Key on IGNT, dash lights come on, gauges dont work...
 

Ok...heres a new problem...i think this may work.

When I turn the key on, the dash lights come on. None of the gauges work and my SFAC and EVC don't come on. When i turn the key to start and am cranking the car, the gauges and computers flicker on and off. Hmm...any ideas?

also the idiot lights don't come on and neither do the headlights....this has happened once before but it fixed itself...

it fixed itself...but i shut off the key and turned it back on and the problem came back....anybody?

.......anybody?

I had the same problem with the wipers and A/C, turned out to be the ignition switch.

Ignition switch huh? But how would that make the interior lights come on? it's possible but it dont make any sense to me....lol....i will check it out though...thanks.....any otehr ideas guys?

OK wankel, lets get past our differences, and hope this helps. If your fuses are like mine, yes, no, not sure, but by your left foot is fuse box. I had same problem, and one of the fuses says, "METER", which is for the gauges, at least it was for me. Changed out that fuse, and all gauges worked again. Hope it helps, and hope the car is running.

PEACE THE DOG

Series four.........the idiot lights are dependent on the alternator being good. With the key to ON and the engine not running, the alternator puts a ground on a relay in the CPU. That ground signal comes from the WHITE/BLACK wire on the alternators small plug. I did not say BLACK/WHITE, I said WHITE/BLACK.

So the white/black puts a ground on the relay in the CPU. The relay pulls in and the relays contacts *make* and supply a ground to the IDIOT LIGHT CLUSTER. So now the lights in the cluster have a ground. IF they have a 12vdc source of power..the lights will light up. The 12vdc source of power comes from a 7.5 amp fuse in the fuse box. It's on the third row from the bottom, third fuse from your left. Also make sure the second fuse from your left on the bottom row is good. It's for the clock.

Your real problem probably lies in your turbo swap and the harness you used. Tell me this, what EMISSIONS HARNESS did you use? The rest of the harnesses are the original non turbo harness? Right? But you put in a turboII EMISSIONS HARNESS? If so, I have a solution for you lighting problems.

IF you used a turboii emissions harness on a non turbo car and didn't make ADJUSTMENTS to the X-15 plug (FEM-01 on 88's), then you NEED to take action and correct the miswiring. Especially the boost sensors output wire needs to be addressed.

i have a turbo II engine but the emissions harnedd and chassis harness are both n/a s4

lights trouble
 

Im totally new to this. I have a '87 base and none of lighting in side comes on. My head lights, tail lights,brake lights,they all work. THe radio did no illuminate and niether did the bulb where the shifter (automatic) is at don't come on. Any help??

The key gets stuck in the wrong position!

My car does this also.
The key gets kinda stuck in between ON and START.
Next time this happens, try and rotate the key slightly back - I bet it'll "click" and everything will work normally.


-Ted

^^^ill try it, but why the dash lights? that just confuses the shit out of me.....

that, or check you brake lights again.....if they are not on, check the switch it might be burning at the harness plug, mine did. fixed the switch and good as new.

nope the key isnt getting stuck...i push it back and it's off, i put it forward and it cranks

brake lights work

No, it makes no sense for the dash light to come on. Dash lights meaning the combination meter lights and not the Warning LIghts cluster. It sounds like some kind of short in the LIght Switch or some miswiring backfeeding into that circuit. Too hard to figure out from here.

This happen sometime after your engine swap? Not right after the swap but later?

On a series four the first place to start is section C in the wiring diagrams. Pull the plug called CO-3 apart and see if your getting 12vdc from the black/yellow wire on front harness side of the plug. It comes directly from the METER fuse.

If that's good then go to the BLACK wire on the CO-3 plug and see if you have a good ground. It should be well under 1ohm. Probably closer to 0.3-0.6 ohms.

If those two are good then the problem is with the CO-1 plug and the black/yellow wire in it not making contact or???????????


The SAFC gets its feed from the ECU plug/pin 3I. Pin 3I is fed directly from the MAIN RELAY. That should be a clue. It's the black/white wire coming off the relay that feeds all the solenoids plus pin 3I on the ECU.

So, tell me, you mean to say ALL the harness on the car are non turbo, right? Nothing wrong with that at all. If the EMISSIONS harness has been replaced by a turbo EMISSIONS harness, then there are problems that are harness related.

it happened after the swap....but not right after....maybe after like 3 weeks of trying to get it started


no the all the wiring is s4 n/a original stuff.....

Well, IF the SAFC is wired like the SAFC manual, then your SAFC going on/off is related to the MAIN RELAY coming and going, most likely.

And the gauges are related to the black/yellow wire that feeds the gauges OR the ground wire is lacking. Or there is something wired into the black/yellow wire that should not be there OR something is wired into the black ground wire that should not be there.

Keeping the original non turbo harness should eliminate it being related to the swap, unless something was done that isn't being mentioned.

.....like the FD alternator swap?

Well, the BLACK/WHITE wire on the alternator (series four regular car) comes from the METER fuse to the alternator. The White/Black wire should be going to the CPU plug and to a relay in the CPU. It, the white/black wire supplies a ground to a relay in the CPU which in turn causes the relay to pull in and the contacts in the relay supply a ground to the light circuit in the Idiot Light assy and that makes the lights in it come on. When the alt starts spinning there will not be a ground coming out of the alternator on that white/black wire so the relay in the CPU relaxes and the Idiot Lights go out.

I forget right now which blade on the FD gets the 12vdc from the Meter Fuse and which gets the white/black wire. Gotta look at that someday.

In other words.....got me. Might, might not. I don't understand why the dash lights are coming on with just the key to on unless the light switch is screwed up or there's some unauthorized wire feeding the dash lights.

Looking directly into the socket on the alternator itself, with the locking tab on top, the blade on the LEFT should get the 12vdc from the Black/White wire. That black/white wire is coming from the METER fuse. That's what this jpg said anyway...... http://www.teamfc3s.org/forum/attach...&postid=317950

By saying DASH LIGHTS, you mean the ones in the combination meter where the gauges are? Right?

When you turn the key to ON, do the Idiot lights come on? And does the SHIFT light in the combination meter come on? Key just to ON, engine not running.

I re-read your first two posts. No idiot lights......go to the fuse box and go to the very bottom row. If I remember right, the CIGAR fuse supplies power to the idiot lights and the ALT thru the CPU relay supplies the ground to turn them on. Memory here. No book in available where I am right now. Cigar fuse is the second one over from the left on the bottom row.