Turn Indicators and wipers not working

[Vileheadbanger]

I recently bought a 1972 240z. The dash was severely cracked and the glove box was broken, so I swapped the dashboard out with another dash that was in much better shape. I got the second dash in and now my turn indicators and wipers don't work. The lights in the gauges don't work either. I really would not like to take the dash back out. Can anyone tell me where to look for bad connections for my wipers, turn indicators, brake lights, and gauge lights? I carefully labelled every connection but there is a chance that I either missed something or didn't fully connect something.

If I can't diagnose the problem, I may end up refurbishing my other dash with bumper repair plastic and then putting the old one back in. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Vileheadbanger

[Mike B]

Did you use the same wiring harness that was in your old dash or did the new dash come with a harness and you are using that?

-Mike

[Kiwi ZX+Zed]

yep.I have a fairlady Z and put a 260z dash in it,theres a few things to do,swap the harness is about 5mins work.

[Vileheadbanger]

I am using the harness that came with the replacement dash I bought. I was told that everything worked on it. I would like to avoid removing the dash again if possible, so I would like to at least troubleshoot the problem before I give up and take it back out. Most of it actually does work, except for the things I mentioned. If I can't use the harness from the new dash, then I will most likely refurbish the dash I took out, and then put it back in. You guys are correct though in that I should have swapped the harness in the first place. Rookie mistake on my part. At least now I have a possible solution if all else fails. Too bad that it involves another weekend on my back getting 36 year old dust in my eyes.

Can anyone tell me where the relays are that control the wipers, turn indicators, gauge lights, and brake lights?

Also ... I am new to this site, and I just wanted to say thanks to anyone and everyone who offers me any help. I could not have even removed the dash in the first place had I not found some very useful info in the threads posted here.

Thanks

Vile

[EScanlon]

You don't mention what year dash you used for the swap.

If you used a dash for the later years 73+, then you will have problems trying to make things match. The 73 dash introduced the intermittent wiper and as a result the connections to the wiper switch differ and if memory serves the turn signal switch connection also differs.

Look at the connections to the Combination Switch right by the steering column. If the connections to the Comb. Switch don't match the Dash Harness, not only will you have to replace the Comb Switch, you may have to swap out the engine bay harness AND the wiper motor in order to get things to function. Even then you may be chasing little connection problems for a while before everything works properly.

In the long run, if the situation is as I've described you may be better off pulling the replacement dash, swapping out your old harness to the replacement and remounting everything. Trying to work around a pre-73 to a post-73 involves some tricky wiring that may be more than you want to handle.

FWIW

E

Edited February 10, 2009 by EScanlon

[Zs-ondabrain]

Did he say relays?......LOLLOLLOL Sorry, that's just funny to me.

Anyways. Go with the best of each item. Best dash and Known working harness. Definately worth the effort. Almost sounds like a power issue at the fusebox.

Not too sure on this one, without all the details.

Dave.

[Vileheadbanger]

Oops. I guess I am not an electrical genius ... hence the problems I am having. I meant the white plastic connectors and not relays. Thanks though, cause now I know what that little metal box is on the drivers side kick panel.

[Arne]

We still don't know - was the dash you installed also from the same year? And preferably of a similar month's production? There are many, many wiring differences between the different years, and often even between different build dates of the same year. You could well have a dash harness and switches that aren't compatible.

[stevef1972z]

I found out on my project that grounds on these cars are super important and what may have been fine before starting a upgrade or repair isnt so fine when done. Check them as well.

When they ask for the date of the replacement part year its for a darn good reason and the more details the better for some of the guys here can fix a problem or lead you to the fix super easy if they know what exactly you are trying to do and what you are working with.

BTW welcome to the site, its worth the time to learn the vocabulary on these cars and how to mine the site with the search functions these guys know these little cars!

Good luck!

[Vileheadbanger]

I have not had time to get all the info yet as I haven't been down to the garage in a few days, but I will this weekend and I will post as much info as I can. I am actually not 100% certain that it is a 72 dash that I ended up with as a replacement.

I am learning as I go here ... so next time I will make sure that I have a lot more information about my problem before I post. Sorry guys ... I am new to the site and also don't have much experience with working on electrical systems. I will try to give you as many details as I can, just as soon as I can get the time to get back to work on her. Thanks for the help. It is greatly appreciated.

[stevef1972z]

No problem and nobody is busting your chops or anything, trust us we were all new once, and I still am, we really want to see you get this taken care of so you can enjoy the car.

[racebird1]

When I plugged my 76 back in after sitting for a number of years most of the things you are saying on yours did not work on mine, in fact only one side of the turn signals worked and that really puzzeled me. It turned out that there did not appear to be any corrosion on the contacts but there was just enough oxidation on almost all of the contacts that most of this stuff would not work. Even the horn barely worked. I took everything apart including the map light and hazzard switch apart cleaned the contacts and now all is working great. Even the licence plate lights needed the sockets cleaned if you take one apart you will see why the wire is only put up against the socket and pushed into a plastic housing. No crimp and no solder. The contact point corrodes and they no longer work. The hazzard light only worked on one side because there is two contacts in the switch one for each side. Check voltage with a test light that is how I foulg most of these problems I was getting power and could not figure out why they wouldn't work. Back in 1980 Ihad a 76Z and my map light never worked well I am sure that was probably the issue then. Good Luck