70chev Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Hey everybody! Today I kind of had an unpleasant experience. I was entering the freeway speeding up with my turn signal on, and my engine died. After I got the car towed back home, I realized that the fuse blew for the turn signals, and that is also the fuse that powers the distributor that’s plugged into the fuse box. (IGN spot) I did find some questionable wiring and repaired it and everything is back to normal now, but I’m still not really sure if I found the problem. Is that correct to have the ignition spot on the fuse box powered by the turn signal fuse or is there something going on there? My Monte is a 70 if that makes any difference. It has no power options and no air-conditioning. So my question is, is there a better way to power the distributor rather than just plugging it into that spot on the fuse box? I would ideally like to have the power to the distributor on its own fuse. I’m not really great with this kind of stuff so any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC1of80 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Hey Wayne, HEI distributors need a 12v constant keyed power source. Meaning you should have constant 12v with the ignition key turned on only. There may be a terminal on your fuse block, between the banks of fuses, where power accessories would have been plugged into. I would find one that has 12v switched power and tap into that for the HEI distributor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bell Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Yes, there is a better way. Install an in-line fuse holder at the battery, connected to the battery positive. Mount a relay somewhere on the firewall and a 12 gauge wire to it from the fuse holder. Use the IGN feed to trigger the relay. Then feed the HEI. Fuse it at 25 amps. Run the wire carefully. All this takes the load of the ignition out of the fuse box-and the load of all the body lights. A direct battery feed is always better and more reliable. This makes it easy: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Auto-DC-12V-Volt-30-40A-Automotive-4-Pin-4-Wire-Relay-Socket-30amp-40amp-US/183631568498?hash=item2ac14b5e72:g:SToAAOSwqoxcOKhy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70chev Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 12 minutes ago, Paul Bell said: Yes, there is a better way. Install an in-line fuse holder at the battery, connected to the battery positive. Mount a relay somewhere on the firewall and a 12 gauge wire to it from the fuse holder. Use the IGN feed to trigger the relay. Then feed the HEI. Fuse it at 25 amps. Run the wire carefully. All this takes the load of the ignition out of the fuse box-and the load of all the body lights. A direct battery feed is always better and more reliable. This makes it easy: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Auto-DC-12V-Volt-30-40A-Automotive-4-Pin-4-Wire-Relay-Socket-30amp-40amp-US/183631568498?hash=item2ac14b5e72:g:SToAAOSwqoxcOKhy So if I were to go this route, if the fuse blew for the turn signals again, the car would still continue to run? Sorry if that’s a dumb question...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bell Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 hour ago, 70chev said: So if I were to go this route, if the fuse blew for the turn signals again, the car would still continue to run? Sorry if that’s a dumb question...... It's never a dumb question! You originally stated that the HEI was on the IGN tab on the fuse box which we see is fed from with the turn signal fuse. I would assume you overloaded the circuit with the load of the turn signals and the HEI. Removing the HEI from this circuit would reduce the amps on the fuse. The HEI would now have it's own independent feed. HOWEVER, if the turn signal fuse blew for some other reason such as a bare or worn through wire grounding somewhere, it could happen again. Remember, it's this circuit that triggers the new relay. So, if the fuse blows again, the relay opens and the HEI loses power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70chev Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Ok thanks Paul. 😁 I was not sure if there was a way to get away from the turn signal fuse. It has been plugged in there since 2004. However, when my brother put the new front bumper on 10 years ago, he somehow managed to run the wires and connectors under the battery tray. We corrected that today. Is there anyway the distributor could malfunction somehow and overloaded the fuse? Idk if that is even possible, but I was just thinking about the different scenarios. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70chev Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Am I using 12 gauge wire for all the connections off the relay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bell Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 Sorry for the delayed response. It's said that a HEI distributor runs at 5 amps but many say it can spike as high as 20 amps so it's usually put on a 25 amp circuit. 12 gauge is only needed for the battery power in and distributor feed wires. You can feed the coil with much smaller like 18 gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70chev Posted April 26, 2020 Author Share Posted April 26, 2020 Thanks Paul! I did exactly as you said, and I am up and running! Worked like a charm! 😊 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bell Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 15 hours ago, Paul Bell said: 12 gauge is only needed for the battery power in and distributor feed wires. You can feed the coil with much smaller like 18 gauge. Wayne, I realize this might not be very clear. These smaller 18 gauge wires are for the trigger coil on the relay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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