Farrar's car blog

[Farrar]

All right, I asked around about thick gasket material. The thickest anyone had that was not cork was 1/32". So I bought a sheet of it and cut a new gasket to go in between the intake manifold and the adapter plate. The carb is connected to the adapter plate with a 1/4"-thick gasket. I have no idea where Bill got gasket material that thick, but since it's stuck like glue I am not messing with it.

After I got everything put back together I went to re-connect the battery and realized I left it connected this whole time and the volt gauge shows 10v with the key on. Not enough to start the engine.

My little booster battery shows about 90% charge, so I have brought it inside and plugged it into the wall to give it the remaining 10% charge while I eat lunch.

Next, I will re-gap the spark plugs in an attempt to fix the problem of severe missing I experienced the last time I drove the car. Bill thinks it's a vacuum leak. I don't think so. But if it still misses with the plugs gapped at .035" then I guess my only alternative is to grab a can of highly-flammable liquid and spray it all over the top of a running engine like everyone says I should do. I haven't had an engine fire in a couple of years, so perhaps it's time.

Farrar

Instead of trying to find a vacuum leak I decided, while the car was running, to check the courtesy light circuit again. Here's a mystery: the last time I put my voltmeter in Fuse #12's socket, it showed nothing. Today I put a fuse in it just for fun and it popped immediately. That's a good sign, right?

So I went about removing, in turn, each jumper I had installed on the courtesy light switches and bulb locations and tested the fuse for popping. As it turns out, the problem was some sort of confusion (either mine or a previous owner's -- I don't know at this point) at the passenger door switch, where there are only two connections at the switch but four wires to choose from: solid purple, purple with white stripe, purple with pink stripe, and solid black. The black wire is actuially TWO black wires in a single female terminal. I am simply leaving the passenger door switch unconnected for now. Any help regarding where those four wires go would be greatly appreciated!

Farrar

[Ron]

The passenger door normally takes the black and the purple-pink. Purple-white in that area could be the glove box (working?)

[Farrar]

Thanks, Ron.

My car has never had a glove box light. Switch, yes, but no light.

I will have to get back to this a week from today. I am off tomorrow morning for a Thanksgiving trip to New York. Just when I felt I was making some progress...

Farrar

Another mystery: Now when the key is on, so are the parking lights. Could my Lights Main Switch have gone funky while sitting, or did I screw something up when re-wiring the HVAC panel light circuit? Either way, I think it's kind of cool to have "daytime running lights" now, unintentional though they may be. Now I can replace the LMS with a (much cheaper) Hazard switch -- my LMS was getting flaky anyway.

Farrar

[Farrar]

The engine still idles like crap, but I think tomorrow I will be bold and take the car off to get a safety inspection. I have the day off of work with no plans, so if I get stranded along the way, then at least I will have no time lost.

Farrar

[dvonk]

godspeed, Farrar.

[Farrar]

Thanks, dvonk!

Of course I haven't managed to get anything done -- such is life. I got hit with a bunch of work when I got back, plus a bunch of school-related stuff and a cold. I am feeling better, though, and hope to get the car inspected tomorrow if I can leave work early enough. (I am willing to risk driving the car to and from work, assuming I can have a successful test drive this evening.) Unfortunately I seem to have lost the screws required for the door switches (DOH!) so my courtesy lights will not work. Looks like I will drive during the day until I can get to the hardware store and buy some replacements!

Farrar

In other news, I was inspired by a post on another thread to buy an assortment of Weatherpak connectors and start replacing the old, brittle, and not-water-tight connectors around my car as I come to them. Fortunately, I already bought the proper crimp tool.

I also bought three pin switches which look like nice sturdy replacements for the door switches. We shall see when they arrive.

Farrar

[Farrar]

Louisiana is a strange place.

In North Carolina, I have registered vehicles, and renewed the registration by mail. The renewal sticker comes, I put it on the plate, and go about my business. An annual safety/emissions inspection results in the sticker on the inside of the windshield being replaced with a new one; a driver's license and insurance card are necessary for this procedure.

In Louisiana, I have registered vehicles, and renewed the registration by mail. The renewal sticker comes, I put it on the plate, and go about my business. An annual safety inspection results in the sticker on the inside of the windshield being replaced with a new one; a driver's license, insurance card, and fresh registration papers are necessary for this procedure.

Unfortunately, no one told me that I needed to apply for new registration papers every two years in addition to putting the renewal sticker on my car. So my car didn't fail its safety inspection today; the guy simply refused to inspect it because all I had was a driver's license, proof of insurance, and registration papers which I received in 2007 when I bought the car.

I'm confused. Oh, well. At least the car didn't die during a solid half-hour of driving.

[Farrar]

Okay, so I started troubleshooting the courtesy light circuit AGAIN today. Now that I've run out of light I have to stop for the day, but I am no further along than I was before.

I found out that only the passenger door switch is bad. Cool -- so I removed the buzzer switch (known to be good) and put it on the passenger side. (Three brand new switches are on order.)

Note: the following items are disconnected:

- glove box light (fuse blows when I jumper it)
- glove box switch (can't find it)
- trunk light
- buzzer switch

Note: I have Dave McKeen's new Interior Light Delay Module installed.

The engine compartment light has been removed entirely, and I have removed my footwell lights. So we are dealing ONLY with the door lights and the courtesy lights here.

Let me make sure I have the wires in their proper positions.

Glove box light: Purple/White & Solid Purple.
Glove box switch: Purple/White and Solid Black.
Passenger Door Switch: Purple/Pink and Solid Black.
Driver Door Switch: Purple/Blue and Solid Black.
Buzzer Switch (disconnected): Purple/Blue and Purple/White.

Here's what happens:

When both doors are closed, the driver's door lights BLINK.
When the passenger door is open and the driver's door is closed, ALL of the lights BLINK -- the driver's door lights, the passenger door lights, AND the interior lights.
When the passenger door is closed and the driver's door is open, the interior lights do NOT come on, and the driver's door lights BLINK.

So... WTF.

When the doors are closed, the module thinks that the doors are closed.
Except that it doesn't, because the door lights are blinking.
But only one door.
When you open that door, nothing happens.
When you open the other door, its lights blink.
But so do the interior lights.

Help!

Farrar

[Bitsyncmaster]

Sounds like your unit got reprogrammed to parade mode.

Door lights can never come on if that door switch is closed. If they do, you have something wired wrong.

You can reprogram it. Leave the dome lights set to auto mode. Close all the doors until the dome lights go out. Then turn on a light (glove box or hood light or engine light). Then turn that light off within 5 seconds. The dome lights will flash a code three times. To change the code, turn that light on again before the third time the code has flashed.

My instructions suggest using the glove box because that is easy but you can do it with the engine or trunk switches also.

[Farrar]

Sounds like your unit got reprogrammed to parade mode.

Yes, probably when I was diagnosing which switches worked and which didn't (I had all of them disconnected and tried them out one by one).

Door lights can never come on if that door switch is closed. If they do, you have something wired wrong.

So what would be the wiring scheme for the driver's door lights to blink without the dome light on regardless of whether the driver's door is open, but for the dome light to come on and blink all the lights when the passenger door is open? Not knowing how your module works, this is where I hit a dead end.

Thanks,
Farrar