Both sides of my fuse panel are hot

[340 Slapstick]

I was hooking up my stereo and found out that the accessory side my fuse panel is hot at all times no matter the position of the key. Both the Black wire side and the Red wire side.
I am in the process of restoring this 70 Gran Coupe and the under dash wiring was in such good shape (looks) so I decided not to spend the $700 for a new harness. I have started to look at all wiring under the dash but I hate to cut away all of the factory tape and covering on the original wiring Harness. Does anybody have an idea where to look for the most probable issue.?

 

[Chryco Psycho]

Corrosion / dirty contacts

 

[340 Slapstick]

Corrosion / dirty contacts

Fuse contacts??

 

[Chryco Psycho]

under normal use it should run cool , could be corrosion in the firewall bulkhead plug or fuse contacts or the wires on the back of the fuse block .

 

[rklein71]

I believe he is saying hot as in having 12 volts, not that it is over heating.

 

[Challenger RTA]

Do you know if it was it always like that or it just happened?To start.Unplug your ignition switch.under steering column.Check to see if still hot. keep battery terminal off after testing. Click hear for reference pictures. Front and back of fuse box also.

ammeter gauge clicking

When I turn on my key before starting the engine my ammeter indicator keeps clicking towards the negative side also when I hit the turn signal on one side it also faintly flashes on the opposite side with the rhythm of the ammeter not sure what's going on. I have been reading about problems with...

www.forebodiesonly.com

 

[340 Slapstick]

Do you know if it was it always like that or it just happened?To start.Unplug your ignition switch.under steering column.Check to see if still hot. keep battery terminal off after testing. Click hear for reference pictures. Front and back of fuse box also.

ammeter gauge clicking

When I turn on my key before starting the engine my ammeter indicator keeps clicking towards the negative side also when I hit the turn signal on one side it also faintly flashes on the opposite side with the rhythm of the ammeter not sure what's going on. I have been reading about problems with...

www.forebodiesonly.com

Yes by "hot" I meant 12v always. I will unplug the ign. switch even though it's new, and check.
I should also mention an issue I had before disassembly, which was, when shifting my column shifter from park to drive the starter would engage when going past the neutral position. WEIRD. now I am converting to console shifter. I HOPE it still doesn't do that with a new engine bay wiring harness and neutral safety switch wiring. Not an electrical minded guy so i need all the help I can in figuring this out.

 

[Challenger RTA]

Maybe something pinched in the column that's causing all the issues.Or melted together!

 

[heminut]

Maybe something pinched in the column that's causing all the issues.Or melted together!

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[340 Slapstick]

well I took my column apart yesterday and didn't see anything. it still may be possible but not sure where it could be. I looked at all crossed wires and connections in the column and removed the blinker wiring. I may have a cheap ignition switch that went bad???

 

[Challenger RTA]

What's the problem?You ask.So you want to cut your jugular!"How difficult was it to replace the firewall bulkhead connector?" Remove seat would make it easier to start. unsnap fuse box.Remove the bulkhead screws.,remove one connector at a time,do one plug area to save some confusion, small tab on connector has to be depressed to release.Clean or replace and grease. Dielectric grease and copper-tin cleaner and connectors in hand before you start.And a little

Patience.​

 

[340 Slapstick]

Do you know if it was it always like that or it just happened?To start.Unplug your ignition switch.under steering column.Check to see if still hot. keep battery terminal off after testing. Click hear for reference pictures. Front and back of fuse box also.

ammeter gauge clicking

When I turn on my key before starting the engine my ammeter indicator keeps clicking towards the negative side also when I hit the turn signal on one side it also faintly flashes on the opposite side with the rhythm of the ammeter not sure what's going on. I have been reading about problems with...

www.forebodiesonly.com

So I disconnected my ignition switch wiring from the rectangular connector and both sides are still “hot”. It looks like these wires run up to my ammeter. Is it possible my ammeter is bad?

 

[Challenger RTA]

Unclip the fuse box and look at the back see if there are wires crossed and shorted.
1:RED wire 16 Battery power yellow dot to splice one feeds fuse block, 2:charge wire 18 black wire blue dots to splice one through amp meter to red wire blue dot 16 to battery, 3:ACC feed from splice 1 Red wire Q3_12R yellow dot to steering column. Black wire 12BK red dot to ACC side of fuse box.

 

[Challenger RTA]

I was hooking up my stereo and found out that the accessory side my fuse panel is hot at all times no matter the position of the key.

So if you find nothing.Thinking you have radio hooked up undo radio. radio has a power, acc,and a light circuit? could be feeding back through. may have to wire diffiently. Turn radio off.see if power batt or acc goes off.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

I am sorry I didn't read your post well enough , something has to be back feeding the accessory side , bypassing the ammeter is always good advice , I just connect both wires to one side .

 

[340 Slapstick]

I am sorry I didn't read your post well enough , something has to be back feeding the accessory side , bypassing the ammeter is always good advice , I just connect both wires to one side .

Ok I figured out my problem!! I had the small light blue “connecting “ wire that has 2 pieces of light blue wire with 3 black push-on connectors on the ends, connected to the black side of the ammeter. Still haven’t figured out where that connector goes but at least my fuse panel is acting like it should. Thank you all for your help!

 

[Challenger RTA]

OK Thought is was feed back.This might help.

 

[340 Slapstick]

OK Thought is was feed back.This might help.

View attachment 90448

I now know where that light blue wire connector goes (to the fuel gauge) but there’s already a dark blue wire running to both sides of my fuel gauge. Weird