Zeph's Dodge WC52

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zepher11
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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by zepher11 » Mon Aug 30, 2021 5:30 am

70th Division wrote:
Sun Aug 29, 2021 6:10 pm
Hello Zeph,

That is ridiculous about the harness coding not matching the manual !!!

I got a French harness many moons ago, from a vendor, Powder River Ordnance, and it matched perfectly to the WW2 Dodge manual.
It was the main harness, I still need to get the under dash harness.

Can you contact the maker of your harness , and get a refund ?

Sounds like they have some dope heads working for them to screw up something as simple as color coded wires, and wire lenghths !!

Keep up your great work !

You are like a pathfinder for for us all to follow, with our Dodge projects !!

Best Regards,
Ray
Too far down the road to return it at this point. I gave it a shot. Just not a good product. Wiring is not my strong suit, so I'll really have to sit down and try to follow the wires regardless of color. It's easy to get confused if I look at their coding. I figured that if they sent the coding it would match the manual. I mean what's the point of the wiring coding they sent? Would have been nice if they had sent a diagram as well that matched their coding.

Oh well. Now I'm not too confident that the lighting system will work either. Not to the point to test everything yet, however.
.
Zeph

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by chibobber » Mon Aug 30, 2021 5:58 am

Zeph,
Try to cut your frustration a little. If you have an existing diagram, Copy it in B&W. Get a box of colored pencils and as you find out what wire does what, color in the color. This will give you a future reference and help with elimination. Did this with motorcycle harnesses when I had to make my own with the wire I had on hand.
Getting a taste of your heat here in the midwest and tons of rain.
Bob

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by zepher11 » Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:33 am

chibobber wrote:
Mon Aug 30, 2021 5:58 am
Zeph,
Try to cut your frustration a little. If you have an existing diagram, Copy it in B&W. Get a box of colored pencils and as you find out what wire does what, color in the color. This will give you a future reference and help with elimination. Did this with motorcycle harnesses when I had to make my own with the wire I had on hand.
Getting a taste of your heat here in the midwest and tons of rain.
Bob
Hi Bob,

Great idea. Thanks! Cooled off here a bit. Only getting to be about 102-104 everyday. Way better. May even drop below 100 today. Won't even break a sweat with weather like this. My wife hasn't jumped in the pool in two weeks as it too cold for her. I can feel fall setting in.

I can taste the wildfires. The house is full of smoke, and it kept me up all night with the smell. It's really socked in this morning. I need a respirator. Masks don't work.

I've seen all the rain back east as well as the hurricane news. Hopefully, you are not in an area that floods. I've been watching the evacuation of South Lake Tahoe. Know a few people over there and hope that the Caldor fire can get knocked down before it gets into SLT proper. Very scary and sad. I just want to breath some fresh air as it's been months it seems.

Anyway, I did trace all the wires again. Everything is hooked up correct as can be and shown in the attached diagrams. If I flip the key switch, the Amp meter will go negative just a tad. Start the truck and no movement. Switched it to the NOS Amp gauge and it's the exact same thing. No movement on the gauge when the vehicle is running. I have wired a few of these trucks...with better instructions...and haven't had any issues with the Amp gauge. Something is off, but I keep looking over and over and all looks good.

I guess my question is how does the power from the generator that charges the battery show up on the Amp gauge? Always showed it charging to the positive side of the Amp gauge in the past. Not sure why I get no indication of a charge now. Only things left not hooked up are the two panel switches and the headlights. Maybe that's the problem. Truck runs good and fuel gauge works fine.

i guess I can figure out a different way to check that the generator is working. Both the genny and regulator are newly installed just before switching to the new wiring:

Image

Image

Image
Zeph

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by W. Winget » Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:43 am

"Newly installed"
The generator will need to be Flashed before she will charge properly, might solve all your issues there. Multimeter on the battery posts will tell if it's putting out more when compared to "at rest" state, a lot better than an amp meter on the dash.
V/R W. Winget
Looking for 1918 Standard B 'Liberty' truck parts

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by chibobber » Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:47 am

Sorry to hear about the smoke. I would try to test the gen output with a multi meter at the terminals then at the hook up at the the gauge. I'm like you,when it comes to electrical, hope and hope to get lucky.
Play safe, Bob

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by zepher11 » Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:51 am

W. Winget wrote:
Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:43 am
"Newly installed"
The generator will need to be Flashed before she will charge properly, might solve all your issues there. Multimeter on the battery posts will tell if it's putting out more when compared to "at rest" state, a lot better than an amp meter on the dash.
V/R W. Winget
Yeah, I usually polarize newly installed generators, but the rebuilder specifically told me not to do so. I'll have to call him today and verify. Have to drive to town to call though. Might not happen today.
chibobber wrote:
Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:47 am
Sorry to hear about the smoke. I would try to test the gen output with a multi meter at the terminals then at the hook up at the the gauge. I'm like you,when it comes to electrical, hope and hope to get lucky.
Play safe, Bob
lol...yes, that's how it is for me. All these electronic things and wiring is like magic!
Zeph

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by W. Winget » Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:56 am

The precaution will likely be to not hold the wire down like fixing it under the terminals....flashing is rubbing the exposed wires across the terminal/surface, this gives the magnetic field a direction to send the electrons. Grounding it out would not be considered flashing, hence the rebuilders caution as they likely had some folks do that.
heed the rebuilders wishes, sorry the phones down. (you could possibly call through your internet connection as that seems reliable)
V/R W. Winget
Looking for 1918 Standard B 'Liberty' truck parts

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by zepher11 » Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:09 am

W. Winget wrote:
Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:56 am
The precaution will likely be to not hold the wire down like fixing it under the terminals....flashing is rubbing the exposed wires across the terminal/surface, this gives the magnetic field a direction to send the electrons. Grounding it out would not be considered flashing, hence the rebuilders caution as they likely had some folks do that.
heed the rebuilders wishes, sorry the phones down. (you could possibly call through your internet connection as that seems reliable)
V/R W. Winget
I do get a little nervous flashing to polarize, but have been able to do it in the past. I have saved this link to refresh myself every time I need to do it:

https://texaspowerwagon.com/polarize.htm

Maybe I misunderstood him on polarizing. Weird how the genny worked fine last week after installing it, but now it doesn't. It's the magic. lol

Just lousy cell service. Can't get a signal at the house. They tried to put in a closer tower, but the neighbors bitched and moaned at the planning commission, so it was scrapped. I've talked to Verizon a few times to see if I can boost the signal, but the are clueless on what I'm asking. Seems to work better when cool. Not well at all when it's warm. Used to be able to walk out to the road and get a signal, but that hasn't worked of late either. Now if we could get internet speed, I have heard of wifi calling that might be a solution one day.
Zeph

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by W. Winget » Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:32 am

WIFI calling is merely a setting on your phone if it's a Smartphone.
Turn it on in your settings area under "networks", it will source the wifi for data and signal as a primary means when in range. (Cell phone still calls Cell towers when out of range of the WiFi)
Should be able to connect via wifi link as well, you will have phone and internet through the phone.
At worst you may have a slight delay in conversations (at worst).
Plus it's free if you have an internet connection.
V/R W Winget
Looking for 1918 Standard B 'Liberty' truck parts

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by zepher11 » Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:57 am

W. Winget wrote:
Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:32 am
WIFI calling is merely a setting on your phone if it's a Smartphone.
Turn it on in your settings area under "networks", it will source the wifi for data and signal as a primary means when in range. (Cell phone still calls Cell towers when out of range of the WiFi)
Should be able to connect via wifi link as well, you will have phone and internet through the phone.
At worst you may have a slight delay in conversations (at worst).
Plus it's free if you have an internet connection.
V/R W Winget
I did set up wifi calling with Verizon on my phone and have it switched on. I guess I just don't go anywhere with wifi to see if it works. If we eventually get a service with any speed here, it would be awesome if it did work. I had to drop DSL as it had .01 speed. Have satellite now. Get around 1mb most of the time and I can see photos on Facebook now on occasions. If I hit "enter" to go to another screen on my computer, I can count to 10 to 20 seconds between screens. Frustrating for $175 a month, but the good thing is that it works! It rarely goes down and doesn't work, so can't complain there.
Zeph

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by zepher11 » Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:16 am

Got it. Talked to the genny rebuilder, and he told me to check for power at the BAT terminal on the regulator first. I did that and nothing at the BAT terminal:

Image

The wire's only about four inches long and goes to the radio filter. Checked there and had power. Weird:

Image

Stabbed the test light into the wire...power:

Image

Removed the wire and found that the solder had already given it up. Great. I wonder what else will fail on this harness? Here's a shot of the loose wire.

Image

Pulled out some flux and solder and worked it over. All good now. The Amp meter shows a charge. Happy about that!
Zeph

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by 70th Division » Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:29 am

Hello Zeph,


That is great that you got it fixed !!!
Looks like quality control issues !

Wow that is pretty bad for $175 a month.
I just canceled Comcast cable here, as it is $185 a month with internet.
Now it's down to just 70 a month for internet.
I just bought a smart TV and a new wireless and cable modem router , and will try streaming free TV and news services. We only watched a few channels with Concast anyways.
I will see if I can replace their internet with Century link, which is the phone company around here.


I did read yesterday that the next Apple I phone may also be satellite equipped, especially for areas like you are in with no signals, that would operate on normal cell service and switch to a sattelite.
Very interesting, I wonder if it has something to do with Musk's sat system ?


Well, keep up your great work !!
If you can find a respirator, get a 3m P100.
I use one all the time, especially when welding. It blocks everything, including any viruses !!

Best Regards,
Ray

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by zepher11 » Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:50 pm

70th Division wrote:
Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:29 am
Hello Zeph,


That is great that you got it fixed !!!
Looks like quality control issues !

Wow that is pretty bad for $175 a month.
I just canceled Comcast cable here, as it is $185 a month with internet.
Now it's down to just 70 a month for internet.
I just bought a smart TV and a new wireless and cable modem router , and will try streaming free TV and news services. We only watched a few channels with Concast anyways.
I will see if I can replace their internet with Century link, which is the phone company around here.


I did read yesterday that the next Apple I phone may also be satellite equipped, especially for areas like you are in with no signals, that would operate on normal cell service and switch to a sattelite.
Very interesting, I wonder if it has something to do with Musk's sat system ?


Well, keep up your great work !!
If you can find a respirator, get a 3m P100.
I use one all the time, especially when welding. It blocks everything, including any viruses !!

Best Regards,
Ray
Hi Ray,

Yeah, it really stinks not having cell service or internet in this day in age. Paid my $100 for Starlink back in January. Supposed to be available this summer. Well, that didn't happen. I know a few people that have it here and like it. Super fast they say. Probably be another year or so before we get the offer. Starlink is supposed to be $99 a month, so that would be good. However, by the time I get it, I'm sure it'll be doubled in price....

Satellite cell phone would be good for us. I just can't get anyone to hear me on my cell here. I can hear everyone fine, they just can't hear me. I can't tell you how frustrating that is. If I drive 5 miles into town I can get a signal where people can hear me. Seems like cell worked fine a few years ago, but now they don't. We did have a land line with AT&T, but dropped that a couple of years ago with the DSL. As their slogan goes, "We aren't happy until you're not happy. And they stick to that! lol Worst company and service ever...

Yes, happy to have figured out what the problem was with the charging. I hate those hidden issues like that. Appreciate everyone's help!
Zeph

'42 Script GPW Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by mdainsd » Wed Sep 01, 2021 4:43 am

I am LOLing. Your saga reminds of what a PITA wiring these trucks are. Weird that the harness manufacture didnt make the wires come out nice at the junction block end. Its only about the most visible area of the wiring.

The failed solder is lame! Those should have been crimped for a good electrical connection, THEN soldered. Nothing like trouble shooting with weak documentation and having manufacturing issues thrown in on top.

I had to do exactly like you around the M/C and the steering box. Imust have re-routed that front section a dozen times.

Top tip: Do the under dash wiring before you install the windshield. You would be surprised how much you can see and reach...through the cowl vent. :lol:
52 M38 2X, '52 M37, '44 WC51, '42 WC 56/57, '50 CJ-V35(U), '42 GPW, '44 M3A1 Scout Car, 2010 M-Gator

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Re: Zeph's Dodge WC52

Post by zepher11 » Wed Sep 01, 2021 7:40 am

mdainsd wrote:
Wed Sep 01, 2021 4:43 am
I am LOLing. Your saga reminds of what a PITA wiring these trucks are. Weird that the harness manufacture didnt make the wires come out nice at the junction block end. Its only about the most visible area of the wiring.

The failed solder is lame! Those should have been crimped for a good electrical connection, THEN soldered. Nothing like trouble shooting with weak documentation and having manufacturing issues thrown in on top.

I had to do exactly like you around the M/C and the steering box. Imust have re-routed that front section a dozen times.

Top tip: Do the under dash wiring before you install the windshield. You would be surprised how much you can see and reach...through the cowl vent. :lol:
I know. Not impressed with the wiring harness advertised as the 'best on the market.' Yeah, and how hard is it to make the junction block wiring come out nice? It is the coolest place to see the wiring on these trucks for sure. Hate to cut the wire now and redo it. Of course, like you mentioned, I had to thread that section by the M/C more times than I care to remember. The wires were pretty grimy and greasy when I was done. I didn't wrap them. However, if I did, probably couldn't get them through that eye in the needle. I cleaned them at the junction block with Simple Green which worked ok.

Oh yeah, lots to room through the cowl vent hole. I think I used that on my half-tons. Also...speedometer and dash light sockets last. One can see a lot through the three dash light holes and I can just get my hand through the speedo hole. Happy to have it mostly completed now. Need to wire the M/C now. The new harness doesn't have the nice slide on clips like the other harnesses I've used.

Are you coming to Plymouth next week, or holding out for April?
Zeph

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'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!


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