6 replies to this topic

[Mrpeanut]

Hope you folks can help.

A few weeks ago my courtesy light died

A couple of weeks ago my horn died. It's been sat since.

Tonight the dash lights ( Speedo etc) died although the indicator lights still work.

Is this all connected? How do I fix it?

Any help appreciated.

Oh, it's a 1991 carb car if that makes a difference.

[charliedurrant]

Personally I would start to look at the fuse box - perhaps water ingress?

Edited by charliedurrant, 01 May 2012 - 08:44 PM.

[Mrpeanut]

The boxes are dry - the cars only driven in the dry and kept under cover.

[tiger99]

I agree that water ingress is very likely to be playing a part. In this case it will not be the fuse contacts themselves but the push-on connectors which attach various outgoing wires to the fuse terminals, because circuits on the same fuse are seemingly failing at different times.

A good clean of all the terminals would be an appropriate place to start. Some contact grease may help prevent a recurrence.

Edit: As you say it is dry, maybe a film of oil or dirt? Silicones are very bad, they have excellent insulating properties and creep where thay are not wanted. Still worth cleaning. You may also have to delve into the wiring behind the instrument panel for some more terminal cleaning.

Edited by tiger99, 01 May 2012 - 09:02 PM.

[Mrpeanut]

Perhaps hosing when washing could be the issue.

What to clean with, wd40 or similar?

[charliedurrant]

Perhaps hosing when washing could be the issue.

What to clean with, wd40 or similar?

Switch cleaner is the supposed best but ultimately giving the contacts a light abraze will do and then push on and off a few times - crimp connectors can be pressed shut a little with pliers to give a firmer contact.

People have used WD40 to good effect with old FORD EDIS connectors for megajolt installs so it must work but at the same time pushing the connectors on and off a number of times.

Charlie

[Mrpeanut]

Cheers folks, will try that tomorrow. If it doesn't work I'll report back.