the.goodhumorman Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 I am new to this forum but I am not going to ask a typical newbie question. I have quite a bit of experience with cars, except for electrical. I dont like doing it. However, I decided to shave my sidemarkers on the back of my 72 240z. How would I go about redoing the wiring to make sure everything still works like normal. I did what I would have believed to be correct. Now, when I turn the left signal on, both tail lights blink slowly and dim. When I turn the right blinker on, nothing happens. I know numerous people have done this before, and most likely with success. Please, help a fellow Z enthusiast out and get him and his car on the road as soon as possible. Thanks ~The Good Humor Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Sounds like something is grounding or shorting out. Were there any wires hanging loose or touching after you removed the side markers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e_racer1999 Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 put an adequate resistor inline where the bulb for the sidemarkers used to be. don't know if that will solve your problem, but that's the correct thing to do for the sidemarkers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 How well did they (blinkers) work before you removed the side marker lights? The side marker lights do not blink and should not affect the "blinking" of the lights BUT the side markers are a part of the ground loop for the chassis ground of the lights in the back of the car. Under most circumstances you would probably never notice anything different when the side marker lights are disconnected but if your chassis ground is less than ideal it can create strange problems with your lights. I would recomend that you check your ground wires first then if you can not cure the problem with that then try what e_racer1999 said about using a resistor. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.goodhumorman Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 Well, the thing is, I removed all of the unused wiring. I am not using the antenna in the vehicle so I removed all of the antenna wiring. I also just cut out the side marker wiring since it will never be used in this car again. Where would I put a resistor in line? Thanks ~The Good Humor Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.goodhumorman Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 Naviathan - There are no wires hanging loose. Everything should still be grounded just fine, I just took out some lights and left everything else grounded as it was. Dragonfly - The blinkers worked perfectly. Thanks ~The Good Humor Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 I have quite a bit of experience with cars, except for electrical. I dont like doing it. From reading that I think that you may have overstepped your capabilities. However, I decided to shave my sidemarkers on the back of my 72 240z. How would I go about redoing the wiring to make sure everything still works like normal. You should have asked that question and understood the answer before taking on this project. You may have asked that question but if you did I did not see it and I don't think you understood what was needed to make everything work. I did what I would have believed to be correct. Now, when I turn the left signal on, both tail lights blink slowly and dim. When I turn the right blinker on, nothing happens. I also just cut out the side marker wiring since it will never be used in this car again. Cutting out wires vs removing wires are two very different things. I suspect you may have crossed up your blinker circuit with your tail light circuit in your quest to clean up the wiring by removing what was not needed (or being used). I know numerous people have done this before, and most likely with success. Did you actualy ask any of these people how they did it and if they had any problems? I personaly went through my car and "re-wired" the factory wiring harness by removing the unused wires etc. it was a huge chore and I have a color wiring diagram of my car that is 3ft wide by 9ft long. I also spent months doing this and I tested everything outside of the car prior to wrapping all the wiring back up. Even with that I still had to chase some gremlins after everything was installed back into the car, most of the gremlins turned out to be grounding to chassis issues, while others turned out to be from re-using old connectors. Fortunately for you the 72' 240Z body wiring harness is the simplest one in a z car that I am aware of. As long as you did not mess with the wires were they connect to the dash harnesses you should be able to buy another body wiring harness and try this again without so much use of the cutters. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Changed the title. Goodhumorman, we want the title to be descriptive enough that people will know what is in the thread before they open it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 You problem is more likely ground related. Make sure the unused wires are properly insulated and not short ciruiting. The resistor-to-ground idea has merit too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.goodhumorman Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 It was a grounding issue. I did do everything right, however I had also accidentally disconnected the antenna ground which was the one completing the grounding circuit. I did not notice it before. I plugged it in and everything is working alright now. I am not incompetent when it comes to wiring (I have done some before). I just dont like to do it. Thanks ~The Good Humor Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e_racer1999 Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 glad to hear you got it fixed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 I'm also glad you found it and got it working right. I never intended to insnuate that you are incompotent, I just see a lot of people step in over their heads when working with the wiring in their cars. Most people are very intimdated by a large bundle af wires. The important thing is that you have the look you want and you learned something in the process. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.goodhumorman Posted August 4, 2007 Author Share Posted August 4, 2007 Well, I am just glad that this is working. I am going to get the rest of the holes filled today and then I am going to take pictures. I cant wait! Thanks ~The Good Humor Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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