Catatonik

Heres the situation.

I pulled out my closer switch and cut the wire to raise the lights putting a toggle switch in line. (Lights on, switch off, lights stay in desired position... flick to raise them slightly.) Accidentally touched two wires together (cant remember which ones) with my screwdriver and now...

Headlights turn on and off.
Headlights will go up when turned on or toggle is in up position, but wont return to the closed position without jumping a wire.
When lights are on, only headlights illuminate. No side markers, instrument lights, tail-lights or license plate lights.
Glove box and bin lights wont light up.
Dome light works.
Gauges work.

I replaced the combi switch and checked the fusible link. I checked the fuses under the dash as well. All is well.

Here's the kicker... when I use my remote to disarm/arm the alarm, the markers, taillights and interior lights, flash, like they always did.

Any ideas where to look before I take it on for an expensive repair bill?

85 FB

Wiring is such a funny thing that surprisingly not a whole lot of people (AND mechanics) know about. A shame really.

I encountered a problem when I did something with the main screw that the power wire for the fusible links goes to. I see a couple of sparks and then all of a sudden, my turn signals didn't work properly.

Solution? Spliced in an additional ground into both front turn signals and now everything works fine.

Usually, a short can easily be remedied with just a new ground. The problem with these cars, and a lot of Japanese cars to boot, is that a lot of the electrical items share just one grounding point. Really not a good idea when you need to make the most of your items without uninterrupted power.

Try splicing a new ground wire into the existing one on both of your front turn signals. Also, consider getting a headlight harness from Black Dragon Auto here: http://www.blackdragonauto.com/icatalog/rx/0002.asp

This helps to bypass the stock stuff under the hood, it should help alleviate the problems as now the headlights will work off of their own power and wiring, versus going through the headlight switch and back.

Catatonik

Turn signals and 4 ways work... they just dont light up when I turn the lights on. :P

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Remember you have 3 fusable links. How did you check them?

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

My first question is why did you cut the the aux flip up switch in the first place? What was the the purpose for doing so? I would put everything back to it's stock configuration, test it to see what works and doesn't, then proceed from there.

Since you shorted something with the screwdriver and had arcing, you may have fried the wiring somewhere and and have a couple that burned through the protective coating, crossing them up. Those can be very hard to find. Once you have the wiring back to stock, clean and lube the multi-switch, check the contacts on the aux switch, then check/clean all of the wire connectors from the multswitch to the headlight motors. The plug in connectors must be corrosion free. I've had good luck using CLR and a Q-tip cleaning corroded connectors. Rinse, dry and add dilectric grease to preserve the connectors.

You may also want to recheck the fusible links and under dash fuses, just in case.

Xanius

trochoid, it could be for what I did with my 240, lazy eyes. Make it to where you control the lights seperately and can control how high they go, winking at people is fun.

Catatonik

that is why i did it. I tried putting it back and it made no diff. It's just a toggle switch for lazy eyes. I use a ohm meter to check resistance across all 3 links.

Catatonik

I'm triing to check the grounds... where should I splice in?

85 FB

Pull your turn signals out of your front bumper and splice a ground wire into both black wires leading out of the turn signals and lead them to a body ground. It's what I did, and it cured my turn signal problems. You can get splice-connectors from any auto store, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot/Lowes.

I created a short to where the parking light filament of my turn signal bulbs would be the one that blink, and when I turned my parking lights on, they would flash twice as fast.

Do remember that Japanese cars are common to have quite a few electrical components all lead into one common ground point. So, when you create a short, sometimes the simplest of things, splicing in another (additional) ground wire (16 gauge will do fine), will fix it.

However, do also take heed of Trochoid's advice, as that can also be a big problem you want to look out for.

Catatonik

the turn signals work though.... that's what i'm tryng to say. EVERYTHING works when I click my alarm on, and the turn signals work when I turn on the 4 ways... just not when I turn the switch for my parking lights.

Catatonik

Arrrgh! Who wants to come to Ottawa and smack me upside the head?! I was getting so frustrated with the problem, but I went back and took Trochoids advice and RE-checked the fuses a 3rd time... yup! Upon closer inspection the fuse was popped... It looked fine, but up close you could see it was unattached at the one side... they usually pop in the middle... so ya... I feel like an ****. I bought a new combi switch relays, wired the ground to the frame... And it was just a matter of taking the time to look closer at the fuses.

Thanks for all the advice, and I officially give you all permission to poke fun at me now. :$

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Poke fun at you, nah, but I can say I told you so. LOL. Glad you got it worked out.