Hey guys just picked up a 87 t2 and this beast used to be a track only car since 96 and its been sitting since 2002 and theres only 11000km on it. well to my issues, im in the middle of converting it back to a street car and had some issues with the motor and vacuum leaks, grounds, wires not plugged in or broken, bolts nuts screws missing so now we have a good running car now were stuck at the electrical we had no lights to begin with and we got the tail lights working with a simple bulb change and put in a headlight fuse but we have no reverse lights(possible bad switch on the tranny), head lights do not flip up or turn on, but it does have brake lights, signals and marker lights . so what would be our best way about goin about these issues.

thanks,
Steve

 

Check check check. Check all the wiring, make sure everything is plugged in. Check to make sure the headlight motors are getting power, check the switch at the gauge cluster, etc. etc.. Go around with a voltmeter and have at it. Both reverse lights not working is more than likely just the switch at the tranny, but it could also be the wiring.

 

For the lights to popp up you need a Retractor fuse in the Engine fuse box.

For the headlights to turn on you need the voltage coming from the Head fuse to power up the Headlight Relay and this would be the two Red wires at this relay, and the voltage is constant so no key necessary for this check. When the headlight switch is fully turned a ground signal arrives at the Headlight Relay and results in the Red/Green wire having voltage on it. Check to see if this happens. Likely it is not and the likely cause is there is no ground signal on the White/Blue wire at the relay. If you find no voltage on the R/G wire w/the switch turned fully then jumper a ground wire to the White/Blue wire in the Headlight Relay and see if the lights come on. Do as stated and then come back and tell us of your findings.

 

Yeah everythings plugged in no corrosion any where no more. I will check those wires tho, and post my findings thanks guys.

 

ok the reverse lights were the wires at the tranny. and now i have head lights (relay was cracked and was full green goodness and has been replaced ), the lights flip up and down but keep cycling up and down?

 

At the healight switch the plug which connects to the switch has a Red/Yellow wire and a Red/Blue wire. If the headlights are down and voltage is placed on the Red/Blue wire the lights should pop up and stay up. If the lights were up then voltage on the Red/Yellow wire should cause the lights to go down. If they react as follows then the relay internal to the switch is likely the problem.

 

the cluster switch has been swapped with a known good one. and relays have been swapped. but what would cycle the lights (never stops till you pull the fuse) as soon as you plug the main retractor fuse in. every thing work it just wont open and stay at full open or just stop at close. as if you open close open close open close open close... etc .

 

could it be possible the relay brackets(relay have its seprate ground?) have to be bolted down? to the frame?

 

The Black wire in the same plug is the ground for the internal relay.

 

ok i wasent 100% sure if the black wire was the only ground or if the relay itself is supposed to have its own ground not just from the harness

 

When you turn the headlight switch **** to the second position a contact inside passes the ground from the Black wire to the relay coil. The positive side of the relay coil is supplied by the 30 amp Head fuse. And what happens if you use the smaller **** in the switch to activate the headlights to move either up or down. Does this second **** work?

 

ok in no matter where the switch (old and known good) in either postion still cycles the lights constantly when the main fuse is put in.

 

What do you mean by either position? The first position should turn the lights on and the second position should pop up the lights. Are you stating that the lights pop up and down even when the switch is in the first position. And what about the second ****??

And the Main fuse is not related to the headlights popping up or down as they are controlled by the Retractor fuse and Head fuse (see the wiring diagram).

 

the switch can be off (lights) and still cycle. lights can be on (all the lights work fine) and cycle up and down.

lights can be off and the pop up switch (top switch) can be closed or open and they still cycle when you plug in the retractor fuse (sorry what i meant is the retractor on the main fuse block.)

in other words every thing can be off and they cycle up and down from the moment you plug in the retactor fuse, till you pull it out,
im stumped haha.

 

Disconnect the headlight switch from the headlight harness. Then place the Retractor fuse back in place. See if the lights cycle or not. If they don't then place battery voltage on the Red/Blue wire on the harness side of the plug and the lights should pop up. Place voltage on the Red/Yellow wire and they should go down. This would help to see if the headlights are at fault or not and so on.

 

Ok ill try that tomorrow. Thanks for your input satch I appreciate it.

 

ok even with the switch unplugged and when the retractor fuse in the lights still cycle.

 

Take a look at the harness that you unplugged and look for any apparent damage. Focus on the Red/Yellow wire and the Red/Blue wire for damage. You could also take a voltage reading of these two wires while the lights cycle up and down.

Each headlight motor should have four wires. They are Black (ground), White/Green (power), Red/Yellow (down wire) and Red/Blue (up wire). Check to see if the grounds are good as they both share the same ground point. You could also disconnect the four wire plug from the headlight motor and supply voltage to the White/Green wire in the plug "and then place voltage to Red/Blue wire" in the same plug and the headlight should rise up.

The grounds for the headlight motor are found in a plug grouping multiple grounds together at a common site (five ground wires). It's found below and to the side of the trailing coil bolted to the fender. Make sure this ground is good. You can jumper a ground to the four wire plug at the headlight motor plug to test the ground quality. You could take a resistance reading of the ground wire and so on.

 

below and to the side of the trailing coil bolted to the fender there is only 2 ground wires so i may have to go digging in the harness to look for the rest of them.