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93 240 electrical gremlins

turbochimp

Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2011
I pulled out the center console to fix the blend door cable. After putting everything back, I now have an intermittent issue which may or may not be related to looking at dash wiring the wrong way.

The issue I'm experiencing is that occasionally, after starting the car, all head/tail lights as well as all dash lights (except radio) do not come on. So far, they have come back on after a minute or two.

before I start tearing stuff back apart and hunting electrical diagrams, does this behavoir ring a bell for anyone - to at least give me a place to start looking?

Thanks!
 
The relay for the headlights, parking lamps, and backlighting for the instrument panel is behind the center vents. The relay is in most cases OK, but the socket is crispy critter, and bumping one of the wires to it may have been its final insult. Identify the relay by its wire colors.

newcore_18.jpg
 
/\ /\ /\

That relay is what turns the lights on and off with the car, when you leave the headlight switch in the 'on' position.

You can troubleshoot a little by seeing if the parking lights work when you turn the switch to the middle position. That supplies current to the parking lights through a different circuit, not using that relay (so the parking lights stay on with the key off).

That relay is a little overloaded - good for a couple of decades, but then you get a little corrosion at the spade terminals, resistance goes up, and then it starts generating heat. Which, over time, makes the connection even worse. Until it's intermittent, and then it just plain stops.

On mine I had to carve a bunch of distorted half melted plastic from that white multiplug out of the way, gently re-crimp the terminal (it was sprung and loose), and then cleaned it up and installed it with a dollop of dielectric grease. No problems since, even running higher wattage headlight bulbs.
 
/\ /\ /\

That relay is what turns the lights on and off with the car, when you leave the headlight switch in the 'on' position.

You can troubleshoot a little by seeing if the parking lights work when you turn the switch to the middle position. That supplies current to the parking lights through a different circuit, not using that relay (so the parking lights stay on with the key off).

That relay is a little overloaded - good for a couple of decades, but then you get a little corrosion at the spade terminals, resistance goes up, and then it starts generating heat. Which, over time, makes the connection even worse. Until it's intermittent, and then it just plain stops.

On mine I had to carve a bunch of distorted half melted plastic from that white multiplug out of the way, gently re-crimp the terminal (it was sprung and loose), and then cleaned it up and installed it with a dollop of dielectric grease. No problems since, even running higher wattage headlight bulbs.

This has got to be it! parking lights do work when in this condition. I knew I shouldn't have looked at the relay :) Thanks guys! thats some pro-stuff
 
Not my pic, but that's about what mine looked like:
headlightrelaymelt.jpg


The relay moved around a bit, but was in the center console for 1993.

Again - the relay is usually not a problem, it's just that spade connector on one of the wires.
 
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