The_Ginger_Stig

Update: It's definitely just a weak connector in the fusible links area because after repining each connector to move the car it hasn't cut out yet. Just waiting on new fusible link boxes to get here and if anything else comes up I'll update, but until then, the problem was likely just the links. Thanks @tux for the link for that cheap little power supply, it's pretty handy.

I have found a burnt connector coming off of the fusible links and I'm going to order parts from StarQuestParts to get EVERYTHING back to how it's supposed to be to clear up any doubt about the links. @tux I wouldn't be against having a bench power supply but at the moment would there be any reason I couldn't test the clock with leads hooked up the car battery? and thank you @Turbo Cary for the headlight idea I'll put one together and see if there's any high resistance in any of the circuits.

It wouldn't be a 40 year old car if I didn't have to fix something every weekend 😕 Most of the electrical problems detailed in my previous "electrical gremlins from hell" post are still present which I'm going to detail in block form as to not crowd this already begrudgingly long wall of text. These issues seem to all be related whether it's a common connector or circuit but I can't trace down what's actually going wrong and maybe asking some of you wizards here will at least get me in the right direction. As a preface: These issues have been going on for quite a while and seem to be possibly related to heat. I didn't used to get these problems when the weather was cooler but as the Arizona days get into the 110+ range they happen more frequently. These issues also seem to only happen after the car has been driving for a while and usually not immediately when it starts cold. As for if any of these problems being related to the battery moving under braking or weight transfer, the battery is currently held down by a ( non-stock ) battery bracket I made as I never had one in the first place. The bracket makes absolutely no contact with the positive terminal, it is bolted into the battery tray and the top lies across a non-conductive plastic section of the middle of the battery. The battery is newer, and has also been tested many times with a multimeter I know this is a giant tarball of info in a weird format but I'm hoping that providing the most info I can will help the situation along. Current Problems Clock doesn't show time, but still has illumination light Power windows have no function Automatic seat belts have no function, currently stuck backwards HVAC panel illumination is completely gone, as well as the display Radio will have illumination for a brief second when ACC power is switched on, then cut off. I can hear a relay close then open after the lights cycle. Drivers side door light doesn't illuminate when the door is opened "seat belt" light in gauge cluster used to intermittently flash and trigger the buzzer, now is completely off Power antenna seems to have no power as it won't go up or down when switching on and off the radio The dimmer switch has a few spots where it cuts out lighting in the interior but I keep it at a known good spot that has decent enough padding around it that a bump wouldn't cause the gauge cluster lights to go out. I do have a NOS dimmer that I will be swapping in soon There is no automatic door locking. Current Problems expanded 4. When buttons are pressed on the face of the HVAC unit, the unit beeps. The unit also still is able to operate the "blend" stuff going on in the dash as you can hear the "valves" and "flaps" doing their thing. When the issues were more "intermittent" the HVAC illumination would go out, and the blower motor would also stop. 5. The radio will turn on with ACC power and illuminate the panel that shows the station as well as the green lights in the EQ faders. A near sine wave sound is heard when the radio is on and a loud pop can be heard when changing from AM to FM and vice versa 6. When these issues were "intermittent", the door light would come on when the rest of the "problem circuits" detailed in this post were also working What works Every circuit detailed on page 8 - 185-186 in the FSM works except the "heater control panel illumination light". Rear ash tray light, front ash tray light, Cigarette light,glove box light, power mirror light. Power adjustable mirrors Cigarette lighter functions normally Hazards and regular turn signals are completely fine as well as everything exterior lighting wise except the pop ups not going down but I figure that's an unrelated problem. All lights in the gauge cluster work except for both of the lights in the switches on the sides of the meter hood. The IR steering wheel controls light up and were working fine when the radio worked. Things that have already been done I have cleaned, tested for continuity, and replaced unfit fusible links. Fusible links were either replaced with a MB fusible link bought from dad here, or made using the appropriate wire gauge specifically with fusible link wire I have properly rebuilt my ignition switch following instructions from this board and tested every contact for continuity using the FSM. The switch had minimal pitting and didn't require much attention ( I found a place where the PO used vampire connectors on a wire that seemed to have damaged it, it has been cut and crimped with a spade connector that is securely held in place ) P.S I've never seen a vampire connector in a car and not had to deal with some B.S resulting from them. 👎 I have checked every single fuse in the cabin fuse box with a multimeter and all of them are completely fine. There is a weird 30 amp fuse in a place where it shouldn't be. I have cleaned the contacts behind the steering wheel and they are functioning well Unrelated info that might be worth mentioning Both my rad fans have a primary temp sensor to have them come on both at the same time and for redundancy pop ups are stuck up. Won't come down but pop up with the switches. Edits as a go along Getting a proper 12v and 230ma at fuse 11 in the clock circuit, still lights up but no clock Thank you to anyone who helps me get this going along.

The car feels absolutely amazing after everything mentioned has been replaced and I'm absolutely jealous of anyone who got to drive these cars new. Steering feels like butter and incredibly responsive.

Sorry for the ~very~ extended reply on this but as life goes things got pushed around and I just got back to it today. The fronts are a few months old and were balanced @tsi_tom. I'm doing all new tie rod ends and ball joints but got stuck after I got both the tie rod ends out ( with sooo much PB blaster and half a propane can ) and realized there wasn't really a way to get the two bolts that hold the knuckle to the strut out with the struts disconnected from the center link because either the knuckle would rotate into the LCA until the LCA bushings started to reallly move, or I'd risk snapping the driver side tie rod connecting piece which is sadly no where to be found to order. Sorry if it's kind of a stupid question Cuda, but I'm not the most well versed in how much stress parts like these can take before they break so would you mind telling me how you got the two bolts that connect the knuckle to the strut out? Also from the FSM it seems like there's a non-reusable locking nut on the top of the ball joint that I can't find the size of so on the rare chance anyone has it written down or magically knows it please do tell. In regards to that nut as well, all the hardware stores around me only have grade 2 self lockers would that be okay? phew, what a wall of text sorry for all of that Everything is out and I'm on my way to doing a decent alignment tomorrow to get it a shop. Will update as I progress

I just got under there and it looks like what I thought was a bushing was just a dust boot. This leaves me thinking maybe there's just play in the steering gearbox??? i get pretty decent vibrations in my steering wheel at like 38 - 46 mph and it goes away at lower, higher, and way higher speeds. The car only has 45k so I wouldn't think the box would be worn out but maybe there's a dead old bushing hiding somewhere? I'll investigate and update as I go.

I got the mks steering coupler replacement in a while back ago and while it did help with a little bit of slop I felt, but I still get vibrations in my wheel. Diagnosis lead to me discovering a torn idler arm bushing which brings us to the question: Can I get the idler bushing mount out by itself or do I have to pull the entire drag link out? Last time I was under the car I remember it looked like I might be able to just undo the idler arm and its mount but I was asking here to see if anyone has any experience in that area before I go gung-ho and find out I don't have a ride to work As a side note, I have tie rods and ball joints ready to go so would pulling out the idler arm change the alignment enough to warrant doing the rest of the suspension "items"

I thought a heavier oil would fair better in the Arizona 110+ heat and the oil pressure didn't change a whole lot just maybe an 1/8th more on the gauge at idle and under boost. I did end up putting it in because I had some free time to change the oil which I won't get more of for a bit, but would you recommend switching it out immediately or just at the next oil change interval?

I've seen all the posts that mention running 20w-50 in passing but there seems to be some people that caution against it. I was pleased to find that my local parts chain sells vr1 because I know the added ZDDP is supposed to be good for older heads and valve trains, but I also know that the FSM doesn't have 20w-50 listed as a possibility. Does anyone have any experience running a 20w-50 or even vr1 specifically?

I ended up just needing to rotate them while pressing with the little piston cube you can find at parts stores. Brakes feeling nice and my handbrake is nice and good again 😎 thanks Texas

I started a brake change yesterday and got one side of the rear done nice, but when I got to the second side the piston was juuust out enough that I couldn't fit the new pads in. I tried compressing the piston with a standard tool but it didn't want to go in at all and knowing how hard finding some common parts are I wasn't about to embark on a caliper rebuild the day before I needed to get to work Is there anything specific about our brake systems that needs to be done to allow the piston to compress? I've seen some pistons where they need to be rotated but the FSM specifically states to not rotate pistons when installing into the caliper so I figured that was out of the question. If anyone answers today you're an absolute lifesaver

Funnily enough that's the exact price I was quoted, hope all goes well.

Yeah just my local firestone, I have a pretty decent vibration in my wheel that makes it shake and it's a cyclical vibration that goes away at some speeds so I have a decent assortment of reasons to believe them. I just got a local wheel shop from them and I'm going to try that route because it seems a lot cheaper than buying a new set.

Those look really good on our cars, wish they weren't on back order 😕 Seems like anything around our size is either crazy expensive or steelies haha

I just got the unfortunate news that one of my front wheels is bent ;/ Currently I have the SHP wheels on front and rear ( 8j and 9j ) and I've been looking around for a new set and seems like they're all wayyy out of my price range, which is a shame because our wheels are some of the coolest factory wheels ever made imo. The main question I'm asking is: I'm looking at a set of 4 16x8's and wanted to know if I would run into any problems running a slightly less wide wheel on the rear considering the car was originally staggered with 16x8 in the front and 16x9 in the back. The new set linked above does have a +20mm offset and I know the rears have a -10mm offset, so would I run into any problems there if anyone has experience with different offsets? Finally, does that wheel fit the image of the car? I love the look of mesh wheels, especially the SSR Formula mesh, but I don't want to disservice the look or break necks in the wrong way. Ideally I've been trying to find a set of 1 piece wheels because I really don't like the look of the nuts of the lip but there doesn't seem to be many options that don't fetch used car money anymore, so if anyone has any wheel recommendations feel free to let me know.