turn it "backwards" to an Accessory position.   Or was that a feature in 80's cars ?

Secondly, IIRC, the brake light, the fasten seat belts light and possibly any other lights should come ON when I turn the key to the "RUN" position, which on this car does seem to be 2 clicks past OFF. correct ?
( those are the only two lights that I have which would light on my dash cluster .. still trying to figure out why there is a break in the circuitry on the printed circuit for the positive side of that one light at position 12 )

I know that the brake light works because when I manually ground the parking brake wire ( the parking brake switch isn't working ), then the brake light will come ON.

The other light, the fasten seat belts light, I would also expect to come on, but granted, I haven't traced down that positive wire, and the seat belt buckles are not in the car, which is where the switch would be I would guess?

My clock doesn't work, and I see now that my ashtray cover ( the black part which constitutes the part of the dash which is visible ) is broken off.

I'm looking for a working clock and a whole ash tray if anyone has those.

ok .. so why might my key not turn "backwards" ?   Is the problem in the key barrel part itself or in the ignition switch with the rod behind the gauge cluster ?

I'll know more about the lights and buzzer working with the key movements after I get the new seat belt buzzer installed. The wires all seem to be good, just that buzzer is busted.

Thanks

pm'd you on the ashtray... got a blk one ready to go

john is right about the switch down on the column... do the other notches feel right? could be the switch too??? i've sold a few to guys...

lt blu w/ red stripe should be dash lights
 now you got me thinking.... i'll have to go out to the garage and check positions on my car....hmm

Hmm .. the labels of those positions on the switch might give me a clue, and maybe someone can confirm ?

The positions state
ACC
LOCK
OFF
RUN
START

... and the wiring shows that the black w/ light green hash wire is hot in the ACC and RUN positions, but does not show it hot in the OFF position.

Am I expecting the wrong thing here ?   I thought that the radio always came on with forward position 1 ( 1 out of 3, the other two being RUN and START ) on these old cars ?   Is that wrong ?   does the radio only come on when the key is in the "backwards" ACC position? ( and RUN of course ) ?

i believe it's on in the on position and the acc position. btw yes my key turns back from the lock position for acc

californiajohnny wrote: i believe it's on in the on position and the acc position. btw yes my key turns back from the lock position for acc

so does that mean that your first forward position is in fact NOT an ACC position ? it is the OFF position and the radio does NOT come on ? It only has power in the backwards position (ACC) and the second position forward (RUN) ?

actually -- based on your statements ... would it be smarter to get an aftermarket key tumbler ?   Would an OEM one be subject to the same deterioration sitting in the box on a shelf for the last 30 years ?