Dan Zubkoff wrote:
> The speedometer,
> tachometer are missing the cables. The owner said the temp/fuel gauges
> work...but they didn't appear to be working. The car has been converted to
> Positive ground. The radio is original but doesn't work.
<snip>
> Also the car's heater is currently inoperable.
>
Some or all of these problems MIGHT be caused by a botched positive
to negative ground conversion. IF that is the case, the radio is
history, as are the guages and maybe the speedo/tach. "Why?", you
ask? Get the wires crossed and you can have current flow through the
tach/speedo cables, looking for ground. Heat 'em up, melt 'em down,
throw 'em out! The owner may not even realize why they aren't
working. The radidio is especially likely to have been smoked. To
convert the ground and still use the original electronics you must
completely isolate the instrument (whether radio, gauge, or
whatever)from the car chassis. Otherwise you have a short circuit.
An easy grounding point to overlook with the radio is the antenna lead
(which you can buy on eBay!) Even if you get it right you still are
vulnerable to damage from folks monkeying with it down the road who
don't know about the conversion.
Caveat Emptor
Mark van der Hoek
|