411 S3 instrument wiring

[Richard Leslie Phillips]

Putting the woodwork back on the dash right now and rather good it looks too...

However, I had a bit of a nightmare with the main instrument panel - I did a phtotgraphic record when removing said items to ensure I knew where all the right wires went....BUT my PC has crashed and I lost all of them. Disaster. I have attempted to do it manually but it is of course impossible. Some lights work, some do not...

Can anyone assist me here? I know it is a long shot but....

Also, I rewired the wiper switch and have everything working, 2 speeds inc washer EXCEPT the wipers will not park, they just stay wherever they are switched off. I assume they are meant to park so what have I missed? All the connectors are on so assume I have two the wrong way round!

[Kevin H]

Richard, the 411 wiring diagrams are on this site in the Resources section - Resources - Bristol Cars - Owners and Enthusiasts Forum

Let me know if you have any further questions as I have the centre dashboard panel out of my 411 at the moment and I drew a diagram of where all the wires went.

I'm not sure exactly where that diagram is right now but I will endeavour to find it!

[Richard Leslie Phillips]

Kevin

Thanks for that - yes I have the wiring diagrams already but a plan would really help - it is the earthing bit I cannot work out at present - a daisy chain to all the instruments.

[Kevin H]

Richard, I'm sorry but only have a diagram for the centre section - where all the switches are, I haven't touched the instrument section. I will have a look at the weekend, if the panel comes away easily I will take some photos of the back and post them on here.

[Richard Leslie Phillips]

Kevin

Very kind - any help very gratefully received on this one...

[Kevin H]

I have the dash section that contains the dials half way out (with speedo cable disconnected), but it's fouling on the steering wheel, and obviously I want it to come out with all the wiring connected.

I have removed the centre boss from the steering wheel, (which I was disappointed to discover was held on with silicone rubber), I have also removed the nut but cannot budge the steering wheel.

I don't have a puller which will go over the steering wheel centre - are there any tricks for getting the steering wheel off?

PS. When I say steering wheel "boss" what I really mean is "centre cap"

[Claude]

Originally Posted by Kevin H

- are there any tricks for getting the steering wheel off?

. Penetrating fluid, sometimes vibration, if it has two threaded holes for a steering wheel puller you can put in bolts and try pulling. But it probably is easier to buy a puller.

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Claude

. Penetrating fluid, sometimes vibration, if it has two threaded holes for a steering wheel puller you can put in bolts and try pulling. But it probably is easier to buy a puller.

Thanks Claude. I have now managed to lay the dash panel down on top of the steering column without removing the steering wheel - I forgot I needed to disconnect the odometer reset cable and the oil pressure gauge feed.

It was a bit more work than I anticipated (it always is), but not such a bad thing because I found that the oil feed connector to the oil pressure gauge was barely finger tight - got enough oil leaks on my engine without one behind the dash!

I have taken some photos which I will upload in a couple of hours (no time right now).

[Kevin H]

Richard,
As you can see I have added some photos to my previous post in this thread. Let me know if you need anything else.

They will enlarge bigger than the default image view.

Kevin

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Richard Leslie Phillips

- it is the earthing bit I cannot work out at present - a daisy chain to all the instruments.

The exact sequence in which the earths are connected to the instruments doesn't matter so long as the connections are sound.

As you can see, on my car some of the instrument securing brackets have been used as common earth "posts" where several earth wires come together held in place by a knurled nut. These present a good opportunity for poor connections and on my car the knurled nuts were not very tight, however they all check out okay with an ohm meter. The black earth wire goes into the loom by the ammeter.

In the photos, the oil pressure gauge appears to not be earthed, but it is, the black wire is attached to a tag which is folded down one side of the gauge so it's not obvious in the photo. Of course the pressure gauge is mechanical so the earth is only required for instrument lighting.

One thing to be aware of when looking at my photos is that the wiring colours are correct up to the bullet connectors, but in some cases the wires from the connectors to the instruments are the wrong colours. It's difficult to tell if they were once correct, but the wiring all appears to be the same vintage.

The 40 year old bullet connectors aren't the best!

What specific problems are you having? (what's not working?)

By the way, my 411 is a series 5, but I would be surprised is any of this was different to the S3.

[Richard Leslie Phillips]

many thanks...nearly there now. Am still hoping to make the Concours in Greenwhich on sunday...

MOT this week - first for 14 years.