Technical Interior Electrics

[PaulTobiasx1/9]

Hello x1/9 lovers........

I appear to have no light on my instrument panel, hopefully this is just a bulb change job, but also I noticed my interior door lights do come on when I press the button, but very, very dimly.

Could this maybe be an earthing problem ? I don't have a stereo in at the moment as I just bought the car so I thought it might be that, but i made sure all the wires weren't touching and still very little power to interior lights.

While im here, whats recommended front and back tyre pressure? I have a 1989 gran finale, cheers.

 

[Jefflun]

Hi
Problem could be as you suggest, a bad earth, could also be a low battery, however I assume from what you are saying that the car starts ok and that there are no evident battery or charging problems.

If it's dashboard globes, you will need to remove the dash. Remove the 5 off hex head screws, pull the panel foward, the short speedo cable section should pop out (mine is a push in fit to the main speedo cable located under the grille in front of the windscreen - outside the car)
Remove the 3 off wiring plugs (1 x 6 pin white, 1 x 8 pin white and 1 x 6 pin red ) and remove the dash from the car.
While you have it out i would suggest you check and replace all the bulbs for each light, especially if they haven been out for a while. I in fact replaced all my globes with LEDs which are even better.
The interior light can also be replaced with an of the shelf 2 LED lamp which also assists in batter drain if the light is inadvertently left on.

Also check that the interior light switch is not faulty or the wire /s havent fallen of the back.
The general dashboard lights on switches etc. are from a fibre optic system which has the globe located under the centre console. This globe is also pron to blowing and my need replacing. Again an LED is much better.
You will need to solder a dropping resistor of 560ohm for use on 12vdc if you intend to use LEDs. The LEDs can be bought at any electronic store very cheaply and 10off 560ohm resistors cost .38Cents so the cost is low and they last for ever.
I have replaced my whole dashboard with digital instruments and LEDs because I find them far more accurate and reliable.
Best of luck.
Jeff

 

[PaulTobiasx1/9]

Thanks for the advice Jeff, got the feeling I'm not going to get around to it for a couple of weeks, and even then I won't have a clue what I'm doing. Oh well