What are these plugs

[bhermes]

A while back I upgraded to the 60 AMP alternator with the internal voltage regulator. I had never spliced the yellow wire under the passenger seat and decided to look into it today. I know if I search the site long enough I would find what I am looking for but for some reason I am not locating the correct post.

I have two 6 pin connectors under the seat. One is fully populated and was not plugged in to anything. The other only has three leads and I beleive that this contains the yellow wire I need to get rid of or at least run somewhere else if I want the brake light to go off and on as it should. For now I am just trying to get the battery from running down every couple days so cutting the wire would be fine at this point.

I unplugged the connector with the three leads, including the yellow wire and the brake light seems to go off and on as it should. Does this make sence? What else have I disconnected? What should the fully populated plug be connected to and what am I missing with it unplugged?

Any help would be appreciated. and sorry for all the recent threads but I am really tryign to get this car running good and pulled together so I can talk my wife into letting me get another. Also learning alot.

Thanks.

[Zed Head]

The brake light is supposed to light up when the key is turned on but the engine is NOT running. That's the "check" part of the circuit, showing the driver that light works. Then it's supposed to turn off when the engine starts, if the brakes are okay. Then, if the pressure balance switch on the hydraulic lines moves the light will turn on again. Is that what you mean by "on and off as it should?" If your brakes are in good shape all you will see is the light on when you turn the key, then off when the engine starts.

If you follow the atlanticz procedure you might find that the brake check light never goes on, because the relay always has power. You probably wouldn't notice the light but you would notice the battery draining. One sign that the problem exists is a fairly large spark at the negative post, and a click from inside the car, whenever you remove and replace the negative cable.

[bhermes]

Good point. Mis spoke. With both of the 6 pin plugs disconnected, which is how it is now, the brake light comes on when the ebrake is engaged and goes off when the ebrake is disengaged as it should. However, when the car is initially started the light will only come on when the ebrake is engaged. Nothing when disengaged.

Prior to disconnecting the 6 pin with the 3 leads (yellow wire per alternator upgrade that needs to be removed and ran a different way) my brake light was on when car was started whether ebrake was engaeged or disengaged. The light went off when I shut car off; however, as stated the battery ran down every couple days or sooner.

I guess this is what I am trying to determine. With both plugs unpluged I am loosing some brake diagnostics. What else am I loosing?

Also, I do not have the seat removed so a little hard to tell what else is down there and not down there.

Thanks.

[Zed Head]

There is another swap procedure out there that leaves the light on all the time, I believe. I think it's on zcarcreations.com. As you described, with the light on all the time you lose the pressure imbalance indication. If you unplug it, you still lose the warning, but you don't have to look at the light all the time.

There are many ways to get messed up. If I was starting over and really wanted to do this, I would use the atlanticz procedure, then cut the yellow wire at the brake check warning lamp relay and rewire it to the fuel pump power line. That's what I ended up doing after trying both procedures and draining my battery a couple of times.

I went through the hassle just for the challenge. But in normal usage you would probably notice that your brakes aren't working right at the same time the light turned on. It just confirms what your foot is feeling.