Hi guys. I'm almost finished reassembling my car, but I've run into a snag.

Before it was taken apart, all of the lights and blinkers worked fine. Now, I think the blinker relay is broken (it was acting erratically before) and so the blinkers won't work. But, the major problem is the the brake lights and reverse lights won't work and the alternator light is on. The alternator is charging right (at least, there is about 14V when running on the battery and running it doesn't drain the battery).

When I push down on the brake pedal or put the car into reverse, the tach goes to 0, the alternator light really brightens and the radio turns down. Also, when the car is running without the brake petal pushed down, the tack is not showing the correct rpm; it is about 1500 rpm too low When you turn on the headlights (they work) the tack starts reading right.


I'm assuming there is some kind of short in the whole circuit, does anyone have an guesses on where it is before I test all of the light wires?




To summarize:
No brake/reverse lights work now (they did all before)
No blinkers work (but I think the relay is just broken)
When running in neutral the tack shows an rpm 1500 lower than correct and the alternator light is on (but it is working right)
When on the brakes or in reverse the tach stops working and the alternator light gets really bright.

Thanks for any help in advance,
Jim

Try checking the fuses, I think it is the 5th one from the right that has a very adverse effect on all sorts of stuff if it is blown or not making good contact. Might be a good time, since the car was sitting to pull all of them, clean the contacts and Install new ones. Good luck

All sorts of funny (maybe not so funny) things can happen if your grounds are not

making good contact or if you missed one. Worth a look. My .02

I'll try that John.

Paul, I know the ground not working right syndrome all too well. I was actually hoping that someone might point out a component failure that could cause all of those problems.

Ok, did you disassemble the fuse panel and clean ALL the contacts. I was having

some electrical prob's so I took the FP out, made a drawing of what wires went

where. Pulled all the wires off and used a brass/copper cleaner...On all contacts.

Put it back in and ALL the problems were gone. The blinkers, gen light and a few

other things were part of it. These are the simple/cheap things you can check,

before you buy something you don't need. My .02

Hmm, maybe that is the problem. I couldn't find any messed up grounds and didn't think of the actual fuse panel causing the problems. Thanks.

I do think its kinda funny since the hazard lights work

There's no short cut or magic bullet when it comes to electrical problems.

Use the Haynes manual (or bird web site) electrical schematics and trace one circuit at a time.

Check all grounds first !!!

Clean all contacts.

Tim

as you must have had the rear bumper off, check the wires for the licence plate lamps. at the lights themselves and where they pass thru the rear panel. the 2 wire ends are very small and can easily make contact (the tiny plastic shielding is usually gone), shutting down a number of dif circuits.

k

I would have never thought of that, I'll add that to the to do list tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can get it sorted out before I have to start studying again.

Definitely check the fuses first. One particular fuse being out (can't remember which one, though my foggy memory seems to be coming up with the number 8) will cause the tach to go to 0 when you step on the brakes. You also will have no brake lights when this happens. Make certain the fuses are not "fused" and are well seated.

I cleaned the fuse block (both sides) and everything is working great now. Excellent.

Very Cool.

I will now attempt to hijack this thread. Is there some special procedure or product for cleaning ground, contacts, fuse panels? Or is it all disassemble, use emery cloth or wire brush, reassemble? I'm hoping for something that will simplify the process as I have several old vehicles that could probably benefit from this. One of them is a 914. (Okay, two, but that is a future project.) And something to seal them with after they're clean? Any secrets?

Ground...Loosen up the nut and remove. Pull the 'eye' connector(s) that are connected to the wires off and clean the connectors, nut and lug of any rust and corrosion. Contact cleaner will work for the connectors or 1200 grit sandpaper.
Wire brush or dremel will clean the lug and nut.

Fuse panel I used a brass/copper cleaner after I pulled it out. (easier to work on)

Don't know an easy way.

That's what I figured, but I had seen "Clean the grounds" several times when people ask what to do with one that has been sitting and never any mention of what was involved in that. Putting some time into it and reaching into corners and tight spaces.

Yeah they should have put a couple zippers in these cars.

My driver side headlight is not working. It was working fine before I hit a deer.

I checked the fuses and they all seem fine. I also checked to see if there is power going to the headligt with a voltage meter and there was no reading. So, where would the failure be? The ground seems to be connected. Could the problem be at a relay?

I need HELP.

I also put in a new headlight. I just can't understand what happened when the deer hit.