On August 23, 2014, I checked out the wiring completed up until that time. The following issues were discovered:
The right parking light did not illuminate when the switch was in the parking light position.
By design, the hazard flashers did not operate in the key off position.
The HV&AC fan ran at medium speed in the L position and low speed in the M position. H was high speed.
The electric choke did not operate.
The choke issue was solved by checking continuity of a loose red wire near the control panel with the choke positive terminal. The wire was continuous and I connected it to one of the panel terminals which is hot only when the key is in the run position.
Switching leads L and M at the fan switch corrected the fan speed problem.
I found a broken wire on the body side of the headlight switch connector. After repair the right parking light wire would not reach the plug, so I interchanged the left and right wires and corrected the documentation. All fixed. However during the parking light checkout, two new glitches showed up:
Switching leads L and M at the fan switch corrected the fan speed problem.
I found a broken wire on the body side of the headlight switch connector. After repair the right parking light wire would not reach the plug, so I interchanged the left and right wires and corrected the documentation. All fixed. However during the parking light checkout, two new glitches showed up:
When the ignition key was turned on, the engine cooling fan ran.
The right high and low beam wires were switched.
When I wired the trinary switch, I thought it needed to be grounded to operate the fan. True as far as it went , but the cooling water temp switch grounds itself when the temperature warrents and operates the cooling fan without help from the trinary switch. I removed a jumper to ground I installed because the AC is not charged yet. The fan then operated correctly.
As a safety device, the emergency flashers should operate in all ignition key positions. It was a simple matter to move the flasher feed from E-18 (accessory position) to E-19 (all positions).
The leads for the headlights have polarized connections so they can't be connected wrong. That is, unless some idiot polarizes the low beam wire to the high beam and vice-versa. Yup, that's what I did. Corrected and checked OK.
Since the initial checkout was done, the right taillight and directional, the tag light and the horn have been wired and checked.
The radio and CD changer functions operate including the complex remote function mentioned in Post 13. I mounted the antenna higher in the back window and connected the antenna booster correctly. Radio reception is way better than before.
The next error showed up when I connected the cruise control ground wire. The cruise on LED was lit no matter what position the cruise on-off switch was in. I had connected the wrong terminal of the on-off switch to the set-resume switch. When I corrected that the light acted like it should.
When I wired the dash, I forgot my own rule about making things easily removable. There are four LEDs that mount from behind the dash in an extremely inaccessible area. It was a real bear to remove the lights, switches and panel. Once that was done with minimal breakage, it was easy to add two Molex plugs polarized so the left and right LED pairs can't be misconnected. But that's what I thought about the headlights.
With checkout nearly complete, I buttoned things up enough to drive the car and check the cruise control and overdrive. I removed the ramps under the wheels to get the car back on the ground.
It wouldn't start. No spark at the plugs or coil. The coil covering was split and some of the windings were poking out. The PerTronix module was burned and fused with the magnet ring. In the Question & Answer section (!) on page 5 of 6 (!!) of the PerTronix instruction sheet, Question 7 of 10 (!!!) read:
Q What happens if I leave the ignition switch on when the engine is not running?
A This can cause your coil to overheat, which may cause permanent damage to the coil and Ignitor™.
I believe this information deserved a tad more emphasis. I would have put it in red caps on Page 1 in the section that started
If that had been done, I would have had a better chance to avoid a two hundred dollar mistake. (I replaced the singed cap and rotor too.)
I'm not sure if Ignitor II™ and Ignitor III™ modules have the same problem, but I would find out before I installed either one. At least one of the Buick websites does not recommend the "cheap PerTronix" (their term) in Buick distributors. This problem may be why. On the other hand, I have run this Ignitor™ for over ten years with out a problem before this.
When I wired the trinary switch, I thought it needed to be grounded to operate the fan. True as far as it went , but the cooling water temp switch grounds itself when the temperature warrents and operates the cooling fan without help from the trinary switch. I removed a jumper to ground I installed because the AC is not charged yet. The fan then operated correctly.
As a safety device, the emergency flashers should operate in all ignition key positions. It was a simple matter to move the flasher feed from E-18 (accessory position) to E-19 (all positions).
The leads for the headlights have polarized connections so they can't be connected wrong. That is, unless some idiot polarizes the low beam wire to the high beam and vice-versa. Yup, that's what I did. Corrected and checked OK.
Since the initial checkout was done, the right taillight and directional, the tag light and the horn have been wired and checked.
The radio and CD changer functions operate including the complex remote function mentioned in Post 13. I mounted the antenna higher in the back window and connected the antenna booster correctly. Radio reception is way better than before.
The next error showed up when I connected the cruise control ground wire. The cruise on LED was lit no matter what position the cruise on-off switch was in. I had connected the wrong terminal of the on-off switch to the set-resume switch. When I corrected that the light acted like it should.
When I wired the dash, I forgot my own rule about making things easily removable. There are four LEDs that mount from behind the dash in an extremely inaccessible area. It was a real bear to remove the lights, switches and panel. Once that was done with minimal breakage, it was easy to add two Molex plugs polarized so the left and right LED pairs can't be misconnected. But that's what I thought about the headlights.
With checkout nearly complete, I buttoned things up enough to drive the car and check the cruise control and overdrive. I removed the ramps under the wheels to get the car back on the ground.
It wouldn't start. No spark at the plugs or coil. The coil covering was split and some of the windings were poking out. The PerTronix module was burned and fused with the magnet ring. In the Question & Answer section (!) on page 5 of 6 (!!) of the PerTronix instruction sheet, Question 7 of 10 (!!!) read:
Q What happens if I leave the ignition switch on when the engine is not running?
A This can cause your coil to overheat, which may cause permanent damage to the coil and Ignitor™.
I believe this information deserved a tad more emphasis. I would have put it in red caps on Page 1 in the section that started
If that had been done, I would have had a better chance to avoid a two hundred dollar mistake. (I replaced the singed cap and rotor too.)
I'm not sure if Ignitor II™ and Ignitor III™ modules have the same problem, but I would find out before I installed either one. At least one of the Buick websites does not recommend the "cheap PerTronix" (their term) in Buick distributors. This problem may be why. On the other hand, I have run this Ignitor™ for over ten years with out a problem before this.
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