another problem.. electrical.. this time.

[ZR8ED]

That's it.. if it ain't broke, I"m not touching it..

 

Problem..

 

turn car off. pull e brake (works great now) notice brake light is on.. I jiggle the wire to the switch, and i can make it go out.. no problem..except how does it have power with the key off? I don't need a warning light with the car turned off..

 

I thought it would only have power when the ign is in the on position..to warn me about the ebrake being on.. I"ll cut the wire if I have to, but am now unsure if I have some wiring grounding itself..

 

I gotta stop touching this damn thing..

[datsunlover]

Well, I think your car has too many problems now.. you should sell it to me for cheep.

[ZR8ED]

uhhh let me think about it! hehehe

 

We still need to hook up sometime this summer before it ends.. Sept 18 is our giant Z fest!

 

I'm actually thinking of not bringing the black Z, but bringing my new yellow one just for fun to the show.

 

Drop me a line and let me know whats up? got your motor back?.. project Z on the sideline while working on project RX?

[ZR8ED]

Well I"m still not sure how it is getting power with the car turned off..

 

I got po'd at it and cut the wire.. I need the Ebrake more than I need a warning light, and I don't want to fry my new battery.

 

I've got other things to work on..

[datsunlover]

Oh yah, the motor ordeal finaly got worked out, and she's alive and driving. (I'm enjoying the driving stage now after two years of the project stage!) Just need's the front end looked at and a little driveshaft issue resolved I'd love to take her, but I fear taking a long trip in it.. On top of that, it's a PIG on fuel (only burns premium) so I'm contemplating a switch back to FI. I just picked up a 92 pathy for parts (3.0 V6, snaped timing belt) that I had thoughts of using the FI system from on the Z. I still have the original FI intake, and have some confidence in myself that I could figure out the wiring harness. I just finished sorting out a Chev TBI harnes and making it work in a Mazda RX7.. Nissan to Nissan couldn't be THAT hard!

 

As for your warning light, I don't have any clue as to why it'd have power with the key off, but I'd make sure to wrap it with tape (if you havn't yet) to prevent a possible short/fire hazzard..

 

Anyway, I think I'm in T.O. on the 30th again, and the girlfriend has just informed me she wouldn't mind wandering through chapters if we were to hook up... 10:30 AM is the appointment time though, so I don't know if that will work out..

[BrandonsZ]

Well I"m still not sure how it is getting power with the car turned off..

 

I got po'd at it and cut the wire.. I need the Ebrake more than I need a warning light' date=' and I don't want to fry my new battery.

 

I've got other things to work on..[/quote']

 

 

Basd on the wiring diagram, it could only get power if there awas a bridge somewhere, (totally possible with 35 year-old wires). Or if some numb nuts wired something wrong, check for a jumper by the fuse box. Just a ground would not light it. My engine wiring was in sad shape near the pass side tower, some of the wires had their casings nearly burnt off, and yet there was no damage to the original outer vinal tape. Nothing was grounded or touching, but I had to pull them apart in a few spots and of course replaced them.

[ZR8ED]

Well last night was about finding which power source is feeding this ebrake switch.

 

as I understand the wire is simply a ground.. when the brake lever is pulled up, it completes the circut, and the brake light lights up on the dash.

 

I started by measuring the voltage at the wire.. 11.3 volts... ok. Tested the voltage at the fuse panel.. 12.2 or something close to that. This means I have a short somewhere and only some power is getting through.. (I think)

Then I started pulling one fuse at a time to see which circut was causing the power drain. Wahhlaa. Ign fuse/fuel guage fues.. I pull the fuse, and I get no power from the ebrake wire.

 

I plug fuse back in. Still no power.. Hmmmm I recall hearing a relay click off when I pulled the fuse (car ign turned to lock/off) Hmm this meant a relay was staying on after the car was shut off.

 

I have two new relays, so I test unplugging the fuse and see which one is "clicking" off. hmmm neither...

 

So for now, if I pull the fuse, and replace it, I get no power drain.

 

Its getting late and I'm getting desparate. I listen again when I pulled the fuse with BOTH of my new relays unplugged.. again I hear a click!!

 

I go to my fuseable link holder, and see two other relays! One is warm to the touch! Thats strange...

 

I retest my matrix, and I consistenly hear the click from that relay when I pull the fuse. (I unmounted it and held it in my hand to be sure) I then tried to pull the relay off without pulling the fuse, and again I hear a click! Check the ebrake wire, and now I have no power to it.

 

I tried this several times in several combinations to confirm that this relay is not fully turning itself off, and holding power open even when the key is turned off.

 

I searched through my FSM, and I think the relay is a seatbelt relay. I no longer have stock belts so I am unsure about why its sticking on, and why its feeding power to the ebrake switch....

 

Tonight, I'm going to try and run the car without the relay hooked up, and check to see if it somehow is controlling power to other accessories that I need. I doubt it, but I"m not going to pull it and assume all is ok..

 

Question? Do relay's stick? What would keep it from shutting off.. why is it warm.. the car hasn't been running...I was only testing wiring.. All other relays near it were stone cold.

 

More to come..

 

BTW Matt. I can't make the 30th. too early for me to make it. We're just going to have to make a Z road trip and meet part way somewhere else.. Sunday afternoon drive or something.

[BrandonsZ]

They would stick in the way you described it if the relay was being fed unswitched power to the sense leads (not the relay's fault). check that.

 

Failing that the relay itself may have an internal ground loop causing a sense voltage from the main voltage. (carbon trail, deposit of outgassed metal from years of arcing)

 

Does the brake switch get 12.2 when the key is set to ign.? If it jumps up, the the relay is most probably doing that, just enough juice to remain in contact, but not enough to put out full voltage.

 

Obviously they cant run everything off the ignition switch so they need relays, but I still hate them.

[ZR8ED]

At the momement I'm the "while I am at it" stage. In sourcing out wires, I have found lots of old wiring from my younger days.. ie old wires for powering under dash lights, multi stereo amps, old gauges, old switches..

 

I'm in the process of pulling them out.. found several "hot" wires going nowhere.. this can't be a good thing..

 

So the car is getting lighter at least. I'm still trying to figure out the consequences of unplugging that seatbelt relay and looking for other accessories that I hardly ever use, to see if they are affected as well... who knows where power has been robbed over the years keeping some circuts still in use...

 

Car is working well in the mean time.

 

More work to come...