Electrical catastrophe
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Electrical catastrophe
Just bought a beautiful red 89 rx7 convertible, killer price, but the dash lights, turn signals, running lights, and brake lights don't work. Fuses are all good, and the car has an aftermarket stereo and alarm. Any suggestions ?
#3
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Common issue
I will check when I get a chance, I find it hard to believe this is coincidence, is there any single component that would fail and cause this? This ONLY lights that work are interior door and map lights, and headlights. No other lights work. No brakes, tail, running, or dash lights work.
#5
Junior Member
Thread Starter
I don't believe in coincidence lol. And I did, they're illum and stop down by the pedals. The fuses look fine, and I switched a few around to test. Those are all good.
#6
Moderator
iTrader: (1)
The tails, running and dash are all part of the headlight switch while the brake lights are a different circuit. The headlight switch powers the Red/Green wire which illuminates the dash and gauge lights while the switch also powers the Red/Black wire which powers the tails and running lights. The switch grounds a wire at the headlight relay causing the headlights to turn on so you can easily have some lights working but not others.
#7
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Sounds like I should start with the switch then. Any helpful suggestions or things to look for this amateur car mechanic? This is my first car that isn't a Chevy truck and I'm a little bewildered.
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#8
Cake or Death?
iTrader: (2)
If you haven't already, download the factory service manual here.
The easiest approach to the light switch is the time honored "Try another one" method.
Sadly, being a new owner, it's unlikely you have a spare in hand (TopTip: if you ever run across FC switchgear on CL or the junkyard, grab 'em. Our switches are completely unique, expensive as hell and prone to failure. You have been warned.), so prepare for your 1st Full Satch experience. Make sure your multimeter is ready.
#10
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Okay so the green and white brake wire does have voltage. The other wire you're referring to, I presume its the smaller red and green wires jumped together that are in the same bundle of wires near the brake switch. The aforementioned red one is powered, the green one doesn't get voltage with or without the brake pedal depressed.
#11
Moderator
iTrader: (1)
Okay so the green and white brake wire does have voltage. The other wire you're referring to, I presume its the smaller red and green wires jumped together that are in the same bundle of wires near the brake switch. The aforementioned red one is powered, the green one doesn't get voltage with or without the brake pedal depressed.
#12
Junior Member
Thread Starter
I was able to pull the the light switch. Doesn't appear to have any scorch, burn, melt marks on wires, harness, or receptacle. Anything I can test with my multimeter to confirm? Or anything I can jump in the car to get lights to turn on now that I have this thing out?
#14
Moderator
iTrader: (1)
I was able to pull the the light switch. Doesn't appear to have any scorch, burn, melt marks on wires, harness, or receptacle. Anything I can test with my multimeter to confirm? Or anything I can jump in the car to get lights to turn on now that I have this thing out?
Last edited by satch; 11-16-16 at 08:39 PM.
#15
Junior Member
Thread Starter
I think you're right, the plugs are close to each other and I mistook them for being one plug. I have figured it out, the brake switch seems to be bad. The green and white wire is powered, but when I press brake pedal, other green wire (looks like green and yellow maybe) doesn't receive voltage. I'll have to find something around the house to use as a jumper to confirm, but I'd just jump the two greens in that harness together right?
#17
Junior Member
Thread Starter
White/Green has constant and Red/Black has power w/**** turned to the 1st position. If W/G has power then jumpering voltage to the R/B (that's Red/Black and not Black/Red) should cause the gauge, dash, driving and tails to turn on). If so, then switch is kaput if the 1st statement is not achieved.
#24
Junior Member
Thread Starter
White/Green has constant and Red/Black has power w/**** turned to the 1st position. If W/G has power then jumpering voltage to the R/B (that's Red/Black and not Black/Red) should cause the gauge, dash, driving and tails to turn on). If so, then switch is kaput if the 1st statement is not achieved.
#25
Moderator
iTrader: (1)
The two wires are next to each other and they are the only wires of this color in the plug. And you could add a flip switch to bypass the possibly defective switch. W/G should have constant voltage so you check that first. If it does then you measure for voltage on the R/B wire w/the switch set to the first position. If it does not have voltage then the fault lies within the switch. If the wire does have voltage then the issue is further down the line perhaps at an intermediate connector known as X-17.
Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals (bottom right of page E-3)
Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals (bottom right of page E-3)
Last edited by satch; 11-18-16 at 07:32 PM.