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What are these wires for?

Started by Casey, 01 May 2011, 10:55 AM

Casey

Boy, this looks like a hack job:



The wires disappear into the firewall - no idea where they go.  There is a cell phone kit installed in the car - the rest of it seems quite well installed though, so I'm not sure what to make of this:



Then, in the fuse box, there are two inline fuses.  Well, actually there's one, and a place for another one that isn't present.  No idea what these might be for:



(Look at those awesome fuses.  13 and 14 I replaced with some leftovers from when I replaced all the fuses on my old car to see if it affects the headlight dimming issue, and even though they are crappy old fuses, they look so much newer than all the rest of the ones in there it's ridiculous.  The truly curious can get an even closer look here)

Any advice on how to figure out what these extra wires are for would be greatly appreciated.

Papalangi

The two inline fuses in the fuse box are for the ACCII system.  And yes, they came from the factory.

The others could be for the cell phone kit or an old radio install.  Some shops only make the interior stuff pretty since they assume the owner will never open the hood.

Michael
'83 300SD, I'm back!  It's the son's new car (12/2020)
1976 450SEL, 116.033  Sold it to buy a '97 Crown Vic.  Made sense at the time.
1971 250C, 114.023
1976 280C
1970 250/8

Casey

Quote from: Papalangi on 01 May 2011, 11:04 AM
The two inline fuses in the fuse box are for the ACCII system.  And yes, they came from the factory.

ACCII is Automatic Climate Control Something Something?  Do you know what the effect of the fuse missing would be, and do you know if there is any reason it might have been purposefully removed?  Right now no matter what I do with the ACC controls, I only get heat.  The previous owner said the heater fan wasn't working - I don't know if that's true and it's just air being forced through by driving, or if it's just blowing softly.  How can I find out what type of fuse is needed?

jbrasile

The acc fuse basically supplies current so the system  will function. They probably removed it because you have a bad servo and the amplifier was trying to park it running the battery down. By removing the fuse you basically kill the system and you have absolutely no Climate Control. I bet you have defrost right? It bypasses everything else.

Solution: Put fuse back in to see what functions but you run the risk of getting a dead battery the next day. You should replace the servo with an aluminum one and change the amplifier as well, it may have already burned because of the bad servo.

Unfortunately this is one of the most nagging problems on US cars made after 76 with the acc II system and not a cheap fix. Performance Analysis can supply the servo and amp on exchange.

Tks,

Joe


1980sdga

I would check the ACC servo and make sure it's not leaking.  Mine was and I understand it's a common problem. There is an aftermarket setup that replaces the servo and amplifier and it sounds like they will help you troubleshoot any vacuum problems you have.  I'll find the link to their site.

Your car is so nice it would be well worth spending the $$ to get the AC working.  It was nice driving around with mine on today!  This evening I rolled the window down for about an hour.

And yea, the dash lights are perfect  ;D

Those battery connections are probably for the phone. I have one and have a few stray wires like that around.

Squiggle Dog

I have also found that if the ACCII isn't functioning properly, that pressing any button besides DEF or OFF will either blow a fuse, melt the amplifier, or melt the backside of the switchplate (and I know of at least two cases where a car burnt to the ground because of this). I sure will enjoy my manual heat when I finish the conversion!
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1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+