1984 Amc Eagle Wagon build by an electrical engineer

[abzman]

          Hello and welcome to the Den ...
  Very nice lookin' Eagle,  ride to be proud of. I like the light upgrade .. I noticed a reflection in the camera lens elements when you took the pict ( to the right of  the toolbox )... looks like 16 LEDs in each light.  How well do they lite up the road ahead
                                                             Iron Horse 

Well, I'll take a picture at night when it finally leaves the driveway again (hopefully soon)

[abzman]

I was able to find a reference to the diagnostic connectors in the October 1981 issue of Popular Mechanics.  Looks like the small connector was meant for a plug in tester, and the larger side was "used at the factory".





Who knows what logic this device had in it?  Probably not likely to ever re-create it.  Really makes you realize how these magazines have changed over the years.  Can you imagine anything on the newsstand today going into this level of detail?

Here is a link to the magazine on Google Books site:   https://books.google.com/books?id=-dgDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA139&ots=UvSW4wWGF-&dq=amc%20diagnostic%20connector&pg=PA139#v=onepage&q=amc%20diagnostic%20connector&f=false

Wow, ok, not like I'll ever find one of those but it's on my list to look for now.  I'll try to see what the computer actually is, I'm pretty good at '80s computer technology so who knows, maybe I could reverse engineer it.  My plan was to recreate the factory tester as well, something to quickly assess the signals broken out on those pins. 

[abzman]

btw, if your ECM, (computer) checks out bad, they are still available at any auto parts place, about $180., + core. Cali version only. Located behind pass. kick panel. again, good luck, gz

Do you know what the difference between the California version and the other one is? I may be willing to tear one down if I get a spare so I could design a tester that could talk to it like the one in that article. 

[amarshall]

That Pop Mechanics article also mentioned that the MCU was bought from Ford, so maybe there is another vehicle out there using it?

[amcfool1]

hi don't know the difference between cali and 49 state, but, probably just tuned to run a little leaner. My cali version is running great here in VA, good luck, gz

[abzman]

          Hello and welcome to the Den ...
  Very nice lookin' Eagle,  ride to be proud of. I like the light upgrade .. I noticed a reflection in the camera lens elements when you took the pict ( to the right of  the toolbox )... looks like 16 LEDs in each light.  How well do they lite up the road ahead
                                                             Iron Horse 

Just got a chance to take it out.  Strangely for a while when I put on the high-beams it would stick on until I turned them off entirely.  That seems to have gone away, but if it comes back I have a few thoughts on fixes (never thought I would want pull-down resistors on relays). 

No lights


Regular lights


High beams

[eaglefreek]

I used an Ebay relay harness when I converted my dad's 83 Oldsmobile to H4's and had the same exact issue with the highbeams. On the one I bought, the highbeam relay got it's power from the 87a terminal of the low beam relay. Once I removed that and supplied power from same power line that was feeding the low beam relay, the problem went away.

[abzman]

A couple more small fixes:

https://abzman2k.wordpress.com/2017/06/09/amc-eagle-air-cleaner-vacuum-actuator/

https://abzman2k.wordpress.com/2017/06/09/amc-eagle-electronic-flashers/
(need to grab one more picture for this one tonight)

https://abzman2k.wordpress.com/2017/06/09/amc-eagle-led-marker-lights/

Working up the courage to try to rebuild one of my spare carburetors...

[amcfool1]

hi, good job on the lights. On my 84 I went with a custom built harness from www.danielsternlighting.com. (since I'm NOT an electrical engineer:), but did not use LED headlamps, used the best halogens available according to Mr. Stern, and certified legal as well. However, I did the LED underhood light, man is that thing bright! Too bright, just may go back to a regular bulb. The dome light is good for led, 561 bulb, not too bright, and no heat to melt the plastic housing, same for the courtesy lights, if you have those. Thanks for the tip on polarity for the side markers, did not know that. good luck, gz