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Unsure just what I did, but I managed to get my clearance lights working again. The problem is that they won't turn off. I get that buzzing warning sound, but the switch does nothing at all.
I suspect that my license lights have something to do with it. When both are connected and grounded, I get no lights, no nothing. When one or both are disconnected, I get lights that I can't turn off. I figure that it's a short someplace, but I haven't been able to pin-point it yet. For anyone with a good wiring diagram, is it necessary to have the license lights connected, for the circuit to work? (seems so) Are there likely failure points that I should be checking?
Also, I checked the fuses and managed to blow the clearance lighting fuse messing with the license lights. I've replaced the fuse, but have been unable to blow it a second time. I still have werid opperation. I can only turn off the lights now by disconencting the fuse. The buzzer continues until I start the car.
Could this be my switch, or perhaps a crossed wire somewhere? I did take my multimeter to the fusebox and found that the right (left since my fusebox is upside down with the 25 amp on top) has 12 volts running to it, even when the switch is off.
If i were better with electricity, I'd be able to trace this, but I'm still unfamiliar with the systems in this car.
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You mean Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?
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There were two problems going on.
One. Someone suggested it might have been wired up wrong, and it was. Somewhere along the line, the connections to the 3rd and 4th fuses were reversed. The power to the parking lights should be attached to the lowermost fuse (4th), not the second from the bottom (3rd). Not sure how this happened, but it doesn't match the wiring diagram in my haynes manual. Anyway, they work now, the switch turns them on and off. Lesson learned.
The second issue was the poor rebuild I did on one of the license plate lights. While it looked fine, when I put the bulb in, it bent one of the connectors and shorted the circuit out. I fixed this with some more creative bending and the problem is gone.
My lights all function perfectly now! Thanks for all your patience and suggestions!!
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You mean Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?
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posted by
someone claiming to be shayne
on
Tue Jun 7 06:05 CST 2005 [ RELATED]
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Just throwing this out there:
Do you have one of the two-terminal (brake and tail light) bulbs in backward? This causes mayhem in various ways when there are mods to the wiring (buzzer?).
One of the brown wires on the lowest fuse?
Inboard side of fuse box:
Big red wire on top fuse.
Brown wires (three) on second fuse down.
White wires (two or three) on third fuse down.
Black wire(s) (one or two; stock-more with hazards and buzzer?s) on bottom fuse. With the ignition key off, the bottom fuse is the only live one.
Shayne.
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posted by
someone claiming to be shayne
on
Tue Jun 7 06:05 CST 2005 [ RELATED]
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Just throwing this out there:
Do you have one of the two-terminal (brake and tail light) bulbs in backward? This causes mayhem in various ways when there are mods to the wiring (buzzer?).
One of the brown wires on the lowest fuse?
Inboard side of fuse box:
Big red wire on top fuse.
Brown wires (three) on second fuse down.
White wires (two or three) on third fuse down.
Black wire(s) (one or two; stock-more with hazards and buzzer?s) on bottom fuse. With the ignition key off, the bottom fuse is the only live one.
Shayne.
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I did get it figured out, but your run-down doesn;t match my setup very well. A second fusebox was added and the big red top wire runs that. Otherwise it varies somewhat from your decription.
It also doesn't help that when this car was painted white way back when, they did a sloppy job and hit a bunch of the wires making them all white!
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You mean Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?
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posted by
someone claiming to be john
on
Mon Jun 6 23:51 CST 2005 [ RELATED]
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just a (stupid) idea, discard it when not true. Your "buzzer" started me thinking. It's aftermarket, maybe PO installed. usually it's a two wire thing, 1 wire clips on light power, the other e.g. to chassis ground through a door contact ; works OK for indication of 1 lighting system. Now if you want to supervise 2 separate lighting circuits, some people just clip on to both systems in parallel. It works but you put them in parallel, maybe bypassing on/off switches, and creating strange behaviour ..... So check also your buzzer installation.
If you want to "buzzer-supervise" more than one lighting circuit, the correct way is to install a diode (kind of electrical one-direction check valve) in every clip-on wire from the lighting circuit to your buzzer.
Found a similar problem once, 20 years ago, on a modified motorbike turn signal buzzer of a rather mechanically-inclined friend of mine.
Just an idea, of course.
Good luck with troubleshooting,
john
67 pearl
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Go here for a wiring diagram, and check out the SWEM site, it has lots of wiring information.
http://www.intelab.com/swem/123GT-Wiring-Diagram.jpg
Tom
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As it turns to I do have a couple of wiring diagrams, in my haynes and in my intereurope manuals. Hopefully the wiring hasn't been modified too heavily from stock.
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You mean Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?
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Do they go off when you turn the ignition switch off? If they do then there is a problem with the light switch or they are connected to the wrong circuit at the fuse box. Could you have diconected a wire at the fuse box and reconnected it to the wrong place?
If they stay on with the ignition switch off, then probably they are connected to an always hot wire. Again this would probably happen because the wire is connected wrong at the fuse box.
Didn't all this start happening when you hooked up the new alternator? If they were working just fine before the alternator, then somehow this has to be the cause. But the only thing I can come up with is that maybe with the extra juice something got fried. Are you sure the regulator is hooked up right? I believe the regulator is supposed to keep the voltage to no more than 13.1 volts. I am getting out of my range of knowledge now, but I believe an alternator is capable of producing a lot more volts than that and the regulator "regulates" it to a safe amount. If the voltage is not regulated you could have produced a spike that could fry things. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable in this field could throw some light on this subject.
Of course the fuses are supposed to protect against getting fried, but they won't help if you have a wire connected on the wrong side of the fuse box (the unprotected side). But if the problem is caused by fried electronics, check the light switch and the junction unit. The junction unit is plug-like thing that is on a bunch of wires clipped to the left fender (on the wires going to the head lights). All of the exterior light circuits are connected at this junction.
And get a wiring diagram, they are essential.
Good luck, I hope I helped rather than confuse.
Tom
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Thanks for the suggestions.
The parking lights are indeed on when the car is turned off with the key is out. The switch doens't seem to control these particular lights anymore. The headlights still function as designed. So maybe part of the switch got fried?
My fusebox may be upside down, not sure about that. The 25 amp short fuse is on the top and the wiring that controls the parking lights is connected on the right side of the system, second from the bottom (it's third fuse down if the 25 amp is on top). I checked this with my multimeter and found an even 13 volts on that side of the fuse with the car off. The switch has no effect on the voltage at this connector. I get nothing on the other side. Is this the unsheilded side?
The VR might be bad. I suppose if it's the non-bosch version, it could be part of the problem. I'll check the voltage with the car running.
The other things I did during this whole process were repair the license plate lights. The second one came out much better than the other (cleaner looking, less bent up). The second one also had an oddity about it. It lacked the little grounding terminal on the backplate. I found the soder bead and figured that it has pulled loose and been lost. I created a new terminal using a flat male connector riveted to the backplate using a 2 mm piece of 12 gauge copper wire (hammered like a rivet). Somewhere along the way, I reversed the two lights. The second one turned out to be much cleaner work. The first one almost shorts, so I had to add some rubber insulation to keep the circuits from shorting. Not my best work there.
***Grounding the poorer light is what kills the parking lights. With both license lights, I get no function parking lights. Unplugging the poorer light restores the parking lights, but the swicth doesn't turn them off.
I also severed the wires that lead to the license lights in the drip tray/lower tailgate hinge well. I added some snap connectors there. Somewhere along the way, I reversed the two lights.
My guess is this. Somewhere a wire is crossed that bypasses the function of the switch. My poorer rear license light is not the ultimate culprit, but it probably needs to be rebuilt again to eliminate it. I suspect the fault lies in the dashboard. Sooooo
HOW do you get teh dang steering wheel off. I got the horn ring removed and the securing bolt too, but the wheel will not budge!! I've got a new wheel coming and I need to get this one off to be able to move around under the dash. Is there a trick, or do I need a gear puller?
****How do yo get the dang steering wheel off
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You mean Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?
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If your 25 amp fuse is at the top (which i now realize is right side up), and you are facing the fuse box the wires that go to your lights should be mounted on the left side. The wire on the right side should go to your switch. At least that is my take, after looking at the diagram. Take the fuse out and see if they still come on, if they do, then you know wires are not connected right on the fuse box, and there is a dangerous unfused wire situation.
Tom
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A universal puller should do the trick for you. I have always been able to get mine off with a rubber mallet or somesuch device and pulling mightily on the wheel. You might want to leave the nut on while you do this so that you don't conk yourself in the face. [Ask me how I know.]
Cheers, Jim
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How do you know Jim?
lol!
hehe
Leon
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