(UPDATE PLEASE READ!!!!) PROBLEM WITH LIGHTS IN '82 GTI

watcha everyone

  i've got a problem with the electrics. rather than explain i will list them. if people could help or give any advice at all that would be great. here they are:-

1)speedo has given up so have dash lights

2)before the key is even in the ignition the front left headlight comes on if you press on the brake

3)brake lights only work if pedal is flat to the floor

4)reverse lights dont work

i have had some advice from somebody very well known throughout the mk1 world  :wink:  but push has come to shove and he has advised me to see if anyone else has got any ideas. keep in mind i've checked all the basics- but we may aswell start from the beginning.

P.S if someone could tellk me exact locations of the majority of earth wires that would be brilliant.

thanks

Bren

sounds like youve got a short in the main loom behind the dash!!!!!!!!!!

i think the only option youve got is to take it out and have a good look

sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes but can the loom behind the dash still affect the reverse lights, brake lights and the strange goings on with the front left light???

HI

Tackle this job like this
1 forget the reverse lights for now ……… you will see why…..
2 remake all the earth connections by the battery [ nice shiny and bright] just by following the leads
3 below the glove box remove the under storage tray and look left you will see a round earth block with loads of brown wires , take this and clean as above .
4 jump in the rear hatch left side , another earth connection [opposite side to filler] on the boot floor clean as well .

Now try again ! Starting simple usally pays dividens . as the only common thing they have is earths..

Let us no how you get on  :dontknow:

Your reverse lights are probably nothing to do with the above and may simply be due to the Gearbox switch have a look at the haynes manual . The linkage if worn will not allow the switch to operate or its simply faulty or lost its power supply .

Your speedo packing up is nothing to do with electrics as its cable driven from the gear box  8O  Tackle this after the electrics are sorted .

Keep electrics simple usally works ……

Should keep you buzy for a few days

Cheers………

Also worth cleaning up the fuses in the fusebox and making sure they've got a good contact

If you've not got a voltmeter get one… it's a must have! makes it 1000 times easier finding electrical faults ie.. check from the live feed of the part with the problem to body of the car.. if you get your 12v… it's definately the earth! if not it's the live feed so check there's 12v from said live feed at the fusebox end.. if you get 12v there it's the wire.. if not then it'll be a bad fuse connection

the brake switch on the pedal can be adjusted so the lights come on earlier than foot to the floor.. it's in the haynes manual I believe

not sure if that makes sense.. but it does in my head anyway  

thanks to the lot of you!
i'll get on it and let you know how it goes.
cheers

P.S DONT STOP THE IDEAS COMING!!! EVERY LITTLE HELPS!!! :wink:

Hi
Iam having the same kind of problems and iam just about to try cleaning all the earth wires now, will let you know how i get on
thanks
mick

right checked out the bits and pieces and this is what i found:-

reverse lights aren't working because wiring isn't connected…. turns out that its a mk2 gearbox. so i've got to find out which wires go where and attach them accordingly.

the r/h switch on the brake master cylinder has 1 pin snapped off. the l/h switch has bad calcium build up - so does the connecting wire.

checked all earths mentioned, cleaned them but no change.

checked the round earth block near fuses, every thing in order.

checked fuses and noticed the fuel pump relay had been bridged. which would explain why it wouldn't start when hot(it was flooding itself :wink: ) disconnected the bridge which caused another problem:-

when i reconnected the negative lead on the battery the car turned itself on (didn't start!) even though the key wasn't in the ignition. so disconnected the neg again and re-attached the bridge, put the neg back on and the fuel pump started working even though the key was still not in the ignition. disconnected the neg and the bridge again put the car back in the garage and came to write this…………………

has anybody got any idea why this is happening???

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!!!! its driving me mad!!!!! :twisted:

give me some more ideas everyone cos i'm fresh out  :dontknow:

thanks once again

Bren

Hi

checked fuses and noticed the fuel pump relay had been bridged

Did it have a fuse on the top of the relay? (see photo)



cause after reading this thread i went and checked all my earth wires, as i have  the same problem at the moment no brake lights….etc and the relay in the picture above nearly set the car on fire, now the relay as a fuse on the top, iam right in thinking there is meant to be some kind of a cap covering this fuse? and not abit of tape.

luckly for me it only burnt out the wires to the relay not not the whole of the fuse box or the car for that matter.



thanks
mick

PS: sorry for high-jacking your thread bren

no problem. mine wasn't bridged the same as yours either, it was a blue wire running up and over from the door sill straight into the relay.
ANY HELP WOULD BE WELCOME…..AGAIN!  

If the fuel pump relay starts working as soon as the the battery earth goes on, it must be geting a permanent battery live. On the relay pins itself it has 30 battery live,31earth,15 ignition live and 87b i think.
The only way that relay can work straight away is if someone has bridged  a permanent live to the ignition live 15. this would bridge the primary side of the relay. This was probably done instead of replacing the relay. Maybe worth trying anew relay. Or it is possible there is no ignition live pressent at the relay.

mmmmmmmmm…………. thats a tough one. when it comes to electrics, fuses and relays i aint the brightest spark. so i'm not sure, but the fuel pump wont work at all now thanks to my meddling even though no fuses appear to have gone :?
should i just try a new fusebox and relays??? there does seem to be abit of evidence that there was water inside the box at 1 stage or another. maybe its short circuiting itself? or am i wrong???
 :dontknow:

Well basicly you have to choices either check voltage using a multimeter on the terminals I mentioned in the last post. Or take a guess and relace fuse box and relay. Without using a multimeter its abit of a shot in the dark.
From my past experience fuse boxes short out because of water leaks,this may be the causeof the problem