Wiring Help !!!! 1985 300td wagon

[leviegray]

I have an 85 300 td wagon and it is acting up electrically- And I haven't been able to figure it out...

The first symptoms I noticed were that it started to do weird things when I turned on the headlights- both turn signal indicator lights would light up dimly and the fuel and temp guage would jump and give higher readings ( the fuel sender stopped working and is disconnected. This was intermittent and didn't always happen.. The brake and flasher lights continued to work fine even when this was occurring.



Then one night the flashers spontaneously started flashing ( no key in ignition and I tracked that down to the switch which was melted from shorting. Replaced switch and went back to having previous symptoms.
Several people suggested I check and clean the ground wire ( Thanks for your suggestions ! ) I cleaned the connection at the engine/transmission connection and the one where the battery ground connects with the chassis. No Change ;-(

Then I started to notice a drain to the battery which has gotten increasingly worse. Now I need to put the car on a charger every time I come home and can't shut it off when I am out. I swapped another alternator and finally another starter. I put in a new battery. No Change.

I pulled all the fuses and tested each contact with a continuity meter. Fuse terminals # 6,8,14 & 1,3,7,9,11,13 all show continuity with the key off and the doors shut. IS THIS NORMAL?

I pulled out the instrument panel - No change Disconnected each wire off of the light switch- No change

I have added an additional fuel pump at the tank and injection line heaters to run WVO but these problems persist even when I remove this circuit from the equation. The back up lights also stopped working and I ran rep wiring to a switch on the dash to restore them. I haven't disconnected the wires from the tranny switch so those wires or the fuel sender circuit may be suspect.

Can anyone offer any insights or suggestions?


We are still offering to barter a free stay at our B7B on Molokai in Hawaii in exchange for somebody who wants to come and teach me how to properly tune the 617 and help sort out some of the places I am stuck but as yet we have had no takers. It must be pretty cold up north... :-)

Thanks for any help you might offer. I am getting desperate. Our other wagon is still out of commission with a runaway idle I can't figure out either.