64 Riviera Wiring problems , am i on the right track ?

[Guest Mac55]

Hi Fellas , My name is Mac and im from central illinois , Always been into old cars and just picked up myy first riviera a couple weeks ago in the form of a 64 .  thanks for a wonderful site . It seems everytime i search google for an answer it brings me here so i figured i need to make an account . I am a new owner of a 64 Riviera . From what i can tell , the car has a 66 401 in it and is an all around nice driver as it sits . I bought the car knowing it had some problems , when i looked under the hood the Regulator was unplugged and the water pump had given up the ghost . So while i was changing the water pump , i went ahead and did an alternator and Regulator along with a new regulator plug . Here is where things start getting tricky for me .

 

 So the Amp light never shuts off , the ALT is charging most deffinately so i can drive it , but when things are not right , it bugs me , and that little orange glow on the dash does not let me forget that " Its not right " .... So after searching here on this forum , i learn what makes the Amp light up etc , so i do the test i read on here by turning the key to the on position and see if the light comes on , Well it did , but very very very dimly . As soon as i start the car , it gets bright because its sending 12v to the otherside of the bulb . Shut the car off and it goes dim again with the key in the on POS .

 

So i go to start the car today and this is really driving me nuts . However , something new happened , When i turned the ignition on the light got bright and the " Cold" light lit up on the temp light . " That has never happened " and then it went out and flicked on and off a couple times . Now when the Cold light clicked on , The AMP light would get bright and when the cold light went off , well the AMP light got really dim .  So now im worried that there is something going on there that might not let my " Idiot Lights " work when the car may be over heating and i wont know it . 

 

Well it was 25 degrees out but i had no room in the shop and i had had enough so in the driveway , i pulled the cover below the ign switch while sitting in the driver seat , i stick my hand up there to grab the plug and see if i can move it and recreate the flicker but nothing happens . When i pull my hand out , this black wire followed me out . Now it is coming from the same harness that goes to the ignition switch , however i cant find where the wire is heading to . or where it should be . When i lay on my back and look up there , i see nowhere for it to plug in . If i still had hair , this is where i would pull it out .

 

Now to compound my confusion , i found a link on here to wiring diagrams , I found the one for a 64 Riviera and it shows the 64 having a 6 pole ignition switch , so i look at it to get a good handle on wires and i go out and look and mine has a 5 pole swith , and then i find a youtube video of a guy with an nos 64 ignition switch and he says that 64's and 5's are 5 pole and only 63's are 6 pole . .... Sorry  for rambling .

 

Ill post a couple pictures below of the wire that followed me out , notice it has a broken off Silver spade end still in it , i cannot for the life of me see where it goes and with the wire being so short , i figured it would be close by . 

[Seafoam65]

                            The wire goes on the relay in your picture. Look at the relay and you will note the empty hole in the plug where it goes.

The spade broke off the relay and is still lodged in the female end of the wire. I don't know what that relay does but you need a new one.

Welcome aboard and everyone here on the forum would encourage you to join the Riviera Owners Association......a must to get the full enjoyment of owning an early Riviera. Perhaps someone else on the forum can tell us what this relay does..........

Edited December 15, 2017 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[Guest Mac55]

Wow . when laying down , i could not see that relay , i just held my phone down and took a picture from infront of the seat . I just went out and looked up in there and saw that relay . ...  Now for the question . Does anyone know what that relay does ?

 

I just went out again and looked at the wires running to my ignition switch , i have a red , brown , purple , pink , one wrapped in a white cloth and a green and green with white stripe .

[1965rivgs]

Hi Mac,

  Welcome to the forum. I dont have an answer to all your questions at this time but I can comment on a couple...

  It is normal for the cold light to come on and flicker on and off as the engine warms up. Basically, the temp switch is making contact on and off as the coolant temp fluctuates at the threshold level. So, no problem there. If it makes you feel any better, or to give your hairline a break, most cold lights are non functional so the fact yours works is encouraging.

  Re the amp light, as you obviously know voltage on both sides of the bulb keeps the light off. There are multiple reasons for the amp light from wiring to the main components. The fact that your amp light is dimly glowing and you are still charging leads me to believe you may have a bad diode in your new alternator. Just a thought....

  Tom Mooney

[Guest Mac55]

Thanks Tom , I had never seen the " Cold Light " , thought it was pretty neat when it came on . Never has done it before and has not done it since ha ha .

 

The Amp light is only dim when i have the key in the " On " position . when i start the car it gets bright because as much as i can figure , the voltage reg is sending the 12 volts to the other side of the bulb . Its gets brighter if i rev it up ... It is only dim when the engine is off and the key is in the on position .

 

[Seafoam65]

                       Tom and Mac, I had this same problem with the amp light on my car after I changed out the regulator and alternator on my car. All

it was is that there was green corrosion on the regulator connector brass terminals on the wiring harness. After trying two different alternators

and two different regulators, I cleaned the terminals on the regulator plug with WD 40, plugged and unplugged the regulator connector several times and it's been

fine ever since.

Edited December 15, 2017 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[KongaMan]

1. That might be the buzzer rather a relay.  If it is the buzzer, it appears to have both wires in place.

2. The black wire in question may be the ground wire for the ignition light.  Does that lamp light up?

[Guest Mac55]

No Konga , it does not  There is a bulb there with one grey wire running to it . ill check it in the morning because in the diagram , it shows a black wire running to it also . 

 

[KongaMan]

I *think* (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) that the ignition lamp is mounted on a keyed ring that goes around the ignition switch.  If this wire does go to that light, remove the ignition switch and drop the ring out through the access panel rather than try to futz with it in place.