I am in the process of wiring up my car. Any way I want to run a few switches on a switch board, where the heater controls used to be. Any way I have recently bought a few 12v switches, although I have noticed some are 20A and the other are only 10A. Does this number indicate to safe amount of amps that can travel thru the switch.???? I used to run a licence plate light switch using a 20A switch and had no troubles. Now a Bosch 044 runs 13 odd amps I think. Would this mean I would need at least a 15A-20A switch in order to run it safely. Dont know much about the electrical side but I am learning heaps/ LOOMS (http://www.calaisturbo.com.au/showthread.php?t=173060)

You are correct about the number rating,20 amp to run a number plate light?Man you must of had some big spotties on it If you lift the fuse box(in the engine bay)it will give you the safe runnng amps for the items in your car.Your lighter and rear heater demister are 2 of the killers for drawing power(basily a direct short)

Cheers I threw the switch on the licence plate light, not knowing about AMPS etc. I am running a basic as loom, no heater radio, ciggie lighter etc. So basically you are saying match the AMPERAGE on the FUSE to the SWITCH. Makes sense. Cheers

nah match the switch to the load! 50watts is about 5 amps 100watts 10amps etc, worst case the switch will fail no biggie

OK cheers Thanks for clearing that up.

any component in an electrical circuit has to be able to cope with the amount of current that [the component that is being powered] will draw. so for example with your fuel pump which is 13Amps, every component in that circuit will have to be able to support at very minimum 13Amps, but you always give a little headroom so make it 15-20 Amps. this means all the wire, connections, switches, fuses etc will have to support that amount of current. (fuses having a higher current rating than the fuel pump, but lower than all the other switches, wire, connections etc. remember that if an electrical circuit fails, it will happen at the weakest link. so if your wire is only suitable for 2Amps then you can say goodbye (it will melt and possibly cause a fire). same goes for absolutely any other component in the circuit. in car circuits, (and in most other circuits), the fuse is the weakest link (this is what they're for, as they're generally the easiest and cheapest component to replace - which is why you never go for a fuse that has a higher current rating (Amps) than other components in the circuit. if something goes wrong, what would you rather do - replace a blown fuse with the correct new one, or replace your wiring because it melted (instead of blowing the 40A fuse you incorrectly put in last time the problem occured? cheers Sam

Cheers So If i put a multimeter on the +ve cable. Can I find the AMPs being drawn. Aren't most +ve circuits on vehicles somwhere around 12v's. Should I run bigger switches, no smaller than 20A. Then the fuse would still be the weakest link. I would hate to have a damn switch cause a cabin fire Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

what current drawing device do you want to measure mate? fuel pump or lights? once you tell me that ill tell you how to measure current on that device. if you put a multimeter simply onto the +ve cable and earth you will just measure the volts in the system, with the engine not running it should be around the 12v range, engine running it should be around 13.8v to 14.2v. the fuel pump should be connected via a relay, using the switch to trigger the relay, that way there is no massive load on the switch and the fuel pump gets a good supply voltage (if connected properly)

OK. I have used a 20A on/off/on for my flashers as I couldnt find one with smaller AMPs. Headlights Parklights Beams Not sure whether I will run these, might have them on a removable loom. For now I dont really need any more switches. Until I get my ECU sorted. If I am running two 044. Do I need two relays? Also If one draws 13 odd AMPs would I need a 25+AMP switch to run both???? Cheers for all the help.

Quote: Originally Posted by ILK OK. I have used a 20A on/off/on for my flashers as I couldnt find one with smaller AMPs. Headlights Parklights Beams Not sure whether I will run these, might have them on a removable loom. For now I dont really need any more switches. Until I get my ECU sorted. If I am running two 044. Do I need two relays? Also If one draws 13 odd AMPs would I need a 25+AMP switch to run both???? Cheers for all the help. the flasher switch will be fine, just make sure you have a fuse of 10 amps for that particular circuit. i personally would be using a relay for each fuel pump. the switch that controls the fuel pump/s can have a rating much lower, like 1 amp as the current needed to switch the relay is very small. the actual pump current is controlled by the relay contacts. my advise is to get a relay and a power supply and have a play, there is a diagram on the side of most relays, and the numbers are as follows 30- is the heavy fused battery supply to the relay 87- is the normally open contacts, (output) this would go to your pump positive wire. 87a- you wont use this one, but its a normally closed contact 86- you would use an ignition supply to this terminal 85- goes to earth VIA a switch, the fuel pump switch will have 2 terminals, connect one to earth and the other to the relay 85 terminal there is many ways and configurations to connect a relay but that is very simple. i would have thought you would be switching the pumps with the ecu, which is earth switching anyway so if you connect that way its easy to swap to the ecu. hope that helps.

Quote: Originally Posted by UNONT2 then no it wont,you can get them from repco(nolthane) for not too much,easy easy nod,take the old one off and put the new 1 on,and then adjust it,it might take a few drives to get it right because the lower the car gets(with passengers etc)the more the diff will move to the side,so best bet is to adjust it to what the standard size is and then take it back a bit more,get a car load of boys and go for a drive,see if it rubs or you could just cut it,put a threaded rod in it,2 nuts and weld it up lol i was thinking about those nolthane kit things or something like that thats on trademe , just thought about getting them LOL but weird thing is if i go up on the incline driveway thing to my school the rear guard still rubs so they might have to be rolled. good ole baseball bat ! but stink thing is i dont know how to do it properly Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Heat gun and tap the lip up with a rubber mallet. The driveway thing indicates that it's rubbing higher up inside the gaurd, if it was the lip it would kill the tyres very quickly

does anyone think this turbo package is expensive or well pirced? http://www.modyourcar.com.au/ase-tur...82-turbo-p5024 (http://www.modyourcar.com.au/ase-turbo-kit-for-holden-commodore-vl-with-gt3582-turbo-p5024)

Quote: Originally Posted by Gas Rb30 does anyone think this turbo package is expensive or well pirced? http://www.modyourcar.com.au/ase-tur...82-turbo-p5024 (http://www.modyourcar.com.au/ase-turbo-kit-for-holden-commodore-vl-with-gt3582-turbo-p5024) looks a bit expensive IMO but not to sure ay !

$AU4500 converts to around 5700 $NZ, here you could get the same turbo for $NZ2250 and the same wastegate for $NZ(at redlineperformance just for comparison), plus the manifold (which i assume is an ebay one) are around $NZ400 here. so thats $NZ 3145 plus whatever the hoses would be worth (going by that sample pic I would say $NZ 200 max) so lets say $NZ3400 all up. which is still a $2300 difference to the $5700 that it costs for that kit. For that much coin I'd expect to get a decent intercooler kit too, and maybe even some sort of fuel system upgrade components like injectors/pumps etc. So in short, far too expensive (mind you, for you Gas_RB30 it would depend how much you can get that turbo/wastegate/manifold/lines for if you bought them seperately in Oz. Sam

yer i was just looking at it and was thinking that just doesnt look right cheers for your opinions.

-Whats the best Lowering springs for a VL?

Many people have different opinions on that one lol But I've had lovell and Kings and out of those two lovells take my fancy

Quote: Originally Posted by Gas Rb30 [View Post] does anyone think this turbo package is expensive or well pirced? http://www.modyourcar.com.au/ase-tur...82-turbo-p5024 (http://www.modyourcar.com.au/ase-turbo-kit-for-holden-commodore-vl-with-gt3582-turbo-p5024) thats very expensive man, PM 6boost he does good prices for turbo/manifold deals.

lovels with kyb or bilstein shocks,depending on how much you want to spend