she died again........@$^@#^...just need to vent a little

[Bullitt-]

 But some dem Biyotchs likes 2be treated like Hoes

Any chance you remember the dimensions for that screw?

No but I just measured ... looks like a Philips  pan head sheet metal screw.
Shaft is 1.75 long .128 diameter, threads .163 diameter & A flat washer .5" diameter

[shadango]

Thanks Bullit....will be looking for a screw that will work....

In the meantime I did a google on "Bill Evans wiring".....I was surprised with what I found....There seem to be a lot of folks complaining about bad connections,especially at the bulkhead, if you google Bill Evans wiring.

I guess I should have done more research before buying.....seems like there are no negative posts about M&H from year one.... 

On one hand, good support as far as looking at it a year later...on the other hand, have had issues from day one.

So for me the jury is out.

I purchased a new harness to avoid the issue of possible harness problems......so not real happy to have had to solder stuff up on a brand new harness....and now to have more unexplained issues....well....

The more I stew on this the more peeved I am.....in one email I was told that "sometimes the crimper wears out and the crimps arent tight enough".  Obvious in my case when two bulkhead wires were found to be barely hanging on....Cant they test for that before shipping? What kind of quality control is that? And then to find out that many others apparantly have had this issue, back in to 2009....seems like they would be watching specifically for that issue!

No idea how long it will take to get my harness back....but figured I best have them go over the harness before looking for issues elsewhere.  Bill had said the same thing.....

Then, the kicker....I sent it back via next day air two days ago after being told I shouldn't wait because they will be kneee deep in shows soon....then found out today that bill is out of town...so I wasted next day air fees. And my car is dead as is all testing till he gets back, looks at my harness and makes his move.

 

I am not a very patient guy....LOL

[CHL2T]

After reading this thread, I feel that the problem most likely lies with your ammeter.
When I lost spark on my Challenger, I went through all of the very same stuff see "suddenly lost spark" in another thread for that. Anyhow, with a test gauge hooked into the switched power on the fusebox, reach up behind the dash (if possible) and wiggle the ammeter wires while keeping your eye on the tester.

After replacing every last facking thing including the ignition switch I finally found the ammeter was toast by accident after doing the above test as a shot in the dark.
Good Luck

[shadango]

After reading this thread, I feel that the problem most likely lies with your ammeter.
When I lost spark on my Challenger, I went through all of the very same stuff see "suddenly lost spark" in another thread for that. Anyhow, with a test gauge hooked into the switched power on the fusebox, reach up behind the dash (if possible) and wiggle the ammeter wires while keeping your eye on the tester.

After replacing every last facking thing including the ignition switch I finally found the ammeter was toast by accident after doing the above test as a shot in the dark.
Good Luck

I thought I read soemwhere that if the ammeter is the issue, you lose spark while cranking or power to everything, dash included? I have spark while cranking and power to the dash is still there.

When you are wiggling the ammeter wires, what are you looking for on the meter? Just basically power or not, right?  I am thinking I could just reach up in there while its running and wiggle the wires...if its that, the car will shut down.

Of course I have to get my harness back first.     

[UKcuda]

I am not a very patient guy....LOL

On the contrary, I think you're being very patient.

If it was the ammeter you would lose everything unless the motor was actually running and then the alternator would be feeding stuff as it goes to the same side of the ammeter as everything else (the battery goes to the other side). 

I'm not 100% but I think even the feed to the starter motor solenoid runs through the ammeter, so you wouldn't even be able to crank it over.  The fat wire to the starter doesn't go through the ammeter but it still needs the solenoid energised.

[quapman]

I just read a bunch of the Moparts stuff about Evans' harnesses. I have one in my 70 (no problems so far), but I find it deplorable that Bill (or an employee?) doesn't TEST every wire for bad crimps with a "tug" test.  He actually recommends that the CUSTOMER should do this? He makes you send back a defective product before replacement?
 

I've spoken with him a few times at shows and didn't find him to be awfully knowledgeable about his own products. 

If his product caused a major fire in your car, would he pay for ALL the damage? hmmmmmm

[CHL2T]

When I found the toast ammeter, and had no power at the dash, the starter would still turn, as the positive battery cable runs straight to the starter.

[dodj]

With bad ammeter connections you will still have starter power. There is a soldered juntion in the dash harness that accomplishes that.

[ChallengerHK]

It's been about 30 years since that happened to me. I don't recall having had starter power, but I know for sure that I couldn't get her to start. Getting old, mind is going.

If I were you I'd pull the dash and check the ammeter. It's a pain, but a bad ammeter can lead to all sorts of bad stuff.

[UKcuda]

With bad ammeter connections you will still have starter power. There is a soldered juntion in the dash harness that accomplishes that.

That's interesting, I didn't know that.

I had a close look at an E-Body ammeter the other day and it is an ultra basic thing.  A bad connection must be just about the only fault it can ever possibly develop.

[shadango]

Well, I finally heard back from Bill Evans last evening re: my harness:

"I can find nothing wrong with the harness I checked all connections and all wires  Maybe the problem is a loose wire in your bulkhead connector it might not hurt to check to see if all the wires there are fully seated in the block Is the electronic control box new I have seen them act up with age also"

I guess he just eyeballed it ??

That was it...no mention of the repairs I had done to the harness or anything.  I was concerned about the repair I did because the connectors seemed just on the edge of popping out of the connector itself.

He doesnt seem to offer much feedback via email....of course, everyone isnt as verbose as I am...LOL

Oh well, guess that was a waste of time.     But at least a second set of eyes has gone over it.  I have no reason to doubt his results.....

Still, I am wondering if I should bite the bullet and try one of the year-one harnesses...they seem to have a better track record.  If I continue having issues I may do that to be sure....Finding those two basically uncrimped wires the first time around really has me second guessing the quality of the harness I bought.

I also noticed that my battey cable that I bought from him (positive) has seemed to pull out a bit from the clamp...exposing some wire.....it still a solid connection from what I can tell......the cable is (in my eyes) a bit too short too but it doesnt affect the function I suppose.

I wish the problem would just happen and STAY that way so I could find the solution!   

To this point, I have installed a new ECU  (mopar chrome), adjusted the pickup gap, checked the center button on the cap and replaced the ballast (which was almost new)....I did notice a hairline crack in the white filler they use to secure the innards of the ballast.....I dont see how that could be an issue....but maybe with heat something is expanding etc and creating the issue?

I am hoping I get the harness back for the weekend so I can reinstall it.

[Chryco Psycho]

I bet he did a resistance check on each wire to be sure they was no fault in the wires

[shadango]

Well, I hope he checked it out throughly.  I guess I can too.

I am sort of disappointed in the communication from them though.

Email responses are few words, no punctuation and very short.

I have been asking if I will have it back for the weekend and no reply.

Folks, if you are a company selling stuff on the web, and you have an email address for customers, it just plain looks bad when you are slow to reply or dont reply with the info requested.

I know people are busy.....but if you are too busy to answer emails promptly, dont have that option and the customer can decide whether to do business with you or not.

Just a pet peeve of mine. 

[ChallengerHK]

 

A couple of years back I contacted them about a wire harness and the communication was awful. That was BEFORE I placed an order, and convinced me to not place an order.

[shadango]

I am officially pissed now.

No emails or packages from the, (4:30 on saturday) so I guess I am NOT getting the harness back for the weekend.   

Talk about poor customer service and communication.

I am half tempted to buy one of the M&C (?) ones from year one and just save the BE one as a spare.....and chalk the $100 loss up to experience...I am still wondering if the harness is the issue or not truthfully....he says its not, but how do I know that?   His communication has shown he couldnt care much about the customer........from what I read the M&C ones are more correct and are built/tested better.....and only another $40 over the Bill Evans ones.

At this point, at least I would be starting fresh.