(88 na gxl)i replaced my fuel damper earlier this week and now my car's warning lights dont come on when i turn the ignition to the second click and nothing happens during the third click leading me to believe the ecu is not getting any power or i left a ground for it off during the re installation of my uim. i can here some of the accessories come on on the uim and i was able to check the damper leak by jumping the fuel pump connector and it worked fine as well. Upon inspection of trying to get my warning lights on the first time i saw a ground from my transmission that was loose and it looked like it went into the fire wall on the passenger side but the car is still in the same condition, any help would be great and if i need to post pics just let me know.

 

Is the two pin plug on the back of the alt plugged in?

 

i believe so here's a pic

 

and while i got it in a pic whats the black connector in the second pic lying on the alternator? It wasn't connected even when the car did run, at least i'm pretty sure it wasn't. This is a 5 speed and i think that connector is used on an automatic near the water neck in an opening that's not on my car, and if you tell me that black thing is suppose to go on the alternator then i sincerely apologize.

 

Pull the alternators small two wire plug off.

Put the key to ON, engine OFF.

Jumper the bottom wire on that plug (white/black) to ground. The warning lights should come on.

IF they come on, put the plug back on the alternator and see if the warning lights now come on with the key ON, engine OFF.

The black single wire plug is for a water thermo switch used only on cars with a electric fan in front of the radiator.

 

jumpered the botom wire and still no power to the lights; anything else i can check out and thanks goes out to everyone for the help thus far.

 

Turn the key to ON. Engine OFF. Ground that white/black wire and LISTEN for the alt relay in the CPU to click each time you gnd that white/black wire.

If you hear the click each time you gnd that wire, then there is a problem with the Warning Light assy or the Meter fuse is blown. Not likely the fuse if your gauges work.

That white/black wire goes to a relay in the CPU. That is what is going to be clicking when you touch that wire to gnd.

At least it's not the alternator that's bad.

 

i think your right about the problem being the warning light assy, i checked the meter fuse and itd straight, and the ecu does have power. After a little thought i remember when i bought the car the electronics kept coming on and off for the first few days then they just stayed on. I haven't drove the car in almost three weeks so they may have went to sleep again but my hatch, and brake light works on the assy so thats where my confusion is cause i dont get the other lights to come on now.

 

sorry i got third click power, i've been driving an automatic all week and forgot to push the clutch down, but the warning lights still dont come on.

 

I don't connect with this response. This has nothing to do with starting the engine or pushing the clutch in.

It's just...put the key to ON, engine OFF, and then go ground that white/black wire on the alternator to ground. If it's quiet you can hear the click of the alternator relay pulling in. That relay is in the CPU which is not the ECU. Its the CPU and located near your left foot if driving.

You do this from the engine bay and listed carefully to hear a click of the relay in the CPU which is inside the car. So while in the engine bay, put that wire to ground several times while listening carefully to hear the click from the CPU. I know I can do this from the engine bay and hear the relay click inside the car, so you probably can too.

If you hear that click as you ground the white/black wire in the engine bay, then the most likely problem is the Warning LIght assy itself.

The other lights might very well light up individually, such as opening the door would show the Door light or if you open the hatch you'd get the Hatch light. But not all the lights would come on if those individual lights come on.

The only time all the lights come on , is when the key is put to ON and the alternator isn't putting out. If that is the situation, the alternator will put a ground on the white/black wire which in turn causes a relay in the CPU to pull in and pass 12v to the Warning Light Assy. The Warning Light assy is made in such a fashion that if that if it sees that 12v coming from the alt relay, it turns on All the warning lights.

So, if you hear a click of the relay when that white/black wire has a ground put on it by you, that means the wiring b/t the alt and relay is good and most likely the only problem is a cold solder joint at the Warning Light assy's electrical pulg/jack.

IF the plug on the alternator is on the alternator, and you start the engine up, And the volt meter in the dash immedialtey registers over 13vdc, then the alternator is most likely just fine and again it's probably just the Warning Light assy having a cold solder joint.

 

i didn't know it had nothing to do with the the third click its just that i put that in the original post and didn't want to confuse anyone into where the problem might be. I do agree with you on the assy being messed up though, and i do get the click from the cpu just no warning lights. long as it runs and the gauges on the dash work i'm happy, and who knows maybe by miracle they'll one day come back like they did before.

 

The connector on the rear of your alternator looks melted.

 

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Most of the time you can put the key to ON, engine Off, and then with the warning light assy not screwed down, pull the warning light assy out a bit and wiggle the plug on the back of it. The warning lights might very well come on doing that. More or less proves the solder joints on the warning lights jack are not soldered very well.

I'm not sure it's worth bothering with. Kinda agree with you. If the volt gauge reads near 14v when the engine is running, that's good enough for me. Til someday you decide to mess with it because you don't have anything better to do. The rest of the lights probably work as advertized.

 

dont' know how, dont care why it was 70 instead of 30 outside today and the lights are back on like normal.