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Old 04-07-2016, 07:41 PM   #81
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Thanks guys,

If I keep the wires there for lighting or whatever (fine idea), I still need to trace them back to the origin at the starter and disconnect and remove them there, right?

My question is how do I positively trace them there so that I can disconnect them from the starter properly in order to reuse them?

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Old 04-07-2016, 07:47 PM   #82
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The Newman Skoolie!

You could buy or borrow a "fox and hound"



I've used ones like this for years. It will positively locate the wires for you.
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Old 04-07-2016, 08:34 PM   #83
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Nice! Thanks Whiskeyjr!
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Old 04-07-2016, 09:19 PM   #84
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Why don't you just cap off the wires and wait until you think of something to do with them later.
If you took it to an electrical shop they would use an electrical tracer like the Triplet unit shown. Since the circuit seems to be dead now it may have blown a fuse. That would tell you where it came through the fuse panel.

Honestly, don't you think you ought to leave well enough alone concerning the electrical stuff? This seems to be a lot of stress for you. I agree that you don't need the safety devices, but removing them hasn't been going so well.
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Old 04-08-2016, 05:57 AM   #85
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin97396 View Post
Why don't you just cap off the wires and wait until you think of something to do with them later.
If you took it to an electrical shop they would use an electrical tracer like the Triplet unit shown. Since the circuit seems to be dead now it may have blown a fuse. That would tell you where it came through the fuse panel.

Honestly, don't you think you ought to leave well enough alone concerning the electrical stuff? This seems to be a lot of stress for you. I agree that you don't need the safety devices, but removing them hasn't been going so well.
Uhhhhh,,,, NEVER give up?
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Old 04-08-2016, 06:24 AM   #86
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Old 04-08-2016, 06:43 AM   #87
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Old 04-08-2016, 09:19 AM   #88
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Thanks Robin97396 and others!

Agreed, I can certainly move on. My focus was partly due to curiosity but mainly due to the fact that she wouldn't start and I thought that switch was the culprit. At this point I will definitely just cap them off while I focus on the roof raise prep.

Again thanks a million to you all for the help!
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Old 04-08-2016, 11:04 AM   #89
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Sorry that was so stressful for you. That would bother me intensely if my bus wouldn't start.
Hey, automotive electrical has never been my strong suite. Regardless of all the suggestions put to Jman6631 by all of us, what worked was when he fixed the short himself. Somehow his door safety system is completely disabled now and not by anything any of us suggested to correct the situation.
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Old 04-08-2016, 02:49 PM   #90
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It wasn't that stressful honestly, it had to get resolved of course but was more of a strong curiosity than anything else. The rest of the electrical, wel....
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Old 04-08-2016, 03:55 PM   #91
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There's that old rule, "If it aint broke, don't fix it." I felt bad for you because everybody is trying to direct you to correct the problem, then you went and solved the problem yourself. And to top it off the safety switch on the door is completely disabled. It looks like you knew what you were doing.
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Old 04-08-2016, 08:34 PM   #92
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Old 04-08-2016, 09:44 PM   #93
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Thanks again Robin97396, I do appreciate your responsiveness to this issue. I also appreciate everyone else's help and suggestions.

I'm still stuck on the fact that while the issue is resolved I'm not confident the problem is solved. Seems like it could happen again at any time. That's another reason why I'd like to trace these wires to the starter and terminate them there.

I could still leave them running to the rear in case I end up needing them there, but at least I know I'd terminated them at the source and could permanently strike it off the 'ol list. I have bigger things to solve anyway.

Thanks again to all!
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Old 04-09-2016, 12:49 AM   #94
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I'm surprised you don't have that buzzer working again to make things back to normal. Maybe you have a gremlin in your bus that's going to terrorize you with dead silence when you most need the bus to start.
The guys that are really good at electrical stuff just pull all the wiring out and start again. If I tried that I'd end up with a very disassembled bus with absolutely no working lights or switches, or they'd work but only in a comical way. Then the bus becomes kind of like an expensive storage locker with windows.
Problem not solved huh? The bus runs and the buzzer doesn't. Yes there's an air of mystery in what happened, but you'll have to learn to make friends with your bus gremlin. You're going to make yourself crazy trying to figure out that wiring.
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Old 04-09-2016, 10:51 AM   #95
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A couple of things:

If that is a signal wire coming in and leaving, you won't be able to use it for power.

When you trace that wire, it should take you to the VEC (Vehicle Electrical Center) which is a black box about the size of your hand with 6 plugs going into it, each a different color. It has a removeable cover with relays and fuses inside. Not all of the plugs may be used. If yours is wired similar to mine, one wire leaves that box, and the other returns to it.
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Old 04-09-2016, 11:00 AM   #96
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I look at this issue as an inevitable learning process, the type of which this project will be full of - gremlins or not!

I've resisted the notion of pulling all the wiring out and starting completely from scratch. That's too much to take on unnecessarily IMHO. I'm going to keep what I need or don't want to fool with removing and only remove what is necessary, like all the unneeded safety and security features.


I'm also going to keep the driver control panels, etc., stock. I like the nostalgic look of them and don't see the advantage of spending the effort to remove and then remodel them, yet anyway, unless I come across a really compelling example.
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Old 04-09-2016, 01:35 PM   #97
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Thanks Rhombus, I'll take a look at that when I get back into it.
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Old 04-09-2016, 02:06 PM   #98
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Is the VEC usually mounted in the dashboard? What do you want to bet that the VEC has a burned fuse in it and that's why the safety isn't working?

I'd like to find a safe way to deal with this issue myself, but I'm not willing to take the chance of disabling my bus for an unknown amount of time. Is the VEC basically an electrical bus to distribute power to the safety systems, or basically all systems?
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Old 04-09-2016, 03:07 PM   #99
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I'm sure this has been asked, but is there a wiring diagram available for your chassis?


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Old 04-09-2016, 03:21 PM   #100
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There has been a lot of talk about everyone wanting wiring diagrams that don't seem to exist, but that's just not reasonable. Then again, how much excess wire they use isn't reasonable either. It's like they were paid by the foot.
I was good at research. I'll try finding some diagrams.
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