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Pulled defroster, fasten seat belt, choke and heater face flip light, any thing else im missing? Tried to disconnect the speedometer and the tach tonight, but I am unable to reach behind either anywhere near a connector or bulb, is there a trick to this or does the dash have to come out?

I dont have an ohm meter, but hopefully this works... So far I unplugged Temp/Oil. Gas/Amp. and Clock one at a time, I still have the problem, tonight I will pull the tach plug and then speedometer

I will look at the dash lights tonight when i get home from work to see if one isnt lighting. I dont know if it is different on other models but my hazard switch doesnt have a light on it, just the defogger, choke, and fasten seat belts. I tried to get to the dash lights and dont see a simple plug, although I am going through the heater face/vents, is there a plug buried further back there or somewhere else, or do i have to pull each gauge out? Oh its a 74 260z and nothing was modified before the initial burn up of the combo plug

**I should also add... I dont recall there ever being a dash light problem before this, If I recall correctly the head lights went out. There is a possibility though that this could have been the real problem the whole time, and that the overheating of the combo switch 9 pin connector could have been what affected my headlights as well and the parking/tails may have initially gone unnoticed. The rheostat was replaced because the mechanic working on the car thought it was bad for this reason: Initially when turning the rheostat instead of controlling the dash lights, it would turn up and down the parking lights. When pushing on the rheostat we were able to get the dash lights to flicker on and stay on while pushing against it. Now when i turn the rheostat it has no effect on the parking lights or the dash lights until it is turned all the way to max, then the parking lights dim a bit and the dash lights come on and that is when the fuse starts to overheat. While under the dash I also noticed when i turn on the dash lights that this comes on(seen in picture) I have no idea what it is or why there is a light in it since i can't seem to see it unless i am under the dash, Also i did try unplugging this and the fuse still heats up.

So I disconnected the dash lamp and fasten safety belt light, problem continued, there is no bulb in the hazard switch, just in the choke and defogger and those seem to be fine. Is there a way to disconnect the dash lights individually, i pulled the heater face out and cant see how to really get to them at all

Also, I believe the combo switch that is on my Z now came from a 240z, would there be any problem with this? When I was looking at the green/white wire to the combo switch it seems thinner than the green/white wire going away from the combo switch(on the other side of the 9 pin connector) Here are some pictures (I dont know if the dimple came from the over heating or if it was already there, how would I replace this one wire?)

I have been sitting/ignoring an electrical problem for some time now, and as of today figured I would take another run at it. About a year ago my combo switch was overheating and melted a wire or two and the plastic connector, seeing as rewiring was out of my range I took it in and had a new combo switch/wiring put in. Shortly after(if not immediately) I noticed that my parking and interior lights were out. It was a blown fuse. Currently: The parking light fuse, after about 15 seconds gets red hot and burns out once the combo switch is turned on to parking lights. I disconnected all the parking and tail lights(and headlights) and flipped the parking lights on the combo switch, the fuse continues to over heat. What I noticed was the dimmer switch, does not turn on the dash lights unless turned all the way up, and then the fuse begins to glow red preparing to burn out after a few seconds. If i turn the dimmer switch down just a tiny bit, the dash lights don't dim, they just go completely out, and the fuse does not over heat. Also if i unplug the dimmer switch, the parking and tail lights stay on and the fuse does not seem to over heat, I just have no dash lights. I also tried ordering another dimmer switch and replacing it but it is the exact same problem. With the steering wheel housing cover off I am also seeing that the green and white wire leading from the combo switch to the 9 pin plastic connector is very hot and started melting the insulation and has slightly warped the 9 pin connector. Any thoughts?

I have check all the light sockets and never found a problem, previously there was a problem that caused over heating from the headlight and melted the 9 pin connector, so the headlight switch was replaced, and im guessing there might have been some make shift patch work.... Never used one

Ok, so months later.......... I order a new dimmer switch, replaced it and yep... still the same problem Things that i have learned though are... With the dimmer switch unplugged, the parking lights operate as expected no problems, when i plug in the switch everything functions correctly for about 2 seconds, then the dash lights dim, the Green/Blue wire begins to get hot, the parking light fuse gets hot, and just recently the green/blue wire got so hot it broke the solder... Does this help any? Im not a real technical person when it comes to electrical... and would love to have someone fix this for me, however the shops that i took my Z too basically told me they werent too sure about how to tackle this, which i didnt see as a great sign...

Would that be the green / blue wire?

Can someone tell me what wire is suppose to be soldered here, and what exactly does it control... parking lights, dash lights?

So.... Got the car back from the shop today, and what i am being told is that the dimmer switch is failing in some way. I pushed and pulled on the dimmer switch a bit and the dash light came on faintly. Unfortunately the shop did not have a replacement switch so i will have to track one down somewhere and on the ride home i smelled a some burning and then the parking light fused popped and there went my parking lights Does anyone know what models i can choose from for this switch, i have an early 260z....

So im thinking, based on looking at the FSM that the 3 pin connector that is unplugged might be the warning buzzer from the door being ajar. I am not the best at understanding the FSM so I dont know that i will give the most accurate answers based on that, but it appears that all my plugs and wires are correct, so I think either its something to do with a mis-mmatched combo switch, which I dont know if there are compatibility issues across models, i think the one in there now is from a 240z... So the problem is that my dimmer knob is turning up and down my parking lights, and I have no illumination in my dash lights is this a simple plug? From the FSM, i dont see anything that is out out place

So i looked at the 9 pin connector, and the wires going in (from the headlight switch) are different colors than on the other side of the connector plug, were the headlight switches across models different and this could be causing the problem? (see below) The unplugged connector is a 3 pin connector, but one of the 3 wires has been cut, so what remains is a red wire and black wire, (photo 3) 9 PIN CONNECTOR (FROM REPLACED COMBO SWITCH) Gw Bg Bw Bw By B By B Br 9 PIN CONNECTOR (Original to wiring harness) Yg Bg Gw Bw Rb Wg By B Br Uppercase = Main Color Lowercase = Stripe(if there is one) G/g = Green B/b = Blue R/r = Red W/w = White Y/y = Yellow (The Color diagram is meant to show the colors that are connecting i.e. first: Gw is connected to Yg)

So a few months ago I took my car in because my parking lights failed after the wiring at the combo switch melted. I took it in, and had the switch and wiring replaced... Everything seemed fine, I took it out for the first time today and tonight when I got in it to drive home I realized my headlights and my dash lights arent working. I pulled took off the covering around the steering column/combo switch and began to look around and found a few disconnected wires. Got the Headlights working which is a start, but dash lights still arent working, I think something is incorrectly soldered/wired because when i went to adjust the dimmer knob, my parking lights are going dim or bright when turned... maybe something is just plugged in wrong, or not plugged in? I also found a connector that is unplugged and i am unable to reach far enough up to plug the two in. Here are a couple pictures 1974 260z

Next step/Options? btw early 1974 260z I think it was the green/white wire and in its overheating has also melted the green/blue wire next to it.... what would i be looking for on the combo switch that would cause this? all soldering points seem okay

parking and dash lights were not working, checked the fuse box 20a park light fuse was dead. Put a new fuse in, turned on tail lights, fuse immediately got hot, turned red and shortly after burned out... Put new fuse in and unhooked all parking lights, flipped the switch to parking lights and fuse still glows, so my guess is there is an issue behind the dash, or something to do with the combo switch, any ideas or thoughts to narrow this down before pulling the dash out? Thanks

Now it is clear why I caused the confusion, I should have typed fan shroud instead of clutch. My apologies. My assumption is that the fan clutch on my 260 was aftermarket since it only had 4 bolts and 4 rivets which had to be drilled out and it seems most have 4 bolts on each side that can be removed. I read some information about rebuilding the fan clutch and there was no real clear indication of how much "goo" from www.hammondsplains.com/newtechtips/cooling/index.htm that should go into the clutch, unless I missed something. I have read a few posts that said 10w30 was to low, and to add 90w or lucas oil smoke additive. Since there was clearly some thick liquid still inside the clutch, I at first thought it was not the issue, but after turning it over a couple times and it being clear that it did not need to be done quickly to prevent any from leaking out I assume that it was possible some of the liquid had leaked over time so I added a good amount of 10w40 into the clutch and bolted it back together. On my way out have the electrical tested the car did quite well, slightly over mid way on the temp gauge but did not shoot up like it use to at stops. Once I arrived to have the electrical tested, I shut the car of, (for the 3rd time on the trip from other stops) and the car would not start.... It kept trying, and would start to fire up only to die a second or less later. After probably 30 attempts she fired up and I revved the engine to about 6k and off went one of my newly replaced hoses that apparently had not been tightened down... :/ (Up to this point I was running a 50/50 mix) Still unclear as to what caused the failure to start but possibly something in the line causing a blockage or issue with the electric fuel pump.... Nevertheless, I lost about a quart of 50/50 and after thinking about some of the previous posts I decided to add just water to try and bring closer to a 60/40 mix. The 60/40 seems to be working better, I let it idle for a good 10 minutes after driving for a while and had no over heating issues at all. Thanks much for all your help, may have fixed a few things that weren't the direct root of the problem, but nothing wrong with a little preventative maintenance.

tension in belt was more than adequate seems to be just a bad alternator and added more weight to the fan clutch as well replaced water pump/gasket and some old hoses, now getting a better result with a 60/40 water antifreeze mixture. Not sure how you got so confused that you read 2 260s and one that doesn't have a clutch fan... i guess that is irrelevant, but I received plenty of good help regardless Thanks for yalls help, took the z out for a drive for about an hour, with stops and various traffic/speeds and did quite well

Pulled the antenna to test it, still worked so there must have been a break in the line somewhere? decided to run new wire. Is there anyway to boost the antenna, seems signal never has come in too great....

So i just noticed today that my power antenna is not working, i dont know how long is has not been functioning since i rarely drive the car and even less so use the radio, so this could be a year or two old problem. I pulled the antenna out, my first assumption is that it has gone bad, are there any good ways to test the functionality to determine if it is a wire gone bad that hooks up to the antenna or the antenna unit itself. i tried to hook a power supply to the antenna connector after it was removed and it tried to work which makes me think there is a failure in the wiring. To test this would i just use a multimeter to hook up where i removed the antenna? does anyone have a wiring schematic for the antenna? I have an aftermarket radio and setup a switch to raise and lower the antenna which is hooked up correctly, i used the 3 wires that hooked up to the old radio and soldered them to a switch... My guess now is that there is a problem in the wiring, maybe something has come unplugged so any information about the wiring for the antenna would be great.

Battery went bad about 1 year ago, it was the 2nd battery in 8 years, and it went bad after less than 2 years, so this one is fairly new I have a bit of new information, I was checking all of my wiring, disconnected and reconnected alternator and terminals.... I went back to start the car and the lights seemed brighter, and when i looked the the amp meter it was in the positive, with highbeams and blinker going. This lasted for a full 5 seconds or so, then everything suddenly dimmed and the amp meter dropped to negative. I did this a couple times with varying success of brighter lighting and positive amp reading for anywhere from 1 to 5 seconds before everything would dim and drop to the negative. Any new input based on this information? I have never seen this happen before....

I appear to have strayed from my original problem which is not so much a poor charge, but continuously failing alternators, I will test the alternator and regulator tomorrow, my guess is that the alternator has gone bad again. So if this is the case could a poorly grounded/malfunctioning amp be the culprit behind all these alternators going out? http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/Duralast-Import-Alternator/1974-Nissan-Datsun-260Z/_/N-iopilZ93xme?itemIdentifier=334268_29983_10563_ Replacement alternator Part Number: 14118 Weight: 12.25 lbs Warranty: Limited Lifetime Notes: 50 Amp alternatorPremium reman This unit has an external voltage regulator. It should always be replaced when replacing the alternator. Alternator Diameter: 128mm Stator Diameter Alternator Fan: External Alternator Mounting Brackets Included: No Alternator Output Amperage (A): 60 Alternator Regulation: External Alternator Voltage: 12 ALSO....... Belt tension is something i am trying to figure out, belt is loose enough to turn on its side, but no further, there is little to no slack...

EDIT, Drilled rivets out, I guess this is an aftermarket fan clutch???? Looks pretty good though.... So im guessing this isnt the issue??

I also have another post up about electrical issues, the battery is not charging when my foot is off the gas; Does this add more to the possibility that the fan clutch is shot? I have the clutch removed from the fan atm was going to try to rebuild, however mine is bolted to the fan, I removed the 4 bolts, but then the fan is riveted together where rebuild instructions say there should be 4 bolts.... Is this clutch not able to be serviced? Also no fan clutch on my early 74 260z, havent had one since I have had the car, I assume this is typical of the year and model?