lights went out????
 

well guys now that my car is done. i have yet to find my last problem when i installed some gauges in the glove box i ran the light wire using the glove box light. well after everything was installed they worked great well after finishing it up i decided to turn em on one last time they turned on and the lights just went out that includes all interior lights and my night time running lights....... im screwed i got pulled over the other day in my car and need to get this fixed he gave me a ticket so i need to find the problem and prove that it was fixed so i need some help asap i checked the fuses all the fuses are fine i checked the ones inside the engine and the ones under the dash any ideas????
Thanks
TwEaK

Headlight switch. Remove it and inspect it for charred/burn marks. It's a very common problem. Icemark sells rebuilt switches @ www.mazdamark.com

ill check it out right now will it be highly noticable that, thats what happned???? will i see burn marks on it?
TwEaK

Yes..you will be able to see it at the connector most likely.

ok checked all the fuses and the connector in the back everything is clean and still got nothing any ideas????? i really hate the electrical problems with these cars but still love it to death =D
TwEaK

Pull out the headlight switch, plug it back into the harness and turn it the park position. With a voltmeter or test light check for power at the white/green wire (power from battery) and the red/black wire (power to taillight circuit). If you don't have power to the white/green wire you need to replace the 15A ILLUM fuse. If that wire has power but the red/black wire doesn't, you need to replace or repair the switch.

ok only thing im afraid of is friing the actualy harness that isnt possible right???? the fuses would blow before that would hapen right????
TwEaK

well, lets hope so.

ok guys im lost still ive checked it out and nothing any ideas PELASE!!!!?????
TwEaK

any chance that you broke your ground to your headlight harness? I'm not sure where it is exactly, though a schematic will tell you. I accidently didn't plug in my ground the one time that I was testing my lights (when I made my wiring harness), and it did wierd-ass'd things.. like the headlights would only turn on when the car was turned off. You couldn't get them to lower/raise if the car was on, the side markers didn't work, etc...

Just a thought...

after that, its time to start tracing wires.

well i mean they were working after in installed some gauges in the car i go to turn them on and pfft all of em die i checked the fuses and mayb its just me but they all seemed to be fine
TwEaK

HELP!!!!! LOL IM SOOOOOOOOOOO LOST !!!!!! ;D this sucks i can only drive the car during the day and i love to go out
TwEaK

Did you test the switch like I said? If you did, why didn't you tell us the results? If you didn't, why are you still posting?

If you look at a wiring diagram (and you should've a long time ago) you'll see the circiut is very simple: battery -- BTN fuse (engine bay) -- ILLUM fuse (cabin) -- switch -- bulbs. All these points are easily tested to see where the break is. Don't just look at the fuse, pull it out and check its continuity. Go do some actual trouble-shooting, don't just sit at your computer complaining to us.

Wow, I remember having this problem......and I found out, it was my main fuse. I found it out the hard way by destroying it and riding around with just a metal piece, yet, all of my Illums(Tailllights, etc....) were back on. Do your seatbelts still work when you open the door? For example, move forward and backwards. Also, when you open the door, do you hear the beeping sound still, but in a very low tone? Overall, check and jiggle the Main fuse, without breaking it....like I did. Just keep the door open to see if the sealtbelt will move, while jiggling.

Mine did this because I fried something when installing my stereo. There's an orange wire inside the stereo area, just plug that puppy to a 12V source somewhere and all your lights will come on. Unforunately, your parking lights are always on, but at least the cops leave ya the hell alone.

Before the flames, yes I jerry rigged it so I didn't have to deal with cops and have been too lazy to buy a switch or find the bad fuse.

NZ i dont understand what you mean ive done everything else checking the back of the plug shit like that but compeltely lost on your part =/ you have a pic or something???
TwEaK

What dont you understand about this Tweak? That is the most basic troubleshooting. Do you know how to check for continuity/voltage? Do you even have a voltmeter?

it still doesn't sound like you are performing basic electrical troubleshooting. if you don't know how, now is the time to learn and this is really quite SIMPLE.

to make it easy to understand, try to think of it as the system having a bunch of locations where things could go wrong.
what you need to do is start at one end of the system, such as at the BATTERY.
then work your way down the electrical system with a VOLTMETER checking that there is the proper voltage or ground.
you end at the bulbs.

so, repeating what NZ said,
battery: check for 12v -- BTN fuse (engine bay): check for continuity -- ILLUM fuse (cabin): check for continuity -- switch: test all pins as stated in the FSM -- bulbs: test for continuity

- Aaron

i dont have a voltmeter ill go buy one today.... and what happens if i dont have the FSM???
TwEaK

if you don't know already you can download it here:
http://www.iluvmyrx7.com/2nd_gen_manuals.htm
under "Mazda Service Manuals"

does anyone have a pic of the sticker to tell me which one is the ILLUM fuse???? because the sticker fell off the cover thing =/ ??????
TwEaK

Found in the FAQ for FC sticky thread at the top of this section:

Please read the FAQ for FC sticky thread before posting:

http://www.teamfc3s.org/forum/attach...=&postid=16970
http://www.teamfc3s.org/forum/attach...=&postid=16888

my apologies Icemark

No worries, we all forget sometimes that it is there

I remember the one time I asked about the BEEP BEEP BEEP i was getting (power steering)... MAN did I feel like a n00b (This was just the end of last year some time) :)

Electronics troubleshooting is a good thing to get into, if you want to keep owning older vehicles ;)