I am not sure how much on this car is controlled by the computer but let me just jump into my problem :
I purchased this 350 swapped 82 elky and the wiring harness is a mess in the engine bay. After replacing the intake manifold I have realize just how much of the wiring harness is UNPLUGGED. There is no home for these loose connectors and I'm ready to just rip it all out, I've already begun. I see that two large bundles of wire enter the cabin near the firewall on the pass. side corner and then connect to the "computer" i'm guessing which was sitting behind a panel under the dash in the pass. foot area.
I have probably more than half of the wires from one of the bundles which connect to nothing and the rest seem to kind of go behind the motor but I cant really determine where they lead to.
Can anyone tell me just the basics of what NEEDS TO BE CONNECTED, like the essentials. or lead me to a wiring diagram? Because I'm starting to think that none of this is doing anything and I can rip out the harness and clean up the engine bay possibly. I wouldnt rip out anything that clearly goes to a sensor or anything but I am trying to get rid of the emissions stuff and clean up the bay.
here's some pictures of the mess.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v43/Chill/10-21012.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v43/Chill/10-21013.jpg

I read on montecarloss.com that the wiring harness is a 2 piece. the computer being separate from lights, ignition, all that. I looked on my 86 though and it appears to be all connected. I haven't investigated much though. if no one else can help I'll look closer tomorrow.

Do you have to have emissions tests where you live? What kind of carb are you running? If it's the Rochester that came on your Elky, it's controlled by the computer. Anything thats related to the computer thats not connected will cause the check engine light to come on. That includes the O2 sensor, the temp sensor, throttle position sensor, mixture control solenoid, AC compressor and others.

If you need to meet emissions, all the smog stuff needs to be hooked up and working.

I believe some states and counties don't require vehicles that are 25 years or older to have emissions tests. There are owners on this site that can advise you what needs to be done to eliminate the smog equipment....
doug

As per your pics, if you have that many wires already disconnected on the passenger side, I would think that the ECM is already non-functioning. But before you go clipping wires, what kind of distributor and carb are you using? Among other things, the ECM controls timing and fuel mixture...are any wires (other than an electric choke) connected to your carb, and do you have an HEI (big cap with the coil on top) or vacuum controlled distributor...pics of the carb and distributor would probably make it easy for us to determine if the ECM is non-functioning. If a previous owner dropped in a 350, it may be an older setup, and he may have disconnected the ECM...if you can contact him, ask him what was done to the motor. If you have emissions testing/inspecting in your area, you may very well be in for a surprise...and not a good one.

We have emissions testing but I may be exempt although i'm not sure, and I certainly dont care...It'd be much easier at this point to just get rid of it than try to hook it all back up so that is what i am trying to do here.

as far as the distributor, it has 2 plugs that plug into it and the coil is inside the cap as far as I remember.

I am running the stock carb but plan on upgrading there's about one wire running to it but the chances that what it goes to is working is slim.

The 02 sensor isnt plugged in and if the temp sensor sits on the back of the motor, i believe that IS plugged in. I would like to keep my a/c as well...I figured these were fairly simple set-ups but for an american car this is kind of surprising to me. I figured the carb controlled the a/f mixture, distributor controlled the timing and that was it. I got this car in "rough" shape so I doubt i'm about to create any problems since they have all already been created.

i found a pic on my comp of the carb and distributor.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v43/Chill/elcamino001.jpg

That's not a computer controlled carburetor or distributor. The distributor has a vacuum advance and the carb doesn't have a mixture control solenoid or a throttle position sensor.

thanks for the confirmation. Im curious what the computer DOES control though cause im trying to rip these nasty wires out.

does the tranny have anything to do with this computer?

The only other thing the computer would control is a lockup torque convertor clutch for the tranny. I doubt you have one in your 82.

I de-computerized my beater 87 and it runs OK. It's got the same things that's are on your 350, an aftermarket HEI distributor and a 79 Q-jet. I didn't rip out the old harness. I just folded it back towards the heater box and tie-wrapped it up neatly. My nice 87's engine is still 100% CCC.

what is CCC? Do you have any pictures of your engine bay? I feel like the only reason my elky runs the way it does is due to the beat up carb but we will see.

and you think my distributor looks aftermarket? i put a new cap and rotor on it a couple months ago from autozone purcased for the 82 elky and it all fit perfectly.

The only other thing the computer would control is a lockup torque convertor clutch for the tranny. I doubt you have one in your 82.

I de-computerized my beater 87 and it runs OK. It's got the same things that's are on your 350, an aftermarket HEI distributor and a 79 Q-jet. I didn't rip out the old harness. I just folded it back towards the heater box and tie-wrapped it up neatly. My nice 87's engine is still 100% CCC.

what is CCC? Do you have any pictures of your engine bay? I feel like the only reason my elky runs the way it does is due to the beat up carb but we will see.

and you think my distributor looks aftermarket? i put a new cap and rotor on it a couple months ago from autozone purcased for the 82 elky and it all fit perfectly.

CCC= Computer Command Control

ah i see. thanks 8)

Chris -- When I purchased my '83 Elky, the P.O. had installed a crate 350 bolted to the Turbo 350 tranny. It had an HEI distributor and an Edelbrock 600 cfm carb with electric choke and vacuum advance, very similar to your engine set up. I also had a bunch of similar wires tucked loosely behind the passenger wheel well that were originally intended for the 305 emissions controls, etc. It was pretty sloppy looking and some wires were cut and it was beyond simple repair. I removed the computer from behind the kick panel and pulled out the unnecessary wires and covered the access hole with sheet metal.

To confirm that nothing is still connected to your computer that would affect performance, simply unplug the connector to the computer box and see if anything is different in operation. If not, you should be free to pull the old wires and clean up the engine bay. Your a/c and heater wiring should be in a separate bundle on the side of the valve covers, so don't pull any of those out. All of this hinges on the fact that your state doesn't not require emissions testing for a car of that vintage. Massachusetts does not test emissions on cars built before 1984, so I was safe in doing this.

With the 350 you have, it probably won't pass emissions testing if you don't have all the sensors, etc installed on the 350 engine. Good luck and write back with what the final outcome turns out to be.

thanks, i think i'll try that. this 350 swap looks like a real hack-job did it...some of the ghetto-rigging i've seen on this car just blows my mind.
is my distributor considered HEI? and does your distributor also have the plugs that plug into the side of it (to the coil i'm guessing)?


Chris -- When I purchased my '83 Elky, the P.O. had installed a crate 350 bolted to the Turbo 350 tranny. It had an HEI distributor and an Edelbrock 600 cfm carb with electric choke and vacuum advance, very similar to your engine set up. I also had a bunch of similar wires tucked loosely behind the passenger wheel well that were originally intended for the 305 emissions controls, etc. It was pretty sloppy looking and some wires were cut and it was beyond simple repair. I removed the computer from behind the kick panel and pulled out the unnecessary wires and covered the access hole with sheet metal.

To confirm that nothing is still connected to your computer that would affect performance, simply unplug the connector to the computer box and see if anything is different in operation. If not, you should be free to pull the old wires and clean up the engine bay. Your a/c and heater wiring should be in a separate bundle on the side of the valve covers, so don't pull any of those out. All of this hinges on the fact that your state doesn't not require emissions testing for a car of that vintage. Massachusetts does not test emissions on cars built before 1984, so I was safe in doing this.

With the 350 you have, it probably won't pass emissions testing if you don't have all the sensors, etc installed on the 350 engine. Good luck and write back with what the final outcome turns out to be.

alright elkycentral is back for the 2nd time yay!
I unplugged the computer and nothing seemed to change really. at first the a/c wasnt turning on but I didnt know if it was computer related I plugged the comp back in, a/c worked when i turned it on again, unplugged the computer and the a/c works fine... :-| :dontknow:

anyway I noticed some of the wires go down to the transmission , 2 at least. Anyone know what these are for? I have yet to actually drive the car with the comp unplugged but I'm fairly confident its junk.

thanks for yalls help on everything

Hi,

The wires going to the transmission are for the lockup torque converter, which I guarantee isn't locking up since the CCC isn't able to control the air/fuel mixture of the Q-Jet that used to be on the 305. The fact the O2 sensor is unplugged prevents the CCC from controlling the mixture as well, so the bottom line is you can remove the plug from the transmission. You could wire a switch to the transmission connector to manually engage the lockup, but you'd have to remember to switch it off when you slow down which would be a hassle.

You may be better off in the long run getting a wiring harness from Painless or one of the companies making them and completely replace the wiring in the car and just completely eliminate the computer harness altogether. It would be safer and cleaner in the long run.

i have a 85 elky with 383 stroker motor i built and th350 tranny
i removed the wiring from the computor to eng bay completely with no problems as far as your lockup conv in your trans goes bowtieoverdrive sells a nice kit for this that works off the brake lights good luck with your project

I ran my '84 for a while with a Holley 650 carb and the computer removed. I just used a switch for torque converter lockup--it only locks up in 3rd gear so didn't kill the engine if I forgot to turn it off.