I have a 77 dodge motorhome and some of the ignition wires have burnt up and Im not sure where they go. Does anyone have a diagram I could refer to? I have replaced the wires and put it back together but when I started the truck it would stay running after the key was turned off, the only way the kill the motor was to cut a wire from the fuse panel I just put back on.

I had an old 77 ramcharger and the ignition looks the same so I assume I am in the right place. The ignition switch is the one by the tumbler, not the one that is controlled by the rod.

The truck itself is a 77 with a 440, not sure if that matters but as much info as possible right? Thanks for any help.

 

so where have you been replacing wires? this might help you. not sure if the older trucks are similar to the newer ones.

 

Well, there was a slow drain on the battery, so if I didnt disconnect it (quick disconnect on battery, remember, a motorhome) it would kill the battery. Well, I am new to motorhomes and of course forgot to disconnect it one day and it was on for about 3 days. It killed the battery. I brought the battery to work and charged it, re-installed it and no power at the fuse panel. I tore the dash apart and found a wire was toasted (black wire from ignition) coming from the ignition going to somewhere around the fuse panel. Found the short and deleted it. I replaced the wire but wasnt sure where it came from, considering it fried itself from the 2nd connection. I took a wild guess and connected it to constant hot and everything seemed to work fine. The truck turns over, starts and power is going to everything. I turn off the ignition and the truck still runs. I disconnect the battery and it still runs. I cut the wire I just wired to constant and the engine shuts off. FML...

 

from the sounds of it the wire you replace is the ignition wire. you could maybe put it on a toggle switch if you don't know where it came from but i doubt there is that many wires coming off the ignition switch.

 

Well, the wires coming from the ignition are:

Brown-Im pretty sure this is ground
red with black stripe
dark blue
a smaller dark red- I think this is starter exciter wire
black
light orange or yellow- its hard to tell.

 

I got it working. It took lots of testing with the meter, but got it. nothing I can share will help others with a similar problem, just test test test....