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line lock gone wrong!
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Posted by: superchevy

Has anyone ever installed a line lock? I have a '70 Camaro that I'm building for street and 1/4 mile track. I bought a jegs brand line lock and hooked it up to my hurst pistol grip quarterstick shifter. It has the button mounted on top of the shifter. Everything works perfectly, except it's backwards. The line lock is on all the time UNTIL you push the button, then it turns off. I have to keep the button pushed in to drive the car. I tried reversing the wires and it still works the same. The brake lines run from the master cyl to the IN fitting on the solenoid, then from the out fitting to the front brakes. Everything looks right according to the instructions and the diagrams I have. Any ideas? I'm going crazy!

Posted by: StoneFox

Check and see if it has power going to it with the buttons not pushed, The line lock has two wires, ground the black one, your power should go from your power source to the switch then from the switch to the line lock.

Posted by: superchevy

I checked, and it does have power with the button not pressed. I hooked it up like they said. One wire on the solenoid is grounded, the other goes to the button on the shifter. The other wire on the shifter goes to a switched power source, so it comes on as soon as I turn the key on. Everything is by the book as per the instructions, and I've even tried switching my power and ground wires all around, and it's still backwards.

Posted by: StoneFox

Sounds like the switch on your shifter is a momentaraly off switch or interupter switch. Or maybe its just defective. Get you a toggle switch or something and mount it where its easy to reach.

Posted by: John

You might actually have the line lock itself installed backwards. They are directional and should have a flow direction marked on them somewhere.

Posted by: MadScientistMatt

How does the line lock behave with the key off?

It sounds to me like the plumbing may be backwards, like John suggested.

Posted by: StoneFox

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadScientistMatt


	How does the line lock behave with the key off? It sounds to me like the plumbing may be backwards, like John suggested.

He said its energized with out the button being pressed, It shouldn't have power with the way he has it wired. It seems to me that his push button is either the wrong type or defective

Posted by: superchevy

yes, the switch is a momentary. It's built into the shifter from the factory just for line lock, nos, trans brake, etc. I was wondering myself if the plumbing is backwards, but was waiting to see if anyone else had any ideas before I go rebending lines and bleeding brakes again. It looks right according to the diagram (yes I read the instructions...lol), the lines go into the solenoid "IN" port, and out of the solenoid "out" port to the front brakes. I wouldn't think it would be in from the brakes to the master cylinder, would it? But then what do I know? That's why I'm asking for help!

Posted by: superchevy

I logged on to Mr. Gasket's (Hurst) website and asked their tech support what they thought. They wrote me back and told me to hook my positive wire directly to my fuse box. I wrote them back and told them that is the way I have it wired. They wrote back again and said simply "no idea, sorry". So now that I've got them buffalo'd, I'm looking to some people that actually have some real "hands on" car knowledge. There's got to be something that I'm doing wrong or a defective switch or something. As far as I can tell, they don't make a switch that is opposite of mine. There's got to be alot of racers out there with alot more knowledge and experience than me. Who can help? I can hold my own, but have never claimed to know everything.

Posted by: John

I'm going to tell you that it's probably something dumb that you're not seeing.

If the trained monkeys at Mr. Gasket dunno then the only advice I can give at this point is to go back thorugh it all with a fine tooth comb and see if the is anything at all that you missed.

One question though. Where did you plug it into the fuse box and are you sure that you didn't pick up a lead that has a weird voltage or is off with the car on and on with the car off? Also, if you picked us a "dead" lead like a lead for power seats that are not in the car, you may have a ground point somewhere in that line that is screwing with it and when you push the line lock button, you are shorting out the circuit. What I would do for that is to grab some power line and slice an in-line fuse holder into the line and run it straight to the battery with the proper fuse in the holder. If the line lock is still doing it's tricks and you are 100% positive it's hooked up correctly, pull it and take it back, it's broken. Otherwise, find out where you screwed up and fix it.

It's a line lock, it's a fairly simple thing so like I said, double and triple check everything, it's likely something stupid.

Posted by: superchevy

Thanx for the advice. Anything at this point is worth trying. I'll hook it up direct and see what it does and let you know. I know as well that it's either something really stupid and I'm going to feel like a real idiot, or, like you said, it's defective. I'll let you know!

Posted by: StoneFox

try and hook it up through a regular toggle switch, that would tell you if its a switch problem or not.

Posted by: John

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoneFox


	try and hook it up through a regular toggle switch, that would tell you if its a switch problem or not.

Good point! If it is wired incorrectly that could be causing your problem too.

Oh and one more thing, if the switch is wired correctly but it controls a relay, there is a good chance you have leads mixed up on the relay. It's a common mistake and we've all done it. Double check the relay wiring if there is one.

Posted by: superchevy

Ok, I hooked up the wire that was going to the fuse box directly to the battery and it came on instantly, so I know it's not my fuse box connection. It's coming on with power just like it's supposed to. I thought about reversing the brake lines, but iether way, I'll still have power to the switch. This leads me to believe that my push button switch is defective somehow. Am I wrong?

Posted by: John

It could be bad, it could be hooked up incorrectly. It could even be broken and grounding out causing improper operation. At least you are narrowing it down.

Posted by: StoneFox

Thats what Ive been saying sence the begining

Posted by: superchevy

Got it figured out! The button IS defective. If I take a pair of pliers and pull the button up as far as it will go, the line lock shuts off. it's sticking somewhere. Now all I have to do is order a new one!

Posted by: superchevy

The linelock is working superbly with the new switch installed. I threw on a set of old tires and MELTED EM!

I got my subframe connectors and new msd ignition in and laid smokey posi for probably 100 yards!

Thanx for all of your help and suggestions!!!

Posted by: VETTKLR

need a pic of the successful burnout!!!

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