Brown wire surgery.

katsi · Post by **katsi** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 5:55 pm

Thanks for posting the info on the brown wire surgery. I got my 10 gague wire and the instructions seem easy enough. I'm going to start tonight. Wait for my late night post tonight on how to rewire a burnt out Fiat.

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:33 am

Good luck with it. It sounds pretty straight forward and I didn't hear you yell last night so I guess you didn't have a problem.

mbouse · Post by **mbouse** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:49 am

hopefully, you read the footnote on why not to test the battery like we used to do with the ole 9V transistor batteries.

katsi · Post by **katsi** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:21 pm

mdrburchette wrote:Good luck with it. It sounds pretty straight forward and I didn't hear you yell last night so I guess you didn't have a problem.

Got my wire, instructions and 6 pack all ready to do the surgery. But, the wife had a completly different idea on how to spend the evening. I went with hers

! Hopefully, she won't let me work on the Fiat tonight either but, I doubt it. Look for the late night post tonight.

spiderrey · Post by **spiderrey** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:38 pm

this brown wire mod is something i should have done along time ago. now theres 3 cars out there that could benefit from this. since ill be out there most of the day due to no work again, maybe ill get it done on my spider.

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:03 pm

Let me know how it works on your early model and X rey. I might be pursauded to do it too.

jimincalif · Post by **jimincalif** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 4:44 pm

Shouldn't the new wire be fused? I didn't see anything about this in the write-up.

pope · Post by **pope** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 4:55 pm

If you have an 80 FI, the brown wire is already installed at the factory, to help supplement the computer and electronics along with a higher amp alternator. This trick is for the carbbed versions of the Spider.
Brown wire does not need a fuse as it is a raw supply.

racydave · Post by **racydave** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:46 pm

I think what the issue is that in the stock set up, there is to much current passing thru the ignition circut, and that is what powers the fuse box. On the repair, the ignition feed is a input to the relay( less than .5 amp ) which provides another source for power. I would use the starter for the source instead of the alternator, as the Battery cable goes there. For my conversion, I ran a fused wire from the battery thru a much insulated passage to the dash, where I fused the separate items and installed relays. One relay was sufficient for the headlights.

katsi · Post by **katsi** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 9:51 am

Half done. Got the wire through the grommet and secured it firmly to the battery cable in about 25 places with a combo of electrical tape and zip ties (pulled battery out - sitting on garage shelf). Problem finishing - apparently, the 5.95 coil of 10 gague wire from auto zone is only 8ft long. So, I got it to about mid door jam b4 running out of wire. I guess It's back to auto zone on the way home for more wire to finish up. Also, I will pick up a new battery terminal while I'm at it.

Finally - tech question here - the purpose is to circumvent the ignition right? Therefor, that would pretty much leave the electrical circuits "live" at all times right?

mbouse · Post by **mbouse** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:45 am

jimincalif wrote:Shouldn't the new wire be fused? I didn't see anything about this in the write-up.

does no good to fuse the new wire, as the original wire is not fused.

mbouse · Post by **mbouse** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:49 am

katsi wrote:Finally - tech question here - the purpose is to circumvent the ignition right? Therefor, that would pretty much leave the electrical circuits "live" at all times right?

if you are piggy-backing the existing brown wire at the ignition switch, or attaching the new wire to the spare #30 terminal, the connection will be on the same side of the ignition switch as the original wire.

meaning, it will be a switched 12v source just like the original wire, and NO it will not power equipment all the time (if properly connected); only when the key is switched on.

racydave · Post by **racydave** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:48 pm

Does no good to fuse the new wire as the old one was not fused? Unless you want to build a better vehicle... Id use a 10 amp fuse If its just headlamps. Modern vehicles are built this way.

NebraskaSpider · Post by **NebraskaSpider** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 8:42 pm

I started my surgery today, as my interior is out of the car awaiting new carpet. I didnt have enough wire today so Ill have to pick some up tomorrow but Im hoping my blinkers will now work while Im braking and while my headlights are on. Were anyones blinkers working better after their surgery? I have already cleaned my grounds and added a new heavy ground to the block.

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 8:45 pm

It still sounds like you have a grounding issue. I don't know what year model you have, but I found a bad ground on mine at the rear marker light.

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