Weird Electrical Happenings...

Some odd things have been happening since I purchased my '87 TC a few weeks ago. My main problem is that my high-beams don't stay on when I click the switch - they worked perfectly up until about 5 days ago, and all of a sudden now I have to hold the turn signal lever back to keep the high-beams on while driving. Any ideas as to the problem? On a side note, for a few days last week, the green arrow in the cluster for the left turn signal stopped working, but the blinkers all still worked on the car. Then mysteriously the cluster light started working again, and has worked ever since.

Some other things have happened of lesser worry. Most of the time, when removing the shifter from reverse (5-speed), the doors will lock themselves. I think this is a factory option, but I'm not sure. The other day the doors locked themselves when I shifted from 1st to 2nd. Two days ago, I turned on the interior lights while driving, and when I turned them back off (rotated switch downward) the doors locked themselves. I did it again with the same results. Ever since then it hasn't done that whenever I try.

When I bought the car the foglights had been replaced, and the owner said he'd wired them through a relay to come on with the parking lights. For the first week or so they would do that, but every once in a while they would shut off for a few mins. Now they have stopped working altogether. Any ideas? Also, does anyone have a wiring diagram they can send me for the headlights so I can just hook the foglights up to a switch in the car and be able to put the headlight wiring back together properly?

Thanks for reading my long post. Any help would be appreciated.

Matt

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~Matt~
'89 Thunderbird SC 5-speed
'87 Thunderbird TC 5-speed
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by iwannanSC (edited 02-19-2004).]

check your e-mail. et me know if the diagrams didn't get through

Wierd electrical happenings? How's this sound-

Can't turn on the foglights because the switch also activates half the dummy lights in the System Sentry...

More than half throttle or any boost or quickly releasing the throttle now activates the ABS light.

Isn't it always something... hehehe

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What every bird needs

Fog lights: probably a half assed wiring "improvement" Lots of people use those "quick tap" squeeze on things to tap into a circuit. Those are kind of OK for wiring inside the car, but for underhood wiring, exposed to the elements, they dont last long. Underhood wiring should always be soldered.

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Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 21 psi, forced air intercooler, water injection, bypass valve, Ranger roller cam, subframes, etc., etc.. // 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP nitrous, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.... // 91 Escort: Bone stock winter car // 02 Taurus Vulcan(wifes car)

Pete - thanks a million. Those should help.

On a side note - today I got the interior lights to lock the doors for me again. [Image: biggrin.gif]

Matt

Iwannansc-
sounds like your high beam/turn signal prob is probably your combo switch on the column, mine went bad too.

Natmac-
check your brake fluid level or the float level in the resevoir cap for the brakes.

The doors are supposed the lock when you shift out of reverse. It was designed to do that. Funny you should mention them locking when you switch on the interior light. Mine did that the other day too, but not since. Now my primary cooling fan won't shut off. It's been cold and wet here, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it.

And your high beams....you probably have your dimmer activated, which means they will go on automatically when the light sensor on your rear view mirror senses darkness. When it's activated you can't turn them on manually. You can deactivate that feature if you want to. You'll see the switch near your headlight switch. It explains everything in the owner's manual (if you have one).

Go Dale Jarrett!

[This message has been edited by Gary F (edited 02-22-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Gary F (edited 02-22-2004).]

Thanks Gary. I feel like such an idiot because originally I thought this wasn't the problem since I have the same features in my SC and knew (or thought I did) exactly how they worked. But I just drove the car, and checked it and sure enough that switch was on. Since I don't have a rear view mirror right now, I guess it just kept shutting the brights off. Thanks too for the info about the reverse thing, I thought that was probably a feature but wasn't sure. Maybe that's why the owner's manual tells you to always park with it in reverse.

On a side note, my car is today's (2/22) TCCoA front page pic. Check it out if you get a chance!

Matt

[This message has been edited by iwannanSC (edited 02-22-2004).]

Maybe that's why the owner's manual tells you to always park with it in reverse.
B]

I never thought of that.

You're welcome BTW. I was hoping you'd read my post before you started with the wiring. Another thing....if you want to deactivate the auto door lock feature there's two things you can do, but I only recommend one of them. You can momentarily unhook the battery, but you'll lose your clock and radio settings. Or you can enter the code on your keyless entry pad, then press and hold down the 7/8 key, and while you are doing that press the 3/4 key, then release the 7/8 key. That will cancel it out. If you want to reactivate it, just repeat the process. If you don't know the code, you can find it taped on the computer in the trunk, and you might find it on the underside of your hood if you're lucky.

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Go Dale Jarrett!

[This message has been edited by Gary F (edited 02-23-2004).]