New Kaiser guy, lots of questions

[HJ-ETEX]

Do you really want to spend excess money? You can rewire a Kaiser using the diagram in the shop manual and buying sockets as needed from NAPA. As for the OD plug (assuming you have a relay with a horizontal fuse), there are 4 blades on the relay. Use a regular 3 blade headlight socket and a single female blade fitting. Use the headlight socket on the front & side blades and single fitting on the rear blade. That way the single fitting is hidden.

[HJ-ETEX]

Also, don't use a regular fuse on the OD relay. When the OD solenoid engages on an old car, it can draw 30 amps momentarily (look at your ammeter!) and either blow the fuse then or damage it so that the OD will not engage a second time.  Buy a 30 amp circuit breaker that will fit in a Buss fuse receptacle.

[Wildcat]

Luckily the connector is still alive, just needs to be re-pinned.  I'm about an hour into this and I am already pulling my hair out.  Where does the go pedal switch come into play?  I don't have a factory manual or a diagram so I'm kind of in the dark on this one.  I am also trying to wrap my head around the whole brake light/turn signal switch situation.  I picked up a painless harness, but adapting a new harness to a 60 year old car is an adventure in and of itself.  I did finally find the brake switch though -dumb.  My blower motor, wiper motor, and OD solenoid are going to 6 volt still, but everything else will be 12V, so wiring voltage regulators into this whole thing is nothing short of a treat.  I did manage to keep the old harness somewhat intact, however I couldn't find the brake switch so those wires were diked in a fit of rage and I broke a terminal off the starter switch on the dash.. FML

[joefrazer]

The overdrive unit is a KF car is controlled by two units, the governor...the round topped unit at the very right rear of the transmission, and the rail switch, the small sqaure one at the left rear. The overdrive relay is energized by 6V from the battery and that line runs from the relay back to the rail switch. The rail switch is there to prevent OD operation when the dash handle is pulled out. When the handle is in, the rail switch contacts are closed and 6V flows to the governor.

Once the car reaches the minimum engagement speed for OD, contacts in the governor close and this makes the circuit complete which then allows 6V to the solenoid, that's the can shaped item on the left side of the transmission. Momentarily lifting ones foot off the gas allows the solenoid to engage, placing the car in OD. Once you slow down below the minimum speed, the governor contacts reopen and OD is disengaged, although you still will free wheel...meaning that there is no engine braking.

The kickdown switch, the unit under the gas pedal is the line circuit line that I described above. It works, when the gas pedal is pushed down far enough, to momentarily interrupt the 6V to the coil and this shuts off the flow of electricity to the solenoid, causing it to disengage. This gives you the effect of a passing gear.

The fuse mentioned earlier is a 30A automotive type. I've never had one go...but do keep a quality spare handy just in case.
All of this is sort of oversimplified, but should give you an idea as to the theory of operation.

[joefrazer]

The OD solednoid will have 4 terminals. BAT is 12 ga and goes to the starter soledoid. IGN is 16 ga and goes to the neg side of the coil. TH is 16 ga and goes to an 'A' terminal on the kickdown switch. (This is one of the two terminals closest to the floorboard on the kickdown switch..both are 'A'). The last terminal on the relay, SOL is 12 ga and goes to the #4 terminal on the OD solenoid on the transmission. The other trans solenoid wire, 16 ga runs to a B terminal on the kickdown switch. (The 'B' terminals are the two farthest from the floorboard on the kickdown switch).
Of the two remaining terminals on the kickdown switch, run a 16 ga wire from the remaining 'A' terminal to the rail switch (see my explanation in the earlier post). From the other terminal on the rail switch, run a 16 ga wire back to the governor at the right rear of the transmission.
The last open terminal on the kickdown switch should be a 'B' terminal. Run a 16 ga wire from it to the positive side of the coil. This completes the OD circuit. With the OD handle on the dash pushed in, the circuit will energize above 28 mph and kick in when your foot is lifted from the gas pedal.

[Wildcat]

I can wire a fighter jet but a 60 year old car is giving me hell.  If I were to do this as it was originally it wouldn't be so bad, but trying to modernize it is really proving to be a challenge.  The markings on the harness aren't helping either. 

[pnw_oldmags]

Hey JoeFrazer -- Mind if I add your overdrive explanation into the 53K Guidelines??  Great explanation

[joefrazer]

Go for it.

[Fid]

All KF overdrive solenoids are fused at 20 amps, not 30 as was (and often is) stated. Check the diagram shown below which is right out of the KF shop manual.  A 30 amp fuse is longer than a 20 and likely would not fit the holder on the relay. The overdrive relay has four terminals, the solenoid has 2.

Here's how I would explain the electrical workings;

There are two circuits: The control circuit and the controlled circuit.  The controlled circuit (the one that provides 6v to the solenoid) is from the hot wire terminal on the starter solenoid which is connected directly to the battery, then through the fuse (1 BAT.), to the normally open contacts on the relay.  The other side of the normally open contacts on the relay (4 SOL.) goes to the solenoid (4) on the overdrive unit itself on the back the transmission. All the wires used on the controlled circuit must be 12 gauge - that is very important.

The control circuit (the one that controls if the solenoid gets energized) is from the hot terminal on the coil (-), so it only works when the switch is on, over to one side of the coil on the relay (2IGN). The other side of the coil on the relay (3TH) goes to the normally closed contacts on the kickdown switch (A), then to the normally open contacts on the rail switch (the O.D. Lock-out Switch) which close when the cable is pushed in, then to the terminal on the governor switch which is normally open. The other side of the governor switch goes to ground. This circuit is wired with 16 gauge wire.

When the car reaches approximately 30 mph, the governor switch closes, which provides a ground for the relay coil circuit, hence energizing the relay causing the relay contacts to close (they appear to be closed in the diagram but they are normally open which means they close when coil is energized). This puts 6 volts on the solenoid which then pushes the pawl into the control plate in the OD unit. Let your foot off the gas and the pawl slips in and the car operates in overdrive.

There is a third circuit which is used for kickdown. There is a wire which goes from the distributor side of the coil(+) to the normally open contacts on the kickdown switch (B) which then goes to a set of normally open contacts inside the solenoid (6). When the solenoid is energized, those contacts (6) close. When you press the accelerator all the way down, it closes the contacts on the kickdown switch (B) which provides a path from the coil (+) to ground causing the engine to misfire. The torque reversal allows the pawl to retract and the car is no longer in overdrive. This circuit too uses 16 gauge wire.

Here's a diagram of the circuit

[joefrazer]

Well put...thanks Lowell!

[HJ-ETEX]

Lowell - Where did you get the idea that a 30 amp buss fuse was longer than a 20 amp? I've got AGC 20 and AGC 30 buss type fuses that are both 30 mm long. Truth is there are several lengths of automotive type buss fuses. For instance, a SFE type is 25 mm long and and there are 2 sizes shorter. A higher amperage fuse in the same length will have a thicker filament.

[Fid]

Well I did say "likely" didn't I? The 30 amp that is used on the Henry J headlamp switch, which is the most common one used in the older cars, is longer and won't fit in the socket on the relay. The one used in the main line on many cars of the era is also this type. When I had Bob McBride make the harness for my '53 J, which has an inline fuse as opposed to the fuse on the headlight switch that the '51s and '52s have, he used the shorter socket and yes, I did have to locate some shorter 30 amp fuses but in many cases, they are too long. The OD is fused at 20 in any case and I've seldom ever blown one. The only time I did was when the solenoid was gummed up and didn't engage fast enough. Once it was cleaned out and freed up it never blew a fuse again. But that's the whole point of having a fuse in the circuit. If the solenoid doesn't fully engage and open the contacts to take the "pull in" coil out of the circuit, the solenoid and associated wiring will get hot very fast. The fuse prevents this and it did its job. A 30 amp may not blow fast enough and by the time it does, a person could have a burned up solenoid, the contacts on the relay could be welded together and in the worst case, a fire so it's important that the proper components are used.

[Wildcat]

Thanks Fid, exactly what I was looking for.  So far I have everything routed and the headlights wired along with some of the engine.  I don't suppose you have one of those fancy pictures for the turn signal switch?

[ben-tex]

The factory wiring diagram for 51 K includes the turn signals. This is in the factory shop manual. I sell CDs that are exact copies of factory in pdf format. I also have a CD that is just wiring diagrams for ALL KF models. The advantage of the pdf files is that the can be "exploded" easlily up to and above 800 percent for easy tracing on screen. Details about all CDs can be found on my website at http://www.kfnut.com

[Fid]

No, I don't have the signal light wiring diagram unfortunately. The diag I posted is from the Henry J shop manual but it's the same in the Kaiser shop manuals and any other car's manual that used the Borg-Warner overdrive set up.
Ben's CD would be a good investment for anyone that needs this type of information.