ANOTHER damn electrical problem...
 

Ok, everything that I use works in my car (knock on wood). Anyway, today I went to the junk yard and pulled out a clock (to replace that ugly balance/fader thing) and an unbroken stereo surround. I put the console in with the clock, and never even noticed the clock wasnt moving. I turned on my lights, and all the dash lights work, including the one on the clock. I went hunting and found out that the clock wasnt working cause the constant power wire has no constant power. So I checked fuses. None blown. Now what? I also found out that the overhead map light doesnt work, and I thought that it was because of a blown bulb. Turns out, there is no power to the damn wire again. Its blue with a yellow or white stripe. I think its yellow, I honestly forgot. Anyway, whats up with this? The wires are all there, its just that the one doesnt have voltage through it. I looked briefly at the fuse box for anything "out of the ordinary" but I dont really know what Im looking for. Any help would be great as usual. Thanks guys.

~T.J.

Couldnt edit...

Im 98% sure its a blue with yellow wire Im having problems with...

~T.J.

Which car are you working on? What year? If it's the '83, can't help. If it's any of the the '84 or '85s, your dim knob ist kaputt... :cool:

83, and the dimmer works :).

~T.J.

Do you have the Haynes? I'll take a look when I get home if you don't...you might have a cut wire or pinched wire somewhere out of sight...:(

Update: Got back from the store, and reread some of the wiring diagrams I have on my computer from iluvmyrx7 and went out to my car for some quick work. I pulled out the fuse panel, kinda, looked around, and found a plug halfway unplugged. I plugged that bad boy in and my "lights on with the door open" chime immediatly came on!! Iwas stoked...Although, I knew the bulb in my overhead dome light was good (just bought it), it wasnt on. So I went on another hunt. It turns out the guy before me didnt like the door chime/dome light and what not, cause he put cardboard spacers between the door switches and the body to prevent them from grounding, and then used some sort of silocone to insulate the screws! After pulling out the cardboard under each one, and peeling off the silocone, everything works now! Even my light by the ignition...*sigh* Im so happy :).

~T.J.

PS - The best part is that the whole reason I went on this quest was because my clock I got to replace the bablance/fader thing didnt work...IT WORKS NOW!! My center console is in one piece and unbroken plus I have all the necessary power wires to install a stereo when I get one :). Im happy, did I say that already? :)

Sorry to revive this thread, but my dome light just quit on me. The map light works fine, however. I AM getting voltage to the two wires that plug into the mirror/dome light assembly. I'm thinking that it's the OFF/DOOR/ON switch. Also, opening the door doesn't cause the light to come on with the switch in "DOOR" mode. The light won't even come on in the "ON" mode. The bulb is fine too.

T.J. - What did you plug in, under the dash, that made your "door open and lights up" chime work? Mine hasn't worked since I got it and I'm wondering if something came loose. Thanks man.

It feels good when you get the little things to work. :D

List of little things that I've gotten to work again.
+ Door is open chime
+ Key light around on the steering column
+ Map light
+ Dome light
+ Replace A/C button
+ Rear window wiper

Now if I can only fix these... :D
+ Light behind the climate control panel
+ Rear window defroster

-Error402

It sure does error402, it sure_does :)

I've fixed the following on my car:

+Door open buzzer
+Dome light

What I still need to fix:

+Headlamp up warning ding/chime
+Driver's door lock cylinder illumination
+Low oil/low coolant warning ding/chime
+Fuel door solenoid/hatch release solenoid circuit (occasionally blows the fuse when I pull on the fuel door switch....there's no pattern, it just does it at random)

Maybe we could help each other out? :)

Still waiting for T.J. to answer my question about the 'headlamp up dinger' ;)

:)

85RX7GS - The low coolant warning chime is annoying as hell. Mine used to go off for no apparent reason and at any random moment. I replaced the top sensor on the rad and it work fine now. :D The fuel door and hatch release fuse blowing could be a bad ground some where. You may want to check the hatch releaes wiring.

-Error402

Thanks error402. In regard to the low coolant - my sensor works, in that, if I disconnect the sensor at the top of the rad, the "Add coolant light" will come on momentarily. However, the chime won't sound. This has got me totally confused, but I know it must be something that the "oil sender" "coolant sender" and "headlamps up with door open" all go to because not one of those will make a chime. Does this chime come from the buzzer in the gauge cluster or the buzzer down in the CPU flasher unit (where the "open door" buzzer is)? I noticed a relay under my dash called a "check lamp relay". Could this have something to do with it? Other people have said that it could be the "oscillator"? I'm not sure. And with the poor labeling/representation of the relays in the Haynes manual, it makes it even harder to diagnose such problems.

By the way, the rear window defroster works on a ground system, so that may be the problem. On one of our cars, the rear defroster quit because a piece of those many red lines came off. Maybe it's the same on the Mazda? I'm not sure, but it's worth a look.

When I get off of work I'll try to figure out where the chime is suppose to come from maybe that is what your problem is? I honestly don't know if they are all working off the same chime or not.

As for the rear window defroster, if anyone knows, I would be greatful. If any one strip is bad will the defroster not work? I've check the voltage and some have full 12+v other have like half that. I really don't understand why it doesn't work properly. :P:

-Error402

Any luck? I cleaned all the contacts on the oscillator and even directly grounded the single black wire connection straight to the battery and STILL no chime with the lights up.

This may be related to my problem....I poked my head under the dash and found two connectors that weren't hooked up to anything. The one, which I think is for power windows, has 4 green wires going to it (female end). The other is a blue connector with 6 wires going to it, with one of the connections "jumpered".

I appreciate your help. :)

Where are all the electronics guys when I need them...

i've fixed a shit load of electrically porblems just with my hayes manual. got really good at reading wire diagrams really fast. if you guys are still stuck tommorrow, PM me and i will look all this up on my diagrams. i also know i guy at mazda that has a crazy big book (like 350pages) of JUST wire diagrams for 84-85 rexs

CHIMES
You have 3. The low coolant, low oil, and lights on (with door open).

BUZZ
You have 2. The key in the ignition, and seatbelts not fastened.

They are controlled by the CPU (NOT ECU) under the side driver's side panel. There are 2 buzzers on the back of your IC (instrument cluster). One is for the over-rev, the other does the chimes above. I'm not entirely sure where the key/seatbelt buzzer is located, possibly the CPU itself.

Your oscillator collects data from a variety of sources and sends that info to your CPU and IC. Your light comes on most likely due to the oscillator input. The reason you don't have a ding is most likely due to the buzzer being broken. The CPU may be bad, but 1st gens hold up really well, 2nds don't.

RWD
Turn on the switch and make sure you're getting power to the grid terminals (use a voltmeter). Check the terminal tabs and make sure they are still attached and "appear" functional. Most common problem is there is a hairline scratch in the grid and no continuity of current is present. Open the hatch on a cold morning and "breathe" onto the grid to fog it up. Turn on the RWD switch and watch at which grid lines don't clear. Take a magnifying glass and hunt down the nics in the grid. NAPA sells a grid repair (metallic paint) for the repair. I had 16 grids with only about half working. Now I've gotten them all functional but I had to search down the nics on a couple of them about 3 times. But it's fixed and really handy.

jerij

Thanks a million. I'm sure many other people can use this information on the defroster.

As for the chimes - the CPU driver's side panel on my 85 has a buzzer on it. I believe that that's where the door open buzz is coming from. Now, is that the one that makes the chimes too? Or is it the one on the instrument cluster? I've also got an over rev buzz that comes on and from what I've read, that buzz comes from the buzzer on the instrument cluster.

As for my CPU under the driver's side dash, it seems to be working really well. The ignition illumination light comes on when I lift the door handle and times out as it should. The door open buzzer also sounds and turns on the interior light as it should. The turn signals and the wipers also function as they should. This has me REALLY confused because I'm really not sure where to look to fix this problem.

Anyone know what the lights up chime unit looks like?

Wow. See what I miss when I dont come here everyday?

Anyway, I honestly dont remember off the top of my head what the hell it was that I plugged in. I dont know shit about it up in there, lol. I can go look at it later today and see if I can figure it out, but I dont remember. Anyway, sorry that I cant help you right now...

~T.J.

That's okay. Thanks for trying :)

It's so annoying because half the stuff in the Haynes manual schematics is different on the actual car. Oye!

Ok, well since you still dont know what the damn "lights on" dinger looks like, I went and found it on my car for ya at 4:38 AM :). Its on the back of the insturment cluster, and Im 75% sure its the same one for the low coolant and low oil as well. Anyway, I managed to get my digi up in there to get you a pic. I hope this helps you :).

~T.J.

PS - Please disreguard the typo in the picture, lol. Its early for me, I havent slept yet, lol :).

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...postid=1411646

T.J. - Thanks man! I really appreciate it! I hope it's the same for my 85 though. Is there an easy way to get at the main plug for the cluster AND the speedometer cable so when I remove the screws on the front, the cluster will come right out?

I know that I could see the speedo cable from where I was when I took that picture, but I dont know about the main plug for the back. There were alot of wires, it was dark (that was taken with just a keychain Mag light and the cameras flash), and I was cold, lol. Anyway, I could get to a lot of it from the back, I dont know about you though, because I know that the vent down there (right under the steering column over your legs) is different...Yours may be in the way :(.

~T.J.

Yeah, it's definitely more complicated. I'll probably have to disect the whole thing, but at least I know what I'm looking for now. Thanks again T.J. :)

Yup. I just thought of something though, I think the dinger sounds different between the different years...So it might look different as well :(. Oh well, at least youre headed in the right direction :).

~T.J.