Can you help me please. Having Alt. light troubles on the Mav. We are in the process of retracing the wires. Alt checks OK and Volt reg is new but alt light stays on. This gizmo has me stumped. Thanks
What's this I thought it was some type of trip or circuit breaker, reset but never knew for what specific good question I would like to know too. Mike
They are only on the 74's. If I remember right, it is so a mechanic can start the car with out having to be in the drivers seat. I think there are(were) sensors in the seat so that the car wont start unless someone is sitting there. The mechanic can push the button on top then he gets one try to start the car. Something like that. I have one on my 74. Russ
starter overide has something to do with the safety system....... my 74 has one (if it is the same thing) and the tag on the top says .... damn, went outside to look and apparently in washing the engine I washed the little sticker off ...... anyway, it said something to the effect of being a starter overide, the owners manual says it has to do with the seat weight sensors....... I will try to scan that page(if I haven't washed that off too) .........Robert
starter overide wrong name, starter overide Russ, only the 74's? and not in Canada! do you think Ford made it more difficult than it had to be? here is the page from the owners manual:confused: fine, file to big ...now to try to resize....
fine, i'm not smart enough to resize this &*%$*&#( thing. runum i can email, but the book says what russ said. the starter interlock is connected to the seat sensors and allows one complete cycle of the ignition switch ... from off to start back to off ... if you have any problems, it says, "The malfunction should be checked by your dealer immediately." Could you imagine the look on their faces at the dealership? it actually needs 50 lbs or more AND the seat belt to be engaged on that seat in order for the car to START........ there is just too much stuff on the 74's ........ Robert
Thanks Robert. My email is gbrister@htcomp.net I just wonder if I can cut that thing out now that I have the whole wiring harness unwrapped.
check you fusible link at the solenoid. that was the cause of my charging system troubles. the fusible link is on the wire that beings power from the alt. to the battery cable on the solenoid. I replaced my whole wire from alt. to solenoid with 10 gauge wire when I switched to my 105 amp Lincoln Matk VII atlernator.
don't know why you couldn't cut it out. the seat sensors on mine are cut. (wires just cut in two) ........Robert
The starter interlock was A Federal requirement in the U.S. only for 1974. The idea was to force you to wear you seatbelt before being able to drive the car. The little box under the hood allowed you to start the car in case of a malfunction, or if it was being serviced, etc. The way it worked was that you could push that button and get one key cycle of cranking to get the car started.(This prevented people from just putting a piece of tape over the button to override the system). There were seat sensors that detected if someone was actually sitting in the seats..and if you put something heavy in the passenger seat you would have to either open the hood and push this button, fasten the seatbelt or just move it off the seat! The idea was ill conceived and was repealed by '75. All '74 cars that I have seen have had the system bypassed long ago..and at any rate it should not affect your alternator!
Everytime I go out to run the motor in my '74 donor car, I pull the seatbelt across my lap to start it. Kind of a nuisance when you really aren't going anywhere!
Thanks for all of you guys help. I finally figured out that when I shortened the wiring harness I messed up on the splice of a red wire with blue stripe and a red wire with green stripe. Under the shop lights I guess my old eyes couldn't tell the difference. I finally found a wiring diagram with the wire colors on it and scratched my head for two days until I found it. Now all we lack is getting the seats back from the upholstery shop, mounting the exterior mirors, and adjusting the emergency brake. Oh yea there is the little matter of the PS leak and ...
weird, my '75 had that too, in the same place (manuf. date 10/74). Good info, though the '74 will start easily w/o the belts (guess it was bypassed)
