Vodka

New to cars and rotaries, just bought an 84 gs with the 12a. Not a single light or dash gauge works except the speedometer. Headlights don't op up and taillights don't work either. Car starts up and drives just fine though. Where do i start?

Ta-Aikah

Simple stuff first, check the fuses and fusible links on the driver's side strut tower.

Vodka

Links look fine, as do all the fuses though i cant really say where they go (missing cover)

Richard Miller

First, never underestimate burnt bulbs. People let things go to ****. Second check your grounds, You can find the locations by using the Factory Service Manuals at Foxed.ca. look for corrosion or just nastiness.

When you say taillights, are you referring to when the lights are powered on or the brake lights. Do your turn signals work? Back up lights? is there corrosion in the bulb socket?

Start with the condition of your bulbs. Look at the wiring diagrams. It may be daunting but the FSM from Mazda is a easy one to learn from if you are new to troubleshooting,

the headlight motors are labeled as "retractor" perhaps the fuseable link is out (drivers side strut) .

Having a multimeter to chase down continuity and voltage will really help as well.

Vodka

Found a diagram for the fuses and the guy who had it prior had em all in the wrong shots, replaced them all and now everything works but the driver pop up, gonna check the motor later. Checked the links with a multi meter and they were fine, thanks for the help guys

KansasCityREPU

iTrader: (9)

The factory service manuals can be found here: Foxed.ca

liondogs

iTrader: (1)

When you say "the fuse looks good "do not go by looks. Check the fuse for continuity with a ohmmeter. I do not know how many times a fuse looked good but was actually bad. You need to look at the electrical diagram for a common failure point that would affect all these systems at the same time. Test the fusible links at the strut tower "location X-01"as someone already suggested. If they "test" good move slightly down stream checking as you go and you will find the problem. Also test the "X-03" location, This is where the fuses by the drivers side dash area are located.

Search and you can find the shop service manual online which contains the electrical diagrams for download. Looking through the electrical diagrams will really help.