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Posted by: jimkelly Aug 23 2015, 06:33 PM

I have a non working horn and wipers. I decided to by pass the cars harness and run switches and relays to power these for now. to get thru inspection.

1- what guage wire needed for wiper motor and what amp fuse?


2- what gauge wire needed for horn and what amp fuse?


3- what gauge wire needed for two radiator fans and what amp fuse?

thanks!!!
jim


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Posted by: jimkelly Aug 24 2015, 03:01 PM

got another fuse block at advance today. a buddy of mine suggested i use 10 gauge wire all the way to my wiper, and horn & radiator fuse block. so i will be swapping out the 14 gauge i used in these segments.

he suggested a 5 amp fuse for my horn, 2 amp for wiper, and a 10 amp for radiators, but he is not a 914 owners, just guessing.

Posted by: Chris914n6 Aug 24 2015, 04:25 PM

I'd just fix the factory wiring. I think it was all 16ga, but it's in the wiring diagrams.

I ran 8 ga to the front to a fuse block. Powers 2 fans, headlights, windows and amp so far. 20-30 amp fuses mostly because that's what I had.

Posted by: Tom Aug 24 2015, 11:00 PM

Non working horn and wipers would make me want to check J13 on the fuse panel of the stock set up. It also runs the fresh air blower and in the Haynes manual is called the fresh air blower relay.
If you have modified stock wiring and maybe damaged wiring harnesses from a previous owner and need to go with separate wiring:
Your 10 ga. to the fuse block is OK as long as you do not put too much on your new fuse block. Say horn - 5 amps 14 ga. wire OK
wipers- probably 5 amps, but try a 7.5 if the 5 blows 14 ga OK
Radiators fans - here you need to test them and use an ampmeter to really know what they are drawing. Then double what one needs and add 50%, Say 5 to 7.5 amps each. so 10 or 15 amps times 1.5. A 12 gage wire is good for say 20 amps all day long considering the length of your run ( maybe 10 feet?).
Tom

Posted by: jimkelly Aug 25 2015, 07:06 AM

tom - thanks - jim

i know fixing it the RIGHT WAY is best but since i have to run 12V to my radiators the right way, i figured for temporary, i would fix/power my horn and wipers HALF ASSED for now : )

Posted by: Jeff Bowlsby Aug 25 2015, 10:11 AM

Temporary has a way of becoming permanent. You don't want to be a DAPO do you? Fix it right the first time.

Posted by: jimkelly Aug 25 2015, 11:40 AM

guess i need a multimeter and need to learn how to use it. this will have to be PHASE 2 : )

Posted by: bozo914 Aug 25 2015, 12:01 PM

That explains why you're running new wire for things already in the harness - get the multimeter. It ain't rocket science. It's 45 year old wiring and components, in a 45 year old car, that has suffered through god knows what sort of abuse. If I can use one so can you.

Posted by: Dave_Darling Aug 25 2015, 05:52 PM

Even a $20 a Harbor Freight special is good enough multimeter for our purposes. You mostly need to see if something has +12V on it or not, and sometimes measure resistance in the ~10-10K ohms range. And the exact values are almost never important for our use.

--DD

Posted by: jimkelly Aug 26 2015, 07:00 AM

would this be a decent meter?

what features would be missing that i might want in the future?

http://www.fluke.com/fluke/inen/digital-multimeters/compact-multimeters/fluke-101.htm?pid=77003


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Posted by: Dave_Darling Aug 26 2015, 09:15 AM

Yes. Maybe overkill, even. Basically any voltmeter/ohmmeter will work for what we need on our old cars.

--DD

Posted by: stinkindiesel Aug 26 2015, 01:21 PM

Fluke meters are the gold standard. Great to have if you use it often, but overkill for the typical hobbyist.

Gary

Posted by: jimkelly Aug 26 2015, 01:29 PM

i pulled the trigger, $55 shipped on ebay. fluke 101.