Formerly "Buckshot"; now 3991

[Chris3991]

Hello all,

Last May I was on the verge of purchasing a D from a family in Ohio which fell through for personal reasons on the seller's end. However, today I picked up 3991 from a collector here in Georgia and have now begun developing a to-do list. While the car is in great shape and runs strong, there are some things that need to be addressed and replaced. Tech sessions may be a long shot due to my work/family schedule so this forum and it's search feature is all I've got for now.

I've been striving to own a D for many many years. So, let the adventure begin.

Cheers,
Chris

[Chris Burns]

Welcome to Delorean ownership!:devil:

This is a great group to go to for help.

[Jonathan]

Congrats Chris!

What sort of things do you need to work on? Cosmetic? Functional? If it is running strong, then perhaps the miscellaneous stuff?

Horns? Interior lights? Windows and switches? Radio? Mirrors? Wipers?

Sounds like fun!!

[Dangermouse]

Bloody hell, not another "Chris" :)

j/k

Welcome to the group.

Doubt that there will be another tech session this year, so ask away on your questions.

What part of GA are you in?

[sdg3205]

Hey!

Post some pics of the new ride!

[Chris3991]

The underside of the car is in great shape, the engine bay is clean, and the leather interior has no cracks or tears. First, I've got the "fast blinker" on the drivers side. I've tried to fix that with bulbs but to no avail. I still am going to clean the sockets and see if its a grounding issue. I also would like to have the A/C system looked at. The fan blows but that may be about it. The engine appears to have a modified air intake that I'd like for someone to explain once I get a pic posted.
For now, I'm going through and learning the basics that I never could learn before having a car.

Cheers

[ccurzio]

You sound like me when I first got started, fast blinker and AC problems and all. And my name is Chris. You're in for quite a ride. We have a good group of owners here in GA and dmctalk is a great forum, so you have a good support structure.

Provided you're not an asshole. And even then, you can still probably get some help. (I am proof as example.)

Welcome.

[Ron]

Hello all,

Last May I was on the verge of purchasing a D from a family in Ohio which fell through for personal reasons on the seller's end. However, today I picked up 3991 from a collector here in Georgia and have now begun developing a to-do list. While the car is in great shape and runs strong, there are some things that need to be addressed and replaced. Tech sessions may be a long shot due to my work/family schedule so this forum and it's search feature is all I've got for now.

I've been striving to own a D for many many years. So, let the adventure begin.

Cheers,
Chris
:welcome:

[Jonathan]

Hey Chris... 3991... (now is that VIN 3991, or the 3,991st Chris to join our little group here?? hehe)

Now when you have the fast driver's side blinker, is it the instrument cluster indicator light (only) that is fast blinking, or are both the front turn signal and rear tail light signal lights also blinking in the same manner?

Grounds are a good candidate, both on their way to the front or back bulb, or the ones in and out of the instrument cluster. What are the rest of your tail light bulbs doing, by the way? Outside = turn signal/hazard; middle = running lights that come on with the headlight switch; inside = reversing lights; and then the 2 & 4 positions on each side are your brake lights coming on with the pedal. There is a fairly reliable tail light board fix with a couple dollars of little nuts and bolts from Radio Shack if necessary. Do you get the fast blinking when you use the turn signal stalk on the left side of the steering wheel? Or with the hazard switch on the dash? Or both?

EDIT: and reading what I wrote there... we're pretty close in VINs. Mine is a black interior automatic. Is yours also?

[Chris3991]

First of all, prior to doing any troubleshooting, when the hazard lights are activated, three of the four amber lights flash at normal pace. The left rear doesn't flash at all. All four side marker lights are functioning normally. Front lights (headlamps, hi-beams, parking lights) are all functioning correctly. Interior lights and rear license plate lights are also fine.

The symptoms affecting the fast blinker: The front left blinker and the left instrument panel green blinker both blink fast at the same time. The left rear blinker doesn't illuminate at all. In trying to isolate the problem and reduce the variables, I have removed the left side tail light assembly and circuit board. I've inspected the bulb (which did not appear to be burned out) and replaced it anyway. In fact, ALL 10 of the tail lamp bulbs were replaced with brand new equal volt & watt bulbs. There is no obvious corroding on the circuit board but I cleaned it gently with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips. I also, cleaned the wiring harness that connects to the circuit board. After reconnecting it to the harness, I am still at square one and no further along in my diagnostic quest. The right side rear tail light assembly works perfectly. No issues with the right side blinkers, brake lights, reverse lights, or tail lights. So, I took the perfectly-functioning right side tail light assembly and connected it to the left side harness. Now it works; the once fast blinker is flashing at normal pace, the tail lamp illuminates as it should.... So, that indicates that the wiring harness is good and my logic tells me that I have isolated the problem to the circuit board itself. Correct?

Luggage compartment (trunk) lamp and (if there is one) engine compartment lamp are not working.

Cheers.

[deloumis]

The tail light circuit boards are known to fail due to bad connections. You can look up a fix I believe there is one on this site. I had the same problem with my circuit boards but I removed and soldered all the contacts and noe they work as they should no problem. You can also look for a whole new circuit board, there used to be one made that fixed the problem but I believe they are not in production anymore. If you hook up your faulty circuit board to the opposite aside you will likely have the problem on that side now. Just cleaning them out won't fix the problem you will have to solder the connections. That should fix the issue you are having with a fast blinker. (Fast blinker is usually a symptom of a light not working, in your case not getting power to the bulb.)

[sdg3205]

The tail light circuit boards are known to fail due to bad connections. You can look up a fix I believe there is one on this site. I had the same problem with my circuit boards but I removed and soldered all the contacts and noe they work as they should no problem. You can also look for a whole new circuit board, there used to be one made that fixed the problem but I believe they are not in production anymore. If you hook up your faulty circuit board to the opposite aside you will likely have the problem on that side now. Just cleaning them out won't fix the problem you will have to solder the connections. That should fix the issue you are having with a fast blinker. (Fast blinker is usually a symptom of a light not working, in your case not getting power to the bulb.)

Exactly.

You can also use tiny nuts and bolts which is what I did. This problem will never go away unless one of these fixes are done.

[Jonathan]

In fact, ALL 10 of the tail lamp bulbs were replaced with brand new equal volt & watt bulbs.

I may be reading into your comment too literally, but I thought I would mention this as it came to mind recently.

The Maintenance page in the Owners Manual says that not all 10 bulbs in the tail lights are the same. It specifically calls for the tail lights (meaning bulb 3 out of 5 on each board) is a lower wattage than the other 4 on each board. And the left and right tail light as a whole are the same just mirror opposites.

I don't know if this is the likely cause of your issues, but I just thought I'd make sure you were aware of that.

14940

[Chris3991]

Thanks Jon. I can see where my statement could have been worded differently. But yes, I replaced the bulbs with the appropriate voltage and wattage bulbs.

I believe I will be ordering some PJ Grady circuit boards to replace them.

Cheers

[DMCMW Dave]

..... some PJ Grady circuit boards to replace them.

Cheers

I doubt it.

[20098]

I doubt it.

Why do you doubt it?

[DrJeff]

You can also use tiny nuts and bolts which is what I did. This problem will never go away unless one of these fixes are done.

Have you got a link or explanation to this fix? Mine are operating good, but if there preventative maintenance that's possible, then I'm interested.

[sdg3205]

Have you got a link or explanation to this fix? Mine are operating good, but if there preventative maintenance that's possible, then I'm interested.

Hey Jeff,

I'm not sure there is a write up or "how to." I literally walked into a Home Depot and tried various nuts and bolts until I found some that were small enough.

IIRC I also drilled the holes slightly larger to accommodate the screws I found.

There used to be a Radio Shack part number but they've been gone from Canada for at least 10 years. Anyway, before the fix I kept having issues no matter what I did. Ever since i did the fix I've had no issues.

Cheers!

[Dangermouse]

Why do you doubt it?

Because Grady doesn't have them any more.

[Jonathan]

Have you got a link or explanation to this fix? Mine are operating good, but if there preventative maintenance that's possible, then I'm interested.

http://sd2cx1.webring.org/l/rd?ring=dmc12;id=5;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Edmcnews% 2Ecom%2F

I'm not sure if that link is going to work as I can't get this God-forsaken "webring" thing to go away. In any event, if you can get to the DMCNews tech section, it is the first one under the Electrical Systems list.

[20098]

Because Grady doesn't have them any more.

Thanks for elaborating on this. Perhaps DMWMW Dave should have been more specific when he wrote "I doubt it." I was uncertain as to what he was trying to convey.