Can you tell me what this connector is for?

[Richard the old one]

Looking at both of my 1977 built 1500HLs they have an unused single wire electrical connector adjacent to the three vent fan connectors but when I look at my other two 1500HL built in 1980 /1981 this is missing. It is difficult to see the colour of the cable but I think it could be white with a pink tracer. I will attach a photo.

[bazyerma]

Looking at both of my 1977 built 1500HLs they have an unused single wire electrical connector adjacent to the three vent fan connectors but when I look at my other two 1500HL built in 1980 /1981 this is missing. It is difficult to see the colour of the cable but I think it could be white with a pink tracer. I will attach a photo.

Hi, if its under the ignition coil, My 1975 1500 TC has that as well.

Regards

Barry

[Carledo]

It's a spare ignition/auxiliary lead like the one that feeds the radio. In fact, it's fed off the ignition switch position 1, I'm not sure what the purpose is, i've never seen one used for anything! I suppose you could use it to power an electric radio arial so you could listen to the radio without having the engine running.

Steve

[MIG Wielder]

That White / Pink wire has an interesting story behind it. It was typically fitted to all B.L. cars so that the old style valve ( remember those ?) radios could be run without the engine running. They used to take a lot of current and if they were wired to the "always live" feed, then if you left it on, the battery would go flat quite quickly. So as Steve said they ran the feed through the AUX contacts of the Ignition switch so you had to be in the car with the keys for the radio to operate.
Now early Sprints < 15000 only have the single radio wire but the heater motor is permanently wired to work through the AUX position.
Now on the later Sprints > 15,000 there was also a 2nd Pink / White wire supplied which could optionally be wired to operate the heater blower motor also from the AUX switch position.
1850's seem to be wired in the same way so I imagine 1500's and 1300's are wired similarly.
These days modern radios take much less current so leaving the radio on for long periods is less of a problem.

Tony.

[Carledo]

That White / Pink wire has an interesting story behind it. It was typically fitted to all B.L. cars so that the old style valve ( remember those ?) radios could be run without the engine running. They used to take a lot of current and if they were wired to the "always live" feed, then if you left it on, the battery would go flat quite quickly. So as Steve said they ran the feed through the AUX contacts of the Ignition switch so you had to be in the car with the keys for the radio to operate.
Now early Sprints < 15000 only have the single radio wire but the heater motor is permanently wired to work through the AUX position.
Now on the later Sprints > 15,000 there was also a 2nd Pink / White wire supplied which could optionally be wired to operate the heater blower motor also from the AUX switch position.
1850's seem to be wired in the same way so I imagine 1500's and 1300's are wired similarly.
These days modern radios take much less current so leaving the radio on for long periods is less of a problem.

Tony.

I remember valve radios well, I had several factory Ford badged ones in the succession of MkII Zephyrs and Zodiacs I owned in the 70s and 80s. They were very sought after by the marque afficionados, not only for originality, but for the lovely sound quality they produced. Massive things with an equally enormous amplifier pack bolted to the back. The radio would run the battery down quicker than leaving the headlights on!

Steve

[dollyman]

They used to take ages to "warm" up before you got a peep out of them as well..... But the sound.....

Tony.

[bazyerma]

It's a spare ignition/auxiliary lead like the one that feeds the radio. In fact, it's fed off the ignition switch position 1, I'm not sure what the purpose is, i've never seen one used for anything! I suppose you could use it to power an electric radio arial so you could listen to the radio without having the engine running.

Steve

Could I use it to power an electric fuel pump? I have a spare Weber carb one, and I don't trust my repo new pump?

Regards

Barry

[soe8m]

No, I would use a fuel pump relay. The feed you can take directly from the battery then and the pump will cut out when the engine is not running.

Jeroen.

[Carledo]

It's a spare ignition/auxiliary lead like the one that feeds the radio. In fact, it's fed off the ignition switch position 1, I'm not sure what the purpose is, i've never seen one used for anything! I suppose you could use it to power an electric radio arial so you could listen to the radio without having the engine running.

Steve

Could I use it to power an electric fuel pump? I have a spare Weber carb one, and I don't trust my repo new pump?

Regards

Barry

Not suitable for use with an electric fuel pump as it goes live even before ignition on. Simplest way to run an electric pump is to take a wire off the unfused (white wire) ignition terminal of the fusebox amd run it to the pump via a dedicated inline fuse.

There are a variety of "smart" ways of wiring the pump via a relay that can prime the carbs before starting and cut the supply if the engine stops to avoid flooding. Such a relay can be pulled from a modern EFi car and used according to the modern car's wiring diagram. the difference in pump power will not affect its action. But it's quite a faff in wiring terms.

Steve

[soe8m]

Not really that difficult wiring such a relay. You can use "modern" relays from K and L jetronic cars. I use Escort Mk3 relays as these have a std 5 pin layout fitting in a std socket. It's +bat as main feed, ignition+ for prime, ignition coil- for on/off, ground and fuel pump.

I'm not fitting or retrofitting an electric fuel pump without such a relay.

Jeroen.

[bazyerma]

Hi

Thanks for the info, next question, were to fit it, in the engine bay or next to the engine where hard pipe enters the engine bay?

Regads

Barry

[Carledo]

The majority of aftermarket electric fuel pumps are designed to fit nearer the tank, either in the boot or under the boot floor. Best to check the instructions if you still have them! Another tip, rubber mount the fuel pump! A solidly mounted pump will make an unholy racket!

Steve

[Richard the old one]

I should not have gone out to have a play and to check on my two cars that have this spare connection as I discovered one is live,has 12volts,on it all the time. The other car is as per stated above becomes live when the ignition switch is switched to the first position and stays live when the ignition is switched on. All the electrics seems to be working fine on both cars so it is a bit strange.

On the one that is working correctly I was thinking it could be used to supply an electronic ignition that needs a 12v supply as it is so close to the distributor and would save running a new cable from the fuse box. What do the experts think about that?

On the one that is live all the time I did wonder if the radio had been connected incorrectly but it will not work unless the ignition switch is turned to its first position so its seems to be correct. There could be a problem in the ignition switch but I am looking for suggestions as to possible causes.

[soe8m]

I believe that this particularly wire like most accessory wires is not live during cranking so not suitable as an ignition feed.

Jeroen