Finally got the head back on this car and got it running. I bought it in a non running state and it had been sitting for almost a year.

Checking out the lights before putting it on the road and have run into a problem.

The headlights will come on when the switch is moved to the position that will normally turn them on. In that position however none of the lights on the rear of the car are on.

Moving the headlight switch back one position (center position on the switch)will light the rear lights on the car but the headlights stay on.

Turning the headlight switch to the OFF position will extinguish all the lights except the headlights. Once the headlights are are they remain on with the switch in any position.

When I disconnect the battery of course the headlights go out. Reconnecting the battery will not cause the headlights to come back on.

I assume a relay sticking is part of the problem but that would not explain no lights at the rear of the car when turning the headlights on.

Any help is greatly appreciated as I have confessed before I am electrically challenged.

Randy

"I assume a relay sticking is part of the problem but that would not explain no lights at the rear of the car when turning the headlights on."

The relay is almost certain to be the problem. The reason the rear lights (and probably the parking lights too) fail with the switch in the headlight position is that one of the relay's outputs is failing (terminal 87a, white wire).

Both front and rear parking lights get power from fuses 15 and 16. The fuses in turn are powered from TWO sources:

1) The light switch itself, in the Parking light position.
2) The relay, when the switch is turned to Headlights (removing source #1 from fuses 15 and 16).

The "always on" lights are probably due to further corruption (arced/shorted) contacts on the other output (terminal 87, yellow wire)

--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

Thanks for your reply. I am not familiar with the relay or its location; I assume it is under the dash somewhere? As I disconnect the battery cable I can not hear one "letting go".

Randy

As I disconnect the battery cable I can not hear one "letting go".

Good point, that rules "in" the stepping relay.

The other relay is a typical cube-shaped relay, located somewhere above the driver's right toe.

Identify it by the wire colors.

GN-R ...input to terminal #30 from battery, not fused.

Y.......to terminal #87, hot only when relay is closed. Goes to stepping relay #56, from there powers high or low beams.

BL-W ...input to terminal #86, hot only when head light switch is on.

SB .....to terminal #85, ground side of relay coil. Might go to a nearby ground.

W ......to terminal #87a, allows power to front & rear marker lights when head lights are off.

This relay is unique on the car, because it has terminals 87 AND 87a, which are connected together inside. Other same-shaped 5-prong relays are SPDT, and this on is DPST (double pole, single throw).

Hope this helps find the thing.

Good Luck,

Bob

:>)

Hi Randy,
I'm not sure where the relay is on the '88. Probably clipped above the driver's toes on the inner firewall. At some point it got moved up behind the center vent.

I'll try for a Gallery pic that might give a clue, but can't see it till this is submitted.
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

I located my wiring diagram for the 89 240. Indeed it shows the relay located above the driver’s foot. Actually there are two there; one metal case relay about 3/4x1x1 and another white cased relay 1x 11/4x2. In my case the white cased relay was in the circuit for the headlights, and the metal cased relay had the wrong color wires when compared to the green book.

This was before I saw the images associated with your post. I noticed that your metal relay had the correct color (and correct number of) wires.

Turns out that someone had swapped the white relay and the metal case relay in this car. Who knows why, but perhaps in what was a desperate attempt to find out why it would not run? At any rate swapping them back put everything right; the images you posted showing the correct wires brought everything into focus for me.

I am wondering now what that other white cased relay is for. I haven’t found it yet in the green book.

Thanks for your help.

Randy

That white relay sounds like an add-on by the PO. The LH FI relay is the only white one I've ever seen in a 240.

I don't even recall another relay in that area. What are its wire colors?
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

Looks like I got the 86 and 31 wire colors switched. According to the 89 240 green book that is the time delay relay associated with the rear window defroster (#175 on the wiring diagram, location J1)

I wouldn't have realized it wasn't working for a couple more months.

Randy

Glad I checked back here this morning, before digging into the diagrams.

That Y/R color on 31 (a ground terminal, per standard numbering rules) didn't seem right. Good digging on your part, Randy.
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

The white relay is marked as 1324675.

87- 2 yellow wires
86- 2 black wires
15- blue wire
31- yellow/red

This relay is also in place on an 89 240 parts car I have.