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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by 83GLT on Tue Jun 15 09:44 CST 2010
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last visit: Fri Jun 13 10:56 CST 2014

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So far my '92 wagon has been a solid performer. Very recently, however, the first (and I hope only) electrical gremlin has surfaced. Initially the bulb failure light would come on when I depressed the brake pedal... simple enough, as I determined the non-op bulb on the passenger rear brake light. Replaced the bulb with a brand new one, but no fix, and the bulb is still fine as I tested it on the driver's side. Swapped the socket and cleaned the contacts and tried another new bulb. No fix. Then, the bulb failure light would come on when I would hold down (or up) the power window switches at the driver's side arm rest console. Once the window is all the way up or down and I keep the switch depressed, the bulb failure light appears ... :/

Has anyone encountered this phenomena? Could it be related to the non-op passenger side brake light issue? I'm going to try to swap out the entire taillight as it's cracked anyway, and try a new socket with cleaned contacts and new bulb. Assuming that still doesn't work, does anyone have any ideas?

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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by someone claiming to be Volm on Wed Jun 16 22:10 CST 2010 [RELATED]

Sorry what i meant was tail light assembly connector looks like you resolved that issue.

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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by Volm on Tue Jun 15 11:24 CST 2010
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last visit: Sun Mar 25 06:48 CST 2012

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Had same problem i pulled back electrical white adaptor and bulb warning light never lit again cant think of approprate name i hope you follow cant help / your windows.

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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by 83GLT on Tue Jun 15 20:41 CST 2010
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last visit: Fri Jun 13 10:56 CST 2014

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Can you clarify what you're talking about at all?

Also, now I'm really miffed. I have the brake light taken care of, but again operating the power windows is now activating the bulb failure light, and top of that now the seat belt warning light is flashing intermittently, sometimes when I push in the clutch pedal, and also when I hit bumps. WTF is going on here? Why is this all happening at once?

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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by boxvolvo on Tue Jun 15 23:04 CST 2010
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last visit: Fri Oct 24 04:28 CST 2014

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Sounds like it might be a low level short - maybe some moisture - and the only place all those circuits run together is at the fuse panel. The other possibility is a grounding issue.

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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by 83GLT on Mon Jun 28 02:32 CST 2010
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last visit: Fri Jun 13 10:56 CST 2014

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So I fixed the bulb failure light issue. I replaced all of the tail lamp bulbs together, both sides with matching bulbs. I also discovered that the rear fog light socket on the left had no bulb, but the right side did. Took care of that and now the bulb failure light is "quiet". Even when I use the power windows now it doesn't come on. Does anyone know why the power window switches would have caused the bulb failure light to come on due to mismatched tail lamp bulbs?

Also, I'm still having an issue with the seat belt warning lights. Everything is fine most of the time, it comes on when I first put the key in the ignition and/or start the car, and it goes out. But sometimes when going over bumps it comes on and flickers to varying strengths. There is never a chime, just the light comes on and off. I've also noticed that I can VERY slightly wiggle the key at position II to turn the seat belt warning light and charm on or off. I haven't check there yet, but I'm wondering if there may be a lose connection, internal or external, at the ignition switch? Could that be causing the random flickering? Anyone experienced that before?

Thanks for your suggestions.

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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by 83GLT on Wed Jun 16 02:34 CST 2010
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last visit: Fri Jun 13 10:56 CST 2014

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Thanks, and I assume if it's a grounding issue it could be just about anywhere? Any ideas/thoughts on where to start looking, common problem areas, etc.? Thanks very much!

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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by david hunter on Wed Jun 16 10:11 CST 2010
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last visit: Mon Jun 30 22:10 CST 2014

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No need to miffalate, after all the car is 19 years old and as you said this is the first electrical glitch. I would vote that you have a ground issue somewhere. Ground connections that go bad can give the most strange and even intermittent conditions. Look for ground points where a cluster of black ground wires come together at a common point connected to the chassis. I suspect there may be a sizable ground cluster down low left of your foot/knee under the side cover.
--
David Hunter

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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by 83GLT on Wed Jun 16 12:21 CST 2010
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last visit: Fri Jun 13 10:56 CST 2014

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Thanks. I'm going to check this out and investigate further if necessary. Incidentally, now the seat belt warning lamps (in dash and at the rear center console) will flicker on when going over bumps, and sometimes they will light brightly when I depress the clutch, or stay barely lit for a short period! The bulb failure light is still coming on when I use the window switches. It stopped when pressing the brake pedal for a while, but now that's happening again. All of this seemed to start after I began fiddling with the rear passenger side tail lamp, trying to get the brake light to work. Is there a ground point here that I may have disturbed? Any other major grounding points that I might look at?

Also, the car stalled today and wouldn't start. First stop the fuse box. Sure enough the fuel pump fuse was sore, so I replaced it and rotated all the other fuses to ensure better contact. No stalling/no-start issues after that. I'll snoop around there some more to see if this area might be a potential cause.

Hope I can sort this out. I hate gremlins. Probably only second to rust. And as I mentioned, it would be really annoying if my otherwise trouble-free wagon started developing them now.

One last thing, the car had been sitting for a few months recently, so maybe this has caused this problem?

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First Electrical Gremlin 200 1992

posted by 83GLT on Tue Jun 15 10:16 CST 2010
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last visit: Fri Jun 13 10:56 CST 2014

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Looks like the brake light issue has been resolved...

Now, however, the bulb failure light comes on whenever I press the power window switches, even when the windows are moving. What gives?

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