burmeister

hay guys just need some help putting back my vette. these wires are not connected so I thought I would try to find out if anyone here knew what they are for and if they are important. i attached the pics.any help would be great..


this is a red wire that goes to a relay.


this wire is on the passenger side near the egr tube.

c92vette

Can't help much with the wires. The red one in the first pic looks as if it powers something that draws a lot of current. But without being able to trace it out its hard for me to tell. One thing I did notice though, you have the negative cable connected to the battery and the positive loose. You should have it the other way around for several reasons. The most important one is that when you go to connect the battery by connecting the negative cable first you run the risk of arcing or welding to ground through the positive post while connecting the positive cable. You can burn yourself and or ruin your tools if the wrench comes in contact with the frame while you are trying to hook up the cable. If you connect the negative cable last there is no danger of this and you can save yourself a lot of trouble. Good luck and be safe around electricity, even the 12 volt kind can be dangerous.

coupeguy2001

The red wire coming off the battery should be for stuff like the car alarm, the vats, fan power, mas air burnoff power, etc. but somebody cut the wire, and added the silver resettable breaker on the firewall. I have an 86, and I don't have that.
I would trace the other end of the resettable breaker, and find out what somebody added to your car.

burmeister

thanks guys i wish you guys knew what the other side wires are for.. they are melted? thanks for the info on the battery. i will disconnect it right away. im installing a new starter cause it was drawing major power from something when i went to screw the pos+ in.

toptechx6

I don't have a service manual for an 86 so I can check the wiring diagram, but the melted wires look like they may be a fusible link. Perhaps Agent86 will help out as he often does, good luck.

WVZR-1

Looking at the "snapshots" I believe the first concern needs to be the "top" positive post of the Optima. The post needs a much better insulator than the caps. Perhaps a heavy rubber/neprene coolant hose cap. DO NOT attempt to trim the post! Remove the brace and have it "notched" then the open tubes closed. **See note

Most applications with an Optima I've seen the top post is dangerously close to the brace. Your's appears to be "typical"!

**Read the post by "C92vette" a "couple" times! There's "quality" information there! Good reading!!

burmeister

great guys i would like to talk to agent about the melted wire on the passenger side. as for the battery disconnect the negative and always connect the positive first?

RandyJ75

Yes. And please remember that the electrical system in a Corvette is different from all other cars because the body is plastic.

burmeister

should i connect the 2 wires that look like they were melted?

engle1147

Only if you know exactly where they go and why they were melted in the first place. If you feel you must connect mystery wires atleast put a fuse between the wires before connecting them.

Sryno

Ditto..They didn't melt like that because they like to be close together...something got toasty hot!!!

AGENT 86

Pic 1
Looks like someone has added a circuit breaker to the cooling fan circuit. Got any more pics so we can see better.
http://members.shaw.ca/agent86/Coolant%20Fan.pdf

http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/Co...%20Control.pdf

Pic 2
No idea, looked at schematics for devices on pass side and could not find one with a red wire. Is it red ?? What color before the solder joint ?? Have you followed it to it's end ??

Steve59

I think I'm the 35th owner of my 87 (just kidding). In any event I'm finding miscellaneous "mystery" wires all over the car. I started to try and trace them and gave up. My philosophy now is...if something isn't working then I'll try to fix it....if everything that I know of is working, I'm gonna leave those wires alone. Cap them off if necessary so they don't short something.

engle1147

People do strange things to their cars....no telling what the extent of the OP's issues are from the previous owner/s.

burmeister

agent 86 the wire before it turns red is black on the driver side and the passenger side is grey and then it looks like it was connected to the red.. also i have a question before i knew about the positive wire being off and the ground connected is a no no i tried to connect the red to the battery terminal and it sparked like a mother and had major draw is that because i need the positive wire connected first?

86GoldProject

Yep its completely different from all other cars. Corvette electrical systems are magical.

86GoldProject

I'm assuming that is the wire harness that goes on the passanger side above the valve cover that all the injector wires on that bank come out of correct? If so can you get any more pictures? I looked at my 86 and can't find a single red wire in the that perticular harness on the pass side.. its possible that's something that was added by the previous owner.. Looking at the pic it looks red toward the right hand side of the pic but I don't think I see a red wire on the left of the break in it.. Am I seeing that right?
Edit: looking closer at the pic, well I'm kinda scared. I'm betting that red wire isn't a factory wire.. I also see a bunch of crimp type connectors that are defently not factory... Where does the red wire terminate at?

AGENT 86

Pass side grey wire could be the 5 volt supply from ECM to TPS. There should be 5 volts with ign in "RUN" position. You should be able to follow the red wire to it's end, to verify where it's going.

Drivers side, where does this black wire come from ?? Take some more pics of that side.
Is that a circuit breaker I see bolted to firewall ??

AGENT 86

Oh, as for the sparks when hooking up the pos cable, that would happen to the ground too, if there are devices turned on. The only reason I know for removing the neg cable first, is because there is a risk of shorting the wrench to ground, if you try to remove the pos cable first. Sparks and a cooking hot wrench, are never a good thing.