Friday was the first chance I have had to work on my most recent
aquisition, a Tahiti blue '77 TR7. As the car was bought from a PO who
had completely untaped ALL of the dash board wiring harness, I was not
optimistic about being able to get the car running. When I purchase the
car, the PO informed me that, "oh, by the way, a wire melted in the dash
somewhere..."
When I first got the car hoem, I tried to start the car, only to have
the car kick as if it is going to start and then die as the key returns
to the '"on" position. Having reaped the advice from some wise SOLers a
while ago, I realized that the problem must be with the ballast resistor
not getting power, but power being delivered to the coil (directly)
with the key in the "start" position. I located the wire in the dash
that had melted (now resting on the floor - thanks to PO), and
determined from its colour code that it must be Eureka wire. Some other
wise lst members pointed out that this is in fact resistive wire, often
use in place of a ballast resistor. Reviewing the wiring diagram
confired this (PO seemed to think that it was normal wire and replaced
it accordingly!). This problem explained why my car wouldn't run with
the key "on", but didn't explain the odd symptom of the the starter
trying to turn over when I attached a wire directly from the battery to
the coil (+ side)! The wiring diagram sugested that possibly the only
place where the start wire and the coil power wire came near to each
other was the starter relay. A quick peek into my car revealed a SHINY
BOSCH RELAY in the place of the familiar blue one (which was now plugged
into a headlight relay socket!).
I put the relay back in place, wired in the remnants of the Eureka wire
and tried to turn the car over - nothing but a wimpy "click" coming from
the starter relay, "ah-ha! a familar problem as in my other TR7s!," I
thought to my self. Taking the nearest blunt object (the handle of a
screwdriver), I wacked the relay a couple of times. Viola! The car
STARTED, and STAYED RUNNING! The idle quickly settled into a good strong
hum. Not bad for a car that the PO had listed as "for parts" and which
hasn't been run for 7 YEARS!
Now... to put the interior back in and start driving it!!
Its not every day that you run into MINT TR7s (no rust, all intact -some
assembly required) for $400 Cdn!
Happy Happy, Joy Joy!
Greg.
--
Internet: gall@ultrix.uleth.ca
"You miss too much these days if you stop to think"
By a famous Irish poet and philosopher, Bono of the band U2, circa '91.
'76 Triumph TR7 V8 (Buick 350) Fixedhead Coupe.
'77 Triumph TR7 4spd, A/C Fixedhead Coupe. VROOM! _ /| A
'79 Triumph TR7 Auto Drophead Coupe. \`o_O' C
'78 Mazda RX7. ( ) K
'73 FIAT 128 Coupe SL 1300cc. U !
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