More wiring problems

[Wes]

I thought it was all wired up properly after following the factory service manual but......

All the instruments work......This is good.
But
When I turn on the lights all the instruments light up but so do the indicator lights in dash.
When I pull the hazards all the instruments light up including the indicators,
When I indicate left the dash brake light flashes.
When I indicate right nothing happens.
The main beam dash light works properly.
The wipers produce a click noise on intermittent but don't do anything on the other settings.

I have changed all the dash lights to LED ones if this makes any difference.

The rear lights are wired in but none have switched on at any point.

Both flasher units have been replaced with new ones.

No front lights/indicators are wired in.

Any help appreciated!

Wes

 

[Mr.F]

Sounds like the early Lotus Elans when they had a colourblind electrician doing their wiring!
LEDs are current directional - are any in the wrong way round causing changes in the circuits? I'd be inclined to remove all LEDs and check whether the other circuits are operating normally without them in place...

 

[morbias]

It sounds like you might have put some of the lights in the wrong positions

The brake light bulb should obviously be in the left indicator bulb location, are you sure all the illumination bulbs are coming on? If your tach is the same as my tach then the illumination LEDs have to be taken apart and the polarity reversed.

When I pull the hazards all the instruments light up including the indicators,

Does this mean when you turn on the hazards all the dash lights turn on?

[EDIT] oh wait... the brake light is in the speedo and the indicator lights are in the tach, so maybe you haven't got the bulb in the wrong position, I don't see how that would be possible

[EDIT 2] when you say none of the rear lights are coming on, do you mean the entire clusters or just the red tail lights? If it's the clusters then I would check the connections between the body harness and the rear light harness under the right hand seat.

The flasher units you used, are they direct replacements or different from the originals? Thermal flasher units need a high current draw to work properly so if you have no front indicators wired in and the ones in the rear clusters aren't working either, or you have replaced the indicators with LEDs then the flashers might not have enough current draw to switch properly. Electronic flasher units generally need less current draw but it can still happen. I would also clean the contacts and check the wiring on the switch connected to the indicator stalk. I just had to replace switch on mine because one of the contacts literally fell out of the board.

 

[Wes]

Thanks Guys,

All of the dash bulbs are definatly in the right places so I think I'll change all of the bulbs to regular ones and then get the rest of the lights wired up and go from there.

Both stalks were working fine in my 260z a few years ago and have only been sat in my garage since so hopefully should be OK.

I'll finish wiring at the weekend and see how things are going!

Luckily the car has no interior in so it's not too bad doing these jobs!

 

[SKiddell]

Most common problems (trust me I'm an engineer)

1. Earth faults particularly on a 35 year old car (can back feed through other circuits and cause brake lights to come on instead of indicators for example)
2. Connector/contact faults (hi resistance due to corrosion)
3. Scotch lock hell (owners thinking that a scotch lock solves everything)
4. Light stalk nipple fix (specific to S30)
5. Melty fuse box around HR copper track rivets (Specific to S30)
6. Mis matched wiring (early late S30 cars)
7. Wrong bulbs (PO thinks its OK to fit a zillion watt main headlamp bulb on 35 year old wiring

Always start with
Occams Razor......"the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one"

The human mind always looks at the most complex component and convinces itself that is the problem, eg the computer is broken because it wont come on....when its actually because it isnt plugged in.

So, on an old car, look at old things (connectors, joints, bodged wiring) if it can be done, assume a previous owner has done it.

 

[Wes]

Thanks Steve,
It may be an earth issue, I need to see where all of the earth points are.
It doesn't have any scotch locks fortunately and almost all connectors are factory standard.
Ive also cleaned all of the connections so hopefully corrosion isn't an issue.
Fuse box is in perfect condition.
The rear harness is just plugged in. Should it also connect to the body somewhere?
I've not checked the stalk,
Will check the bulb wattage all-round though.
I hate wiring!

Thanks,

Wes

Thanks though!

 

[SKiddell]

Check the back of the fuse box, around the copper rivet joints, they go HR (high resistance) and heat up melting the plastic.

There are several earth points at the back of the car, including the fittings themselves.

Re the light stalk, there are several differant versions that have some degree of interchangability but all suffer from nipple fatigue (take the main light switch appart you'll see what I mean but be careful lots of springs to go ping)

Take a test meter and check continuity from all light fittings to ground, dash metal carcass to ground

Give me a bell if you need to Wes.

Pmac gives me all his wiring problems to fix because he knows I love it so much

 

[Wes]

I might have to Steve. I'll see how things are going this weekend. I could send you a series of pictures then maybe you could have a go! Can you pm me your number please?

Cheers!

 

[SKiddell]

You have a PM