New wiring harness problems T2 bus

[janet6464]

My husband and I were adventurous and decided to run a new main wiring harness on our 1976 T2 camper. We followed all wiring diagrams and after running into multiple weird wiring from the PO we think we have it all connected correctly. (The bus ran fine prior to the new harness but we noticed a lot of bare wires and melted areas so we decided to change it.)
Problem: The lights on the dash and the headlights come on when we turn the key but the engine won't turn over. We here noise from the engine compartment but still nada.
-Battery checks out great.
-I have checked the starter and it is ok
-I can't get a good check on the solenoid despite following all forum suggestion. I just can't get it to do anything when I run a connection to the ignition connection from the post on the solenoid.
-Fairly sure it is not the ignition switch per tests, but again can't tell for sure.
-I have double checked what I think is all the ground points on all the wiring harnesses but considering there are almost as many as fish in the sea I can't be sure.
Any suggestions?

On another note I have back and grey wire that runs from what I would presume (per wiring diagram and the fact that it runs from one of the harnesses in the steering column) from the buzzer for ignition key and the diagram says it should hook into the door contact switch. Problem is that I don't have a contact point on the door contact switch because all the available ones have been used for other must have points. Any suggestions on 1) what to do and/or 2) what the wire could be if it is not from the buzzer?

I have been working on this problem for 4 days and I am about to give up and look for a decent mechanic to figure it out. Problem is I have to have Big Blue running for shipment to Germany in 2 1/2 weeks!
Help!

[bigdan.theplumber]

I'm more familiar with early bays and carburetors but I'll try to help.

[Wildthings]

When the key is in the "ON" position you should have power to the "+" side of the coil, there should also be a black wire hooked to the coil with an inline fuse in it, this wire will activate the FI relay side of the double relay.

There should be a red/black wire running to one of the female spades on the starter solenoid. This wire is what signals the solenoid to engage and will have power only when the key is turned to the "start" position. It matters which female spade it is attached to, try them all to see if one works. There should also be a red/white wire hooked to one of the female spades, it is not important which space this wire gets connected to, any should work.

I wouldn't put too much effort into getting the seat belt buzzer to work.

[SGKent]

[janet6464]

Thanks for the responses. The battery checks to 12.6V The ignition switch registers 12v when the ignition key is turned on. I checked the starter by running a screw driver across the posts on the and the stater whirs but didn't as it should. (All this done previously and unfortunately I wasn't specific enough).
Forgot to describe the noise. It is most definitely sounds like the electric fuel pump and it starts when I turn the key. Unfortunately I can't get any kind of click click or any additional noises when I turn over the vehicle.
I have triple checked that the ignition female spade is in the correct location. I am also sure that I have the fuel injection points correct on the solenoid (not because I'm brilliant but because I didn't move them from previous placement by PO).
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[SGKent]

[janet6464]

Its a manual transmission

[SGKent]

on a manual trans the start wire for the ignition switch goes from the ignition switch to the starter solenoid with no interruptions*. If you have 12V at the switch when you turn the key to start, you should also have 12V+/- at the solenoid end unless there is a problem with the wire, or spade lug. Check for voltage when it leaves the ignition, and again when it arrives at the starter. If you find close to 12V there then look at the engine ground strap. If that does not get it, you may have a sticky solenoid in the starter. If you run a screw driver between the big wire and the spade lug the starter should turn the engine over. If it does not then watch the battery voltage to see if the battery is low, or has a bad connection / ground.

*on an auto trans there is a neutral switch in the circuit too
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Wildthings]

[janet6464]

Wiring harness is definitely for a manual.
I'm out of ideas so she is going off to the professionals tomorrow. I'll let tall know what they say it was so maybe it will help somebody else.

[Manfreds78bay]

Can you explain your process for rewiring the main harness? This is a daunting task.
_________________
1978 2.0L FI Campmobile

1982 AMC Eagle SX4 4.2L FI

[janet6464]

Latest update: Completely looked over wiring and found 2 grounds that were missing/ placed wrong and I changed the battery ground just in case. Figured out the door switch thing (just needed a ground) and that the PO did away with the sliding door switch but I am not going to fight that battle with wiring. Good news is that I now have power to everything that should have it and all my lights show up as they should (not the case before) when I turn the switch. Bad news: Still doesn't start and Im still just getting the whirring noise with no clicking or attempt to turn over. Based on previously mentioned changes, I rechecked the solenoid since it was the only thing that didn't check out before and I got nadda again. I think that the issue is now a bad solenoid but I'm not chasing that rabbit down the hole, I'm taking it to a garage and having them check and change it if necessary. If it's not that maybe they can figure it out.

Changing the wiring harness, while daunting, honestly would not have been that bad if the PO had not splicing wires 2-5 colors per strand and ran some weird jumpers from one location to the next in an effort to bypass things they didn't deem important. They had also had some previous shorts, per all the melted wires, and sometimes it was hard to tell the color based on that. I do suggest that you look up and learn to read the wiring diagram from here on thesamba for your year or you are going to be dead in the water. Unless of course your PO was nice enough to leave the old one alone and then its just a matter of matching red to red etc. Be prepared for a long day because you have to deal with getting the new harness through the fire wall and then back up through the front end.
More to follow....

[SGKent]

[janet6464]

Thanks for the info. I retried the check on the solenoid and still nada sssooo Im going to replace the solenoid and the starter, even though the starter is good, because it is less expensive to do both at the same time. If that doesn't work then I am going to follow through on my previous threats to take her to the shop

[Wildthings]

Do need to make sure you have 12v on the big lug on the starter (ground hooked to the engine block) while you are trying to jumper the terminals. If the battery cables and/or tranny ground strap are bad the voltage will drop significantly when the terminals are jumped.

[SGKent]

[janet6464]

Replaced starter & solenoid at the same time today as a pkg. Still not turning over. Starter tested good, but solenoid will still not engage when providing power to the ignition lead from the hot post on the starter. She goes to the shop tomorrow as we are out of time. She will be running soon :-0

[janet6464]

Ssssooo she is at the shop and has been for 2 days and even they are still stumped as to why she won't start. Hopefully soon!

[SGKent]

[Wildthings]