Daeron Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 Well, I can't help you. you still havent specifically said that you have inspected the little wire going to the proportioning valve, and if memory serves it is only one wire.. which typically means it is a switching ground wire, so if the wire were crimped or shorting out to ground anywhere in its length it would be turning the light on. The fact that the handbrake switch is DEFINITELY a grounding switch supports this thought. As for killing the bulb, get adventurous. Pull your tach and take it apart; or find a wiring diagram and read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 OK... i just got off of the phone with one of the guys from MSA. I talked to him for about 20 minutes. just to answer Carolinaz's pm. the proportioning valve is in the motor bay right under the brake master cylinder. the only 2 hard lines coming out of the master goes straight down into the valve. there is one wire that comes out of the top of that valve. Here is what i learned. what we think that device is, it isnt really. that isnt the proportioning valve. it is just a connection block, and that is the one that is directly below the master cylinder. the real proportioning valve is right after that on the fire wall. after looking at that area of the braking system i noticed for the first time this extra block. i have never noticed that after owning my car for 3 years. i went and asked the MSA guy all about that stuff. he got out a factory service manual. another thing. i have a late 77. he first thought that the problem was with the master cylinder. i was confused at first. he was asking me if i had a wire going to one of the master cylinder caps. YES, the cap. i have never had a wire going to any cap. he remembered that the whole wire thing started in 78 and that is why the master cylinders are so expensive for that year. that might be the problem is that is the year that you have. back to the proportioning valve. the valve dosent have any wires and it is on the fire wall. the connecting block is on the fender and it has the one wire. i also asked about that. i still dont know if the sensor can be taken out of the block. that dosent matter any ways. the sensor and the block itself is no longer available. it isnt produced anymore. that still might be the problem there just isnt any way of checking for sure. all you can do is steal one off of the same year z. i asked if it was the same for a zx and it is not. i dont know if there is any kind of difference in the 240, 60, or 80 z. hope that cleared some stuff up. for me some time when i actually have the time i am going to trace back that one wire going from the connecting block to where ever and see if there are loose connections or the wire has been grounded. until then there are bigger things that i need to deal with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 what we think that device is, it isnt really. that isnt the proportioning valve. it is just a connection block, and that is the one that is directly below the master cylinder. Beg pardon, now that you say so I recall discovering this myself; my old man had told me that the block was the proportioning valve when my problem first cropped up. That means that the sole purpose of that block is basically to house that switch and block off one circuit or the other... of its open. AND to indicate that there is an issue. thanks for doing the legwork and correcting me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 My dad has a decent knowledge about vehicles. there have been many times that he gives me some kind of answer that is so far off it dosent make sense to me how he came up with it in the first place. and then to top it all off he is adamant that he is right. for the longest time i have assumed that that was the p-valve. it would only make sense. oh well. it would have only been a matter of time before i looked it up in my haynes book or called someone. i sometimes think if any of these tech guys like talking to me. i ask all the super technical questions that nobody knows. everyone is running around looking in books and calling the people that have done nothing BUT work on these cars. about the sensor. i am glad that i dont have a vehicle that when one silly sensor goes out the car electrical goes hey wire. i wouldnt be able to deal with that kind of stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 My dad has a decent knowledge about vehicles. there have been many times that he gives me some kind of answer that is so far off it dosent make sense to me how he came up with it in the first place. and then to top it all off he is adamant that he is right. I know what you mean... I kicked a rear wheel once on my 280 because it was a loaner from my dad, and they (he and my uncle and oldest brother) were under the impression it needed spacers to fit a Z.. when REALLY, it needed acorn lug nuts instead of flat mag style lug nuts... And the BIG one was, when my alternator died. Again, my old man was adamant that any 280 Z or ZX had an internally regulated alternator, so I could straight swap the alt from my brothers defunct 280ZX onto my 75... A few months and half a dozen electrical episodes later, I bought a real replacement, externally regulated alternator. I noticed that there was a sticker on the back of the thing saying "EXTERNALLY REGULATED ALTERNATOR-- It is recommended that you replace the voltage regulator at the same time as this unit." I eyeballed the size of it, and realized it was a perfect fit to go on the top of my craftsman multimeter, which I still have (complete with sticker) to this day. That was how I found out that the old man was human, after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 Oh man. dont get me started on the alternator problems. I never tried swapping out for a zx alt. i do know of the sticker you are talking about. i never have changed out the volt reg. i dont know why you would have to replace that with the alt. i do know that if the reg goes out the alt turns into a mini welder. all kinds of voltage going through the wiring harness. big fire and lots of melted wire. happened on one of the old jeeps i have. the sad part is that i was on my way to get the new volt reg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaZ Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 So , apparently without everyone basically getting this seemingly simple task all complicated by ck this and ck that..my question is how would you guys replace the bulb if it burned out...ans that and you ans the question as to how to disarm the light..ck this ck that ck whatever ..there has to be a simple way to reach the light bulb and disconnect it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaZ Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Hard to believe this is all that complicated... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 i hate to be a stick in the mud, (we kinda got a little flame-ish about tthis but we resolved that already, right? )but have you checked any FSMs?? I am certain they would have the answer.. http://www.carfiche.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaZ Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 Got it...and not telling how...whoa..its off and that is that...but considering how this thread went ..if you guys think for a min or a sec that Im gonna tell you how simple this was..forget it..all the BS that flew on this was totally rediculous..the problem could have been solved on day one if not day two..however as said the light is off and that is that.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted May 28, 2007 Author Share Posted May 28, 2007 thats pretty funny. are you going to make us guess what your solution was. my light being on doesnt bother me any more, but if you have a posible solution for me where i wouldnt have to spend hours apon hours beating my head in, i would love to hear it. i havent had the extra time to find the problem. there has always been something else that was more important to fix first. does the light come on when the parking brake is engaged or is it off for good? like i have said i would eventually like to fix it and not to just get rid of the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaZ Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 It was on engaged or disengaged...made no difference..the darned thing was lit one way or the other..took the switch out where the brake handle came down and that started the problem.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted May 29, 2007 Author Share Posted May 29, 2007 so what... you just put the switch back in??? my switch is there and it is hooked up. i do think it is some kind of bad connection. you never told me if you fixed the problem or if you got the light to stay off. i am still wondering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaZ Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Lost the switch or its in one place I havent looked, however the first time I put it back in it didnt help the situation..used to be the light only stuck when it was cold outside ( in the 30's which doesnt happen too often here in SC) then once the car would warm up the light would go off..so Im as lost today as I was the other day when the darned thing went off..Im not taking the dash out to find this ..gonna put a piece of electrical tape over the little section where I can see it and forget it..who knows maybe one day it will just burn out...hopefully... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted May 30, 2007 Author Share Posted May 30, 2007 hahaha. i just got told that i wouldnt be needed at my job for a week or two, so... there isnt going to be any excuse not to try and figure this problem out. i might actually try and trouble shoot the problem some time next week. i never thought of the electrical tape over just the visual part of the light. i might have some answers in the next week or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaZ Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 It seems to me that considering there is a light bulb behind the word brake there would have to be a way to replace the bulb without removing the entire dash or taking out the speedometer , wonder if there is a wire near the speedometer cable..so far I cant see under the dash well enough to see if that is the case..but again..if the light burned out shouldnt there be a way to replace it without dismantling half the car..or is it a 100 year guaranteed light bulb..lol...right now I have a small piece of electrical tape covering the area so I dont see it lit up..what a fix that is...Im going to look at this again this weekend..however it made no diff when I did put the switch back in under the emergency brake handle..gotta be some kind of connection under the dash as now the switch is out but the light is still on..again..wouldnt you think there would be a way to reach the bulb to replace it..if so then we could both just remove the bulb and that would end the problem.. This is funny in a way and rather annoying in another..the problem of the light that is ..one of us is gonna solve this mystery..one day...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share Posted June 1, 2007 yes. one day i will get to the source of the problem. it might be this week. i just got vacation time. honestly i figured to replace the bulb that the gauge would have to be taken out. my dad has some old collectible jeeps and to do anything like that you have to take out the whole gauge cluster. one has a radio and it took him 4 or 5 hours just to get to it. he had to take out both seats, the center console, a/c unit and then some. all that just to spend 2 seconds to spray some contact cleaner on the volume nob. lets hope that kind of thing wont be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaZ Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 4-5 hours.....Im going with the piece of tape...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted June 2, 2007 Author Share Posted June 2, 2007 nice. ill have time later this week. i think i might get to the problem. i dunno. there is all kinds of other electrical gremlins i have to find and kill. might as well get that one too. my car was fine when i got it 3 years ago. it just turned 30. so its age is starting to catch up with it. little things waring out, chewing threw wires... sh*t like that. *followed by a tired sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaZ Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Same here , have had this one since 2000 and up until this year all was well..seems like once you begin to fool around with one or two things all hell can break loose..lol..but hey mine is well I guess 31 now so there have to be some things here and there that are gonna cause a problem every so often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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