Reversible connectors in engine bay ???

[Andy_]

I have been trying to diagnose a rough idle. Apologies if this has been dealt with before, I have an issue with the vac solenoid and the tts thermo-time switch.
First the vac solenoid.

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Which way does it go ? The connector has 1 green wire and 1 red/blue. Which goes to #1 and #2 on my diagram (lol).

The other question is due to the insane rising cost of the tts. I have part number 0280130214. On the brown connector, presumably to help install it is stamped G and W.
The wires we have are blue/black and red/gray.
Again, which way do they go?

Thanks in advance. After 14 years of ownership I'm determined to get it sounding nicer!

Sorry for the upside down photo.

[Jonathan]

Generally speaking, if it is important for a connector to go on one way and not the other, it will have a notch of some kind on the plastic to prevent it from fitting on the wrong way.

If polarity isn't important, then it has no physical bump or groove in the connectors and you can put it on either way. I believe the vacuum solenoid connection is this way.

Connectors like the ones for window switches are an example of those that can only go on one way and not the other. Same for the shape of the bulkhead connectors, the notch in the taillight boards for its connector.

Has your connector(s) come completely off at some point on your car on those switches?

I'm not certain about the thermo time switch though.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Vacuum solenoid will work either way.

TTS is keyed so it should only fit in one way. I think if you force it in the wrong way it will blow the TTS. Always look at the connector keying because you can usually force it in backwards. I've had a few RPM relays damaged that way.

[Jonathan]

Haha, good point Dave. Didn't think about forcing it on. You could pretty much force on just about any connector if you were hard enough on it.

Dave S. said one day regarding plastic parts or connectors, "if you have to force it, then stop, because something isn't right." Good advice.

[Andy_]

My tts connector goes in either way. This is what i have.
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I still cant tell which way it's supposed to go!

It's good to know it doesn't matter on the vac solenoid.

[Andy_]

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[David T]

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The TTS is polarity sensitive and WILL be damaged if the connector is forced or damaged and you can put it on the "wrong" way. The vacuum solenoid is NOT polarity sensitive and won't be damaged and will work either way. BTW the picture you posted is not the plug for the TTS, I don't know what that plug is for.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I don't see that key in my TTS but it's hard to look at with things in the way. I think my TTS has the slants on one side to match the connector. It will only plug in one way without much force.

You can measure with an ohm meter. The pin going to the cold start valve would read 0 ohms to the case and the schematic shows that wire as blue/black. The other pin would have some resistance to the case (it is a heater) and the schematic shows that pin as white/red but mine was blue/yellow I think.

I say I think because I've removed my wiring for the TTS. I use my hot start relay to activate the CSV.

[Andy_]

Thanks for your help. This is more complicated than I first thought.
I disconnected the csv and tts. I had continuity between the 2 wires, 1 of them was grounded.
Does that sound right? What would be grounding it?
Thanks

[Ron]

The other question is due to the insane rising cost of the tts. I have part number 0280130214. On the brown connector, presumably to help install it is stamped G and W.
The wires we have are blue/black and red/gray.
Again, which way do they go?TTS should be Blue/Black and White/Red (Your Gray is probably a dirty White?)

The plug in the pic looks like (Blue or LightGreen)/Yellow and Blue/Black or ???

[Ron]

The other question is due to the insane rising cost of the tts. I have part number 0280130214. On the brown connector, presumably to help install it is stamped G and W.
The wires we have are blue/black and red/gray.
Again, which way do they go?TTS should be Blue/Black and White/Red.
(Your "gray" is probably a dirty White?)

The plug in the pic looks like (Blue or LightGreen)/Yellow and Blue/Black or ???

[Bitsyncmaster]

It looks like my old TTS connector.

[DMCMW Dave]

The TTS is polarity sensitive and WILL be damaged if the connector is forced or damaged and you can put it on the "wrong" way. The vacuum solenoid is NOT polarity sensitive and won't be damaged and will work either way. BTW the picture you posted is not the plug for the TTS, I don't know what that plug is for.

BTW if you force the TTS on backwards (if the plastic is broken for example) you will destroy the TTS the first time you turn the key.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Thanks for your help. This is more complicated than I first thought.
I disconnected the csv and tts. I had continuity between the 2 wires, 1 of them was grounded.
Does that sound right? What would be grounding it?
Thanks

You car is probably wired like mine was. It did not match the schematic and it took me a long time to find a bad connection in that circuit.

I would guess the wire you found connected and not grounded is the wire that would connect to the TTS pin that has zero ohms to ground.

Probably the other wire you found connected to ground is just reading through another component on the circuit. You could verify if it has 12 volts when you are cranking the engine over.

[Ron]

It looks like my old TTS connector.To be sure, it's Blue/Yellow and Blue/Black?

Seems Dennis and I ran across this once before...was thinking it was robbed from the abandoned Hot Start circuit...too long ago lol

Andy, fyi, although the wires going to the Vacuum Solenoid don't matter, the hoses do. The one furthest away from the electrical plug goes to the Distributor, iirc. Some will not vent (switch back) until you shut the engine off if swapped (lots of head scratching before I found that problem once upon a time. ;-)

[Andy_]

Ok. So I disconnected EVERYTHING in the engine bay. Instead of a single yellow / blue wire going between the starter and the ballast resistor relay, I have a 3 way wire going also to the tts. The blue / black wiring is correct. The tts connector is factory with the blue / yellow.
Down at the starter are 2 blue/yellow heat shrieked together with an old Peugeot style connector (black rubber). As the only other continuity I could find was the relay and tts, I assumed cut the 2 at starter. Did this , still continuity between all. Must be another connector somewhere/component.

[Bitsyncmaster]

There is a jumper in the bulkhead connectors that is used to join the many wires in the CSV circuit. That jumper on the back side (you can not see it) is where I had my problem with the CSV not working. I think it was about 60 ohms from the two pins.

[Ron]

Ok. So I disconnected EVERYTHING in the engine bay. Instead of a single yellow / blue wire going between the starter and the ballast resistor relay, I have a 3 way wire going also to the tts. The blue / black wiring is correct. The tts connector is factory with the blue / yellow.
Down at the starter are 2 blue/yellow heat shrieked together with an old Peugeot style connector (black rubber). As the only other continuity I could find was the relay and tts, I assumed cut the 2 at starter. Did this , still continuity between all. Must be another connector somewhere/component.
I finally found it:
There is an Early and a Late harness!
EARLY Style (TTS) wires at plug U/B and B/Y The W/R spiral trace in the CSV plug comes from paired W/R wires at the White Bulkhead connector in front corner. (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4912-White-Trapezoid-Plug-with-U-Y-amp-U-B-Wires-ID&p=69776&viewfull=1#post69776)
LATE Style (TTS) wires at plug U/B and W/R The W/R is not Spiral traced in the CSV or TTS and is spliced within the harness wrap (only one W/R from White Bulkhead connector. (http://EARLY Style (TTS) wires at plug U/B and B/Y The W/R spiral trace in the CSV plug comes from paired W/R wires at the White Bulkhead connector in front corner. LATE Style (TTS) wires at plug U/B and W/R The W/R is not Spiral traced in the CSV or TTS and is spliced within the harness wrap (only one W/R from White Bulkhead connector.)

[Bitsyncmaster]

I finally found it:
There is an Early and a Late harness!
EARLY Style (TTS) wires at plug U/B and B/Y The W/R spiral trace in the CSV plug comes from paired W/R wires at the White Bulkhead connector in front corner. (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4912-White-Trapezoid-Plug-with-U-Y-amp-U-B-Wires-ID&p=69776&viewfull=1#post69776)
LATE Style (TTS) wires at plug U/B and W/R The W/R is not Spiral traced in the CSV or TTS and is spliced within the harness wrap (only one W/R from White Bulkhead connector. (http://EARLY Style (TTS) wires at plug U/B and B/Y The W/R spiral trace in the CSV plug comes from paired W/R wires at the White Bulkhead connector in front corner. LATE Style (TTS) wires at plug U/B and W/R The W/R is not Spiral traced in the CSV or TTS and is spliced within the harness wrap (only one W/R from White Bulkhead connector.)

Good work Ron. Did you find this by tracing the wiring or is there an existing schematic for the early harness?

[Andy_]

Thanks guys. Hopefully that will fix it. If you do happen to have a diagram and can post it please do.
Thanks again!

[Ron]

Good work Ron. Did you find this by tracing the wiring or is there an existing schematic for the early harness?
Seems Dennis and I ran across this once before...was thinking it was robbed from the abandoned Hot Start circuit...too long ago lol
Dennis posted it....click it to go to the post, or here for the thread I started (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4912-White-Trapezoid-Plug-with-U-Y-amp-U-B-Wires-ID).