Hazard lights don't work on my '77

[bobs77]

First post here, hope someone can help solve this. The hazard lights haven't worked since I bought my '77 Z almost 4 years ago. I've gone through the FSM and came up with the following:

--checked the fusible links for continuity--~.4 ohms, and power--~12.4 volts at the end of each link;

--verified the 10amp fuse in the fuse block is good;

--verified I have ~12.4 volts at the hot terminal (red with white stripe wire) of the hazard flasher;

--pulled the hazard flasher out of the car, put 12 volts across the terminals and heard it clicking on and off;

--tested continuity of the switch per the FSM, and it's working like it should.

I'm stuck. Any ideas of what else should I check?

Thanks,

Bob

[bobs77]

37 views and no replies? Am I the first to come across this?

OK, I'll offer a fix for anyone who has this problem in the future. After going through the tests in the first post I checked the circuit further upstream. I should have had continuity from the flasher plug to the switch connector--but didn't. There's one harness connection between the two, located just below the heater control valve. I pulled this connection apart and found the pins were corroded. (I had a leaky heater control valve last year which leaked coolant into this housing.) I cleaned the pins using Deoxit and an old toothbrush, and now have working hazard lights.

[EScanlon]

Bob

Reason for so many views and no input is that you had already checked the switch, the flasher unit, wiring and fuses as well as for the presence of electricity, that pretty much covers all the bases. You had used actual numbers and terms that bespoke of your knowledge of them, so asking you to do something so basic as to ....check them again.....would have been insulting.

Most of us know of the "standard" set of problems for a Hazard Switch. The Switch loses contact internally and won't power the flasher unit, the switch's contacts become corroded and only have sporadic contact, or only one side, or only if the brake light is depressed.......

There just wasn't anything that came to mind as a "typical" problem item.

Without further testing and spot checking, it becomes a guessing game as well as a laborious and aggravating game of "Guess My Line" (Pun Intended).

I'm glad you got it fixed on your own, and your post does a good job of advising others.

Sadly, if you had bought the car AFTER that heater valve scenario, then we'd just say, check all connections, because we'd STILL be stumped.

~shrug~ Sorry.

And I hope that the lack of response doesn't jade you about the rest of the club.

Heck, give us another chance, or better yet, let us break it so we can tell you how to fix it.

FWIW

E

[MikeZcar]

I have hi beams and no low beams, also no FSM yet, is the hi/low beam tied to a relay or is it the switch in turn signal arm only that's supposed to change them? I do not hear an audible click in the turn signal set up(like it make a switch change states) only a weak sounding hint of plastic on plastic as the little plastic actuator bottoms out in the switch. Mike

[EScanlon]

Not sure if on the 77's they'd gone to a relay, but on the earlier Z's there definitely was NO relay involved. That's the cause of many of the problems for wiring and fuse melt-downs. The Combination Light/Wiper switch did the ACTUAL powering of the lights and the turn signal switch just redirected a small portion of the circuit.

I'll have to check my archives for a 77 wiring diagram and I'll give you a more constructive answer.

E

[MikeZcar]

78 model, tried to read drawing in an old forum but kinda tough a piece at a time but looks like no relay, may have to wait on FSM, Mike

[bobs77]

Enrique--Sorry, can't take you up on breaking something on the car--it's been doing that on it's own the last 15 months.

Thanks for the feedback--good to know I was on the right track checking this out. The interior's back in now after doing all the fixes on the winter to-do list. Just waiting for the Washington weather to dry out a little to take it on the road.

Bob

[EScanlon]

Bob:

Glad to hear it!

(Cue: Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again", Fade in, then out)

One word of caution, NEVER leave your wallet on the console with ANY amount of money in it. The car can sense it and will promptly find a venue by which you will be forced to dispose of that cash.

I've said this before to other members on this site, and there have been only a handful of reckless and foolish members that haven't heeded this warning.

You'll know it's true by the number of "Me Too!" posts that this one will generate.

E

[mlc240z]

hell E,

i'll be the first to bite.

i never left my wallet on the console. my baby just 'senses' when there is any cash within a 500 foot radius, and promptly turns the 'auto-suck' on.

and the joke of it is, she hasn't even hit the road YET!!!! (oh god, I hope this spring)

[EScanlon]

You've got a Series I. They're more sensitive to money than the later models.

In fact, the sensitivity goes down on the later models, until you get to the 300ZX's.

Boy, those guys have SHOP-VAC Auto-Suck Money Detect.

Anyone else?

E