TR5/6 Wiring Anomalies (diagrams versus reality!)

[TRbeginner]

Hi All

 

Not sure this is a marque specific technical query, so apologies if in the wrong forum.

 

A few of you have been very helpful over the past couple of months answering various questions (overdrive, electrical etc) so thanks for that. The jobs I have undertaken have taken me on a tour of the wiring harness, which appears to be in good condition and original. One of the objectives was to strip out of the car some horrible wiring additions and modifications for various accessories that have been incorporated over the years and to recover the wiring 'properly' - or as best I can as an untrained auto electrician anyway - and to an original standard.

 

Along the way it quickly became apparent that the car (a late TR5) does not seem to be fitted with a standard harness/equipment in that, for example, things like interior/glove box light and associated door switches are all fitted. They appear to be wired into a factory loom designed to take them (not in keeping with the TR5 wiring digram). To the best of my knowledge these were only fitted from TR6 onwards. My initial thought was that maybe the late TR5s were fitted with TR6 harnesses, however this is not consistent with the fact that in the early TR6 harnesses there is also provision for hazard flashers etc which are not present in the TR5. Also my wiper switch is a 3 pin version (as per the TR5 wiring diagram) whereas the TR6 diagram shows 4 pin.

 

My current conclusion is that for late TR5s, in the run up to TR6 production, a hybrid harness/equipment fit may have been used that incorporated some of the TR6 equipment (interior lights etc), but not all (hazards). It would be interesting to know what the background is from those better versed than myself (all of you!) in the possible vagaries of TR5/6 production anomalies. Despite the horrible extraneous stuff I have removed, the underlying loom looks original and unmodified from the factory.

 

The reference document for all the above comments is the set of diagrams at http://www.advanceautowire.com/tr2506.pdf. In the absence of a TR5 diagram, I have assumed(!!) that the TR250 diagram is equivalent.

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

 

Dave

Edited December 6, 2016 by TRbeginner

[Steves_TR6]

Your post took me back Dave!

 

I stripped a good 30 feet of 'spare' wiring out of my tr6 when i bought it.

 

The best bit was a permenantly live, unfused, wire dangling over the fuel tank !!

 

I dont know what was standard for a 5, but from experience these things seemed to 'evolve' from the factory.

 

Regards

 

Steve

[TRbeginner]

Your post took me back Dave!

 

I stripped a good 30 feet of 'spare' wiring out of my tr6 when i bought it.

 

The best bit was a permenantly live, unfused, wire dangling over the fuel tank !!

 

I dont know what was standard for a 5, but from experience these things seemed to 'evolve' from the factory.

 

Regards

 

Steve

Hi Steve

Thanks for the reply. Maybe I'm being too logical about it and giving them credit for decent design management etc; when in reality it was more like you suggested - a natural 'evolution'!

Dave

Edited December 6, 2016 by TRbeginner

[TRbeginner]

Your post took me back Dave!

 

I stripped a good 30 feet of 'spare' wiring out of my tr6 when i bought it.

 

The best bit was a permenantly live, unfused, wire dangling over the fuel tank !!

 

I dont know what was standard for a 5, but from experience these things seemed to 'evolve' from the factory.

 

Regards

 

Steve

PS Good job you found the live wire - very disconcerting! Not sure any of what I have taken out has been so dangerous but I can match your 30 feet I bet! Amazing why people do it!

[Guest ntc]

Dave

There was many changes in the 5 wiring over a short time,fact! never think that the net are right.

[TRbeginner]

Dave

There was many changes in the 5 wiring over a short time,fact! never think that the net are right.

Yes Neil, beginning to realise it was a moving feast - maybe that's why there isn't a readily available wiring diagram for the TR5, only the TR250. Perhaps the US standard had to be more stable and the UK wiring standard was less controlled just evolved into the TR6 over the TR5 production run.

[stuart]

There is a wiring diagram for a TR5 in the workshop manual.

Stuart.

 

[TRbeginner]

There is a wiring diagram for a TR5 in the workshop manual.

Stuart.

IMG_4171 - Copy.JPGIMG_4172 - Copy.JPG

Thanks Stuart. However even that doesn't represent what is fitted in the car. As I mentioned, there is what looks like factory fitted interior/glovebox lighting, door switches etc. My post was just an observation on the inconsistency between available diagrams and actual car. The diagram in the workshop manual emphasises the inconsistency even more I guess.

[John390]

My guess is that someone has retro fitted parts of a TR6 loom to get glove box light and courtesy light.

 

Cheers John

[TRbeginner]

Maybe I should be asking..."Are original TR5 equipment fits/wiring usually compatible with the wiring diagrams?" Adding interior lights and door switches seems an odd addition after the car as left the factory. Well it does to me anyway

[Guest ntc]

Dave

As I said NO note Stuarts post there was three different ways to wire the regulators used for a start,I have owned more 5 s than most including 1 owner cars and none was the same.One a 68 did not have a foot dip switch.

Edited December 7, 2016 by ntc