electrical gremlins
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4
electrical gremlins
Hello Mitsubishi poeple.
I am new to this forum though I have belonged to and contributed my knowledge regarding first and second generation Nissan/Datsun Z cars to forums in that genre since 98.
I own a 76 280 Z. My second Z car of the 6 I have had since around 1997. I live in Wisconsin, not a healthy place for classic jap cars, but I am here as is my fast little ride.
This is not the car of concern.
I also have a POS 95 Mitsu Expo, as well as an American 2002 Buick thing. Neither of these vehicles are any more than grocery getters and daily drivers.
The problem is the Expo and it's electrical quirks.
In a nutshell:
No dome light or dash board led clock, along with the radio.
3 weeks as so back the car was fine. I stopped at a store to grab a bag o chips and the car refused to start. Typical corrosion and bad conduction problem at the terminals was quickly deduced and the car drove away. But the overhead light and stereo didn't work, nor did the clock on the dash.
In the morning I resolved to get to the bottom of the problem. Past experience told me that when a dome light and/or dash clock illumination aren't working, the tail lights have burned out. So I went to the store and purchased any and all the tail lights that indeed were not working.
1.Lights on rear of car now work fine, but the radio, clock and dome light are intermittant.
2.Shorted dome light switch was suspected since if I were to flick the switch to any other position, the led clock light (if it was on for the moment) would turn off, and than on again if I switched it back again
3.The same scenario for the door. Open the door, the light goes out. Close it it goes on and the clock resets. Any door, all doors, same results. The overhead light would occassionally illuminate, this includes the rear compartment light as well. (Before this problem began It never worked at all in the years I've had this car.)
4.So this haphazard intermittant problem plagued me for a week or so. So the lights (clock too) if they went on at all they seemed to be fluctuating with the rpms, suggesting a bad voltage regulator in the alternator. But since it didn't happen consitantly, it was hard to be sure. The heater motor seemed to also adjust to rpms, such as when at stop lights etc.
5.So as this problem continued to puzzle me, the buzzer that tells the driver they have a door ajar, as well as if the headlights are left on, etc, let out a shrill squeal, just prior to it's final sound. This happened about one week or so ago. No buzzer. And now the overhead light never works, the clock is dim, when it comes on at all.
The doors and overhead light switch still will make the clock reset. Ever single time.
Tail lights all work, as do all the signals etc. Headlights are fine. The driving lights on the rear side work, however the front corner driving lights (not headlamps or signal lights) do not. All other electronics are fully functional. I have tested ALL the door switches as well as both overhead lamp switches for continuity, they check out fine.
Question:
where is this buzzer located? Could it be the missing link?
How do I access the front driving lights? (all the rest are simple and easily located, these ones seem to be innaccessable from the engine compartment.) Could they be part of the circuit causing this short?
Anyt suggestions?
stephenvoss@sbcglobal.net
Stephen
zen23
I am new to this forum though I have belonged to and contributed my knowledge regarding first and second generation Nissan/Datsun Z cars to forums in that genre since 98.
I own a 76 280 Z. My second Z car of the 6 I have had since around 1997. I live in Wisconsin, not a healthy place for classic jap cars, but I am here as is my fast little ride.
This is not the car of concern.
I also have a POS 95 Mitsu Expo, as well as an American 2002 Buick thing. Neither of these vehicles are any more than grocery getters and daily drivers.
The problem is the Expo and it's electrical quirks.
In a nutshell:
No dome light or dash board led clock, along with the radio.
3 weeks as so back the car was fine. I stopped at a store to grab a bag o chips and the car refused to start. Typical corrosion and bad conduction problem at the terminals was quickly deduced and the car drove away. But the overhead light and stereo didn't work, nor did the clock on the dash.
In the morning I resolved to get to the bottom of the problem. Past experience told me that when a dome light and/or dash clock illumination aren't working, the tail lights have burned out. So I went to the store and purchased any and all the tail lights that indeed were not working.
1.Lights on rear of car now work fine, but the radio, clock and dome light are intermittant.
2.Shorted dome light switch was suspected since if I were to flick the switch to any other position, the led clock light (if it was on for the moment) would turn off, and than on again if I switched it back again
3.The same scenario for the door. Open the door, the light goes out. Close it it goes on and the clock resets. Any door, all doors, same results. The overhead light would occassionally illuminate, this includes the rear compartment light as well. (Before this problem began It never worked at all in the years I've had this car.)
4.So this haphazard intermittant problem plagued me for a week or so. So the lights (clock too) if they went on at all they seemed to be fluctuating with the rpms, suggesting a bad voltage regulator in the alternator. But since it didn't happen consitantly, it was hard to be sure. The heater motor seemed to also adjust to rpms, such as when at stop lights etc.
5.So as this problem continued to puzzle me, the buzzer that tells the driver they have a door ajar, as well as if the headlights are left on, etc, let out a shrill squeal, just prior to it's final sound. This happened about one week or so ago. No buzzer. And now the overhead light never works, the clock is dim, when it comes on at all.
The doors and overhead light switch still will make the clock reset. Ever single time.
Tail lights all work, as do all the signals etc. Headlights are fine. The driving lights on the rear side work, however the front corner driving lights (not headlamps or signal lights) do not. All other electronics are fully functional. I have tested ALL the door switches as well as both overhead lamp switches for continuity, they check out fine.
Question:
where is this buzzer located? Could it be the missing link?
How do I access the front driving lights? (all the rest are simple and easily located, these ones seem to be innaccessable from the engine compartment.) Could they be part of the circuit causing this short?
Anyt suggestions?
stephenvoss@sbcglobal.net
Stephen
zen23
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4
RE: electrical gremlins
Madison.
I live on the north side of town just about to the edge of westport, by lake Mendota.
The Dells. A place I love to hate. Beautiful region but the tourist population makes it a place I avoid. A friend is currently looking to move to Baraboo. Cool little town, but I don't know if I would want to live there.
Stephen
I live on the north side of town just about to the edge of westport, by lake Mendota.
The Dells. A place I love to hate. Beautiful region but the tourist population makes it a place I avoid. A friend is currently looking to move to Baraboo. Cool little town, but I don't know if I would want to live there.
Stephen
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,445
From: 34669
RE: electrical gremlins
When I read the name of this thread, I couldnt help but picture the Gremlin from Gremlins 2 that was trapped in the phone system... please tell me anyone else remembers this?? lololololol
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Tom
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Jun 25, 2004 10:40 AM
