BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

Ive spent the last few hours searching through threads trying to find wtf is going on with my wifes headlights, they worked fine for a week and then i turned them on one night and they all went out, headlights, radio, interior lights all of it, ive replaced the fusible link going from the relay by the battery because it was bad, and probed the 3 down by the starter on both sides and they all meter @12volts. inside the car ive replaced the headlight switch, hoping it was that easy.... but no luck. I probed the ACC fuse and its only seeing 3 volts, i think im missing one fusible link but idk i cant see why id be getting limited voltage at my accessories and no lights, i know the two are related though. I do have brakes, turns, and hazards but no tail lights/headlights or interior/gauge lights

All 3 links by the starter have 12 volts but they are also frayed like ive never seen

Can anyone point me in a direction to look? im getting more and more aggravated as the day passes. When i had the headlight switch out i know that the red wire had 12 volts, im almost positive the orange did as well but i cant remember to be honest, when i pulled on the switch both of those wires dropped to zero but there was no other wire giving out 12 volts, i tried jumping the switch with a fused wire from the red to the brown but that did nothing i was hoping to see the parking lights turn on atleast but im totally stumped here. OH! and the ACC fuse drops to 0 when the headlights are turned on, i did a quick sweep of the wiring and found no splits or frays so......

HELP!

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

bump

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

edit to my findings, red and orange wires have 12volts until the switch is turned on, then drop the 12 to 0, all wires show ground when switch is on as does the ACC and tail fuse/ instrument fuse. when the switch is on no power transfers from the red and orange wires, still no luck jumping the wires

any ideas?? its an obvious short but where is the issue. I can't isolate the short because every single wire shows ground could the headlight switch be a dud??

NINÅ

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

So tinkering with it today I tested all 3 wires at the c100 and all 3 red wires had 12 volts, tested at the switch and the red wire also has 12 volts there, the switch itself is grounded so I know that's not the problem. Think I could have gotten a bunk switch?? I get nothing on the yellow wire regardless of switch position. I have read there is a circuit breaker but I'm not sure of the location is it built into the switch itself? And which wire does it run on?

NINÅ

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

So I've tested the jumper trick, when I jumped the red and yellow wire I got nothing, tried jumping the red and brown, nothing so I tapped power at the columns ignition wire and when I turned the key the lights turned on, the red wire would drop to 0 when I jumped anything so my power feed is shakey at best, under load it gets nothing so I should be looking for a short correct? I'm going to attempt jumping the red at the column with my wire I believe their the same correct? I got under the car and checked my fusible links, one goes up to my alternator and that was ok one splits into 2 seperate wires and the third one goes into the loom, I can't identify which one controls what but one of them is obviously bad any ideas?

Edit* all my power feeds from in the car and out on the engine side of the c100 operate the circuit, its just from the switch to wherever it runs, before I trace this bad boy where should I end up at?

NINÅ

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

Figured it out. On the engine side everything is good, power at all 3 wires. On the interior side the wire has power until you apply a loaf, I split open the c100 and found that the lowest power wire terminal is destroyed! I attempted to repair it with no luck the female pin will not lock in no matter what I try I think I may just run a new wire between the two thru the firewall

88 TA GTA

just started having this issue after my T56 swap from auto.
Mine would work and then just stop while driving, I would notice it as my dash would tell me my hatch is open, when it wasn't, as soon as it lost power. Not sure why it makes all turn into ground when no 12 volts is present in this wire. It's a bitch if you have an alarm, because it will make alarm think a door is open when it is not.

I traced mine down to inside the interior near the firewall. If I move the harness back and forth my interior light will go on and off (with door open) when light is off none of the circuits - headlights, int. lights, door locks, mirrors, cig. lighter and power hatch do not work.

When you say c100 are you referring to wiring harness connector at the firewall?
That lowest power wire you are talking about - is it on the right or left (when looking to front of car, from interior)
Is it a red or orange wire?
If I could identify it, I could look to see if it's at the harness connector or if it has a break or some damage somewhere from that point. Hard to figure out which one by wiggling when there are some many wires in this area. Any help identifying this power wire is greatly appreciated.

I think you should run a new power wire from just before where it enters the firewall (cut the org. power wire) and run the newly connected wire through one of the many holes in the firewall near by then cut the org. power wire inside int. after that burnt out connection and splice in new wire. This way you will maintain the fuse links and fuses as org. intended. Ensure you use same gauge wire and I would solder it to ensure a good connections.

Thanks in advance for help identifying this wire, as you, I have felt this pain for two plus weeks now.

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

It was a solid red wire, bottom on the far right, one in to the left, a new wire was already run thru the firewall, everything works great, didn't have any other symptoms since its a base model car, no hatch pop or anything and all the interior lights are either missing or blown, the radio did also have no constant power, it had 12 volts until the lights were flipped to the on position and it gave the radio a no power symptom, not enough current to power it up it definitely ran me around a few times since I've never had an issue like thia before

The c100 is the bulkhead connector at the drivers side of the firewall, honestly your best bet is to disconnect the connector with a 1/4" socket and unplug it, take a look at the pins you can see which one is messed up very clearly

88 TA GTA

Thanks so much! This is of great help!!
One question, when you say bottom on the far right, what do you mean by one in to the left? Is it the 2nd red wire over from the far right?

Everything is working but my radio shut off about 5 times on my drive to work.

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

Correct 2nd one from the tight on the bottom. The pin was charred and loose I tried to mend it but without a new bulkhead it would be useless hence the new wire around

88 TA GTA

wow amazingly fast reply! Thanks again!!

I will remove it this weekend and take a look. Might try to solder it if there is room.....if not will run new wire.

ogg__666

did this work????? cuz im haveing the same prob in my iroc!!

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

Check your main plug on the driver side, there's a bolt holding it together in the engine bay, undo the bolt and check for any melted connections, I just ran a new wire from the inside out to the other side of the plug cuz the connector was toast

88 TA GTA

I moved the harness around a bit and haven't had the issue since. Although I haven't drove my GTA in the last 4 months. Have T56 pilot bearing issues. Took it to a shop he replaced the new one that had 2700 miles on it, blamed that part and the one he replaced it with lasted less than 75 miles. Trying to find a new Transmission guy in Toronto that instills confidience...not easy

ogg__666

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH BluFBdy i have headlights and gauge lights again !!! tried everything i could think of to track the problem spot down !!!

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

No problem, I spent plenty of time trying to figure it out and searched just about every thread on the boards with no help so hopefully this will be of future use for others

thunder69n

Seen the Harness get cut open behind my dash on steering column brace. main power running through dash was being cut. I recently found a fusible link at starter that probably fried with it. Sounds like my fusible link is main power that ends up going into vehicle through that drivers connector.

Jk_Under

My 91 RS is having this problem now. I hit a bump and my lights shut off, hit another bump they came on, then went off. I turned my brights on and they all came on. Now no lights at all. my links look good, what should i do? my harness connector has always been a bit loose(held up by a tool at the moment)

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

Check all your fusible links in the engine bay, check the red wire at the firewall connector by the fuse box, off to the left under the driver side has a square plastic cover on it, and recently I replaced my headlight switch in my other camaro and found that the pins on the connector were loose so a bump would take out the headlights, basically check the path of current to make sure its good and check all the connection points, wiggle them with the lights on to see if they cut out

ogg__666

check the big red wire closest to the brake booster !

Jk_Under

whats the red wires purpose? does it power only the headlights?

Jk_Under

well also, when my headlights used to go out like this all i wouldhave to do is turn my highs n then it was fine.

ogg__666

the red wire i beleave is power for most of your inside lights and head lights

Jk_Under

All my lights work except the headlights, my ambers work, gauges work(i can dim them aswell by turning the light ****), not sure about dome lights, never had them, and my driving brake lights work, aswell as the brake lights.

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

Well use a meter or a test light and verify all your power connections, I would start at the headlight switch the white car I had this issue with had power until the headlights were turned on and all lights would work except for the headlights, it had 12 volts but would lose it as soon as the switch was turned on, the bulkhead connector was jacked up so a short 5 minute repair fixed the issue. Use a meter or a test light I can't stress that enough or you will just be guessing

Jk_Under

I used a test light, im getting voltage to my switch, and still get voltage when i turn the switch on, what would i look for now? where does the power even hook up to the headlights?

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

The entirety of the headlight wiring goes down the yellow wire at the switch down to the dimmer switch on the lower left side of the steering column (opposite side of the go pedal). If there is a problem with the dimmer or wiring at the dimmer (my yellow wire broke ), the headlights will not function. The dimmer switch runs the headlights via the green wire for highs and the tan one for the lows, depending on the position of the switch.

Jonathan Dyer

iTrader: (5)

I had a similar problem that turned out to be the high beam/low beam switch on the column.
Jon