[OLD GEEZER RICHARD]

I need some NECOA Wisdom oke:last Sat. I wased and cleaned up the Old 80 and I needed to clean the engine so I used this engine de-greaser ... I sprayed the engine , the intake manifold , valve covers , down the side of the heads and I MADE SURE I sprayed NOTHING ON THE WIRES or dist. ... but I did spray the back of the engine and bell housing and all along the fire wall ... I rinsed the engine and everything off real good with low pressure and now my tack and my radio don't work and the gas gauge ... I sprayed this de-greaser all along the firewall and there were some wires coming out of the firewall that are sealed ... I jiggled and poked and pushed on wires and NOTHING came back to life ... the car is running good but and OK ... any ideas what the hell did I do wrong .... Thanks the Geezer :nanawrench:

 

[Guest]

Did you leave the engine running when you washed the engine bay down?
Also did you try to remove and put the tach wire back into the distributor?

 

[464elky]

Richard I can see the tach maybe quit but the radio and the gas gauge wiring is all behind the firewall. Sounds like you are a victim of coincidence.

 

[DONE DEAL DONNY]

Start with fuses, always check the east stuff first!!:beer:
Donny

 

[horseman]

Then check your grounds!!!oke:

 

[ccc]

the tach wire goes through the firewall behind and to the right of the dist.looks like a capaciter with a wire from each end. unplug it from the dist and plug it back in. grab the lower right corner of the dash pod and shake it to move the pod connector and see if they come back up. if not check the ground at the left lower corner of the dash mounting bolt,just above the parking brake when released

 

[pbouker]

I would venture that all will be well. I think liquids got thru your harness and is grounding all mentioned.
I suggest time and a good baking under the Sun with windows open for a week or two will resolve everything.
- With your fuses checked of course.

The opptimistic view :yell:

 

[dntknwhw2b]

If you have a HEMI distributor there is a wire that goes to the tach that requiers a exzact amout of juice. If it's not there it can mess things up.

 

[Bryan59EC]

HEMI distributors don't usually fit on a Chevyoke:

Heh heh heh

 

[OLD GEEZER RICHARD]

Thank you all for the suggestions and I figure with the rain coming in tonight and tomorrow and the rest of the weekend , that extra rain water just might do a little wash job under the hood while driving and wash off ANY left over de-greaser ... I'll check the fuse box and trace the wires thru the fire wall after the rain next week during my Spring Break ... and Beasty my good friend , I NEVER WASH AN ENGINE BAY OR AN ENGINE WHEN ITS RUNNING :dontknow: and yes I took all those little wires off the dist. and pluged them back in .... I'll try some tuner cleaner at those little plug in's on the dist. ...... Thanks again , The Geezer:nanawrench:

 

[horseman]

Old timers trick is to spray distributors with WD40 when washing the engine, as it is a water repellant. Might help if nothing else does, to spray any electrical areas and see if it helps.

 

[gilby]

Old timers trick is to spray distributors with WD40 when washing the engine, as it is a water repellant. Might help if nothing else does, to spray any electrical areas and see if it helps.

..I did that once,the dist. cap blew off of the disturber..something with vapors and a spark..oke::beer:

 

[Beepster]

"Radio & Tach quit working " Dang, boy, I buy ya books and send ya to skule, and 40-years later, ya still be in skule. My suggestions also include the fuses, and taking the tach lead and blowing the HEI connection out, and the connector to it. Radio is on the ACCY fuse, but maybe sum moisture dun came down da antenneai wire, and it dun shorted out any reception. It's a pain, but it's a thought to do. Gas gauge?? Maybe ya be outta gas...........Uhhhh make that the Elky outta gas.

It's been drizziling here all day (and most of yesterday). Just open the hood, and let ol' Momsie finish washin' out dat underside!!!!:twisted:

 

[OLD GEEZER RICHARD]

Hey CCC , my tack is mounted on the left piller by the windshield its not the stock tack in the dash .... I checked all the fuses and none of them were even corroded or blown .... I'm thinking its the junction of wires on the fire wall below the power brake diaphram that feed into the fuse block .... I sprayed the two HEI connectors with tuner cleaner , just in case they might have some de-greaser on the contact parts and plugged them back in and NOTHING ..... I'm gonna trace the wires from the tack that go thru the left corner of the dash towards the fire wall and see if the ground is OK .... I'm replacing all my grounds with BRAND NEW CABLES if it ever stops raining :dontknow: .... And when I figure out the tack problem , then the radio is next ..... I started my Spring Break today and all next week to snoop around .... Thanks again for the suggestions , the Geezer:nanawrench:

 

[DONE DEAL DONNY]

Aftermarket tack only has 4 wires (if it has a light)
One+, one-, one to the light, and one to the dizzy. It it don't do anything I'd suspect the hot or ground. Hot is probably going to fuse box.
Does your have a back light? If so does it work?
Donny

 

[OLD GEEZER RICHARD]

Hey Donnie Dude Donnie , the tack don't move and the little lite don't come on :dontknow: and neither does the radio :dontknow: .... I see only three wires , one is hot the other is to the tack and third is ground ... SOOOOO WHENEVER IT FRIGGIN STOPS RAINING HERE:let_it_all_out:I'll have a chance to do some tracing .... Its either NO power OR no ground :dontknow: ... all the fuses look new , no corrosion or anything .... AND when I finally figure out this problems then I need to see about fixing the stupid heater / defroster heat to come on :secret: ... I don't know what this lever looks like thats missing .... I gots all next week IF it don't rain !!!!!! and the weather guy says it gonna rain AGAIN next week again down here :smileyb: .... stay tuned Brother DDD .... Thanks the Geezer