Ok, my turn signals died on me. I thought "ok, relay went bad". So, after getting one from the junk yard (new one was $60), I still have no turn signals. Although, I found out that wiggling wires down there causes them to spaz out and work sometimes. So, now Im thinking "loose wires". Well I started wiggling wires again, and my whole car started wigging out. Like the stereo came on (key not even in ignition), power antenna started going up and down with the stereo coming on and off, door dinger and light dinger coming on and off when they shouldnt be, etc. Anyway, I unplugged the big plug down there that plugs into the box that the flasher relay is on, yet eveything looks fine in there. What should I look for or check? Could that control box just be bad? I dont know what all is up in there, could it be loose wires somewhere else that Im just happening to hit by moving that one plug? I dont know what all is up there, its hard to see . I just know that I need turn signals, I CANT get another ticket for at least a year or I have to pay lots of money .

Anyone have any advice?

~T.J.

 

ya know my turn signals just died on me too.

TJ, where is the relay for the turn signals anyway? I thought that might be it for me, but I hav no idea where the relay is. I really need to get a 85 FSM.

 

checked the fuseable links??

i like electronics but there is ntohing worse than diognosing an electrical problem

good luck

 

hornbm - Darn! I had a spare CPU unit that I would have gladly given you, but it's long gone.

RMD- That's very strange TJ. Have you tried swapping in another CPU unit from an 83? Does it change anything?

 

I guess time to learn turning hand signals..

 

I dont have a spare CPU unit.

I already know the hand signals. Ive had to use them when there are cops near me .

 

find the loose wire and secure it properly through soldering, screw tightening, whatever.

If it's loose and you're wiggling it, you were probabaly sending sparks jumping to other wires or circuits, especially as it's probably loose near the fusebox, yeah?

You're a bright guy this should be no problem for ya.

 

We all have faith in you T.J.

 

I've been studying so much of the s5 wiring for my engine swap, i really dont know to much about the wiring on my car. LOL

My hazard switch still works BTW.

Now obviously i would want to change the relay for the turnb signals first. Where is the location of this relay? My guess would be that it's under the dash on the drivers side. Does anybody know what the connector looks like going to it? Color, number of wires ETC.

85RX7GS, you mentioned the CPU. Where is this located? DO you mean the ECU?

 

Pop your head under the driver-side of the dash. Find the fuse box. Now, look beyond the fuse box until you see a silver-colored metal bracket. Attached to the bracket is the CPU (big black plastic box-like thing). This is not the ECU! The ECU is contained in a silver-colored metallic case located on the other end of the car.

To remove the bracket that holds the CPU, you'll need a long extension socket wrench with a 10mm socket. There are three nuts - two at the top and one near the clutch pedal. Once you find the CPU, you'll see what I'm talking about. After you get the nuts off, unplug the large connector (plugs directly into the CPU board) and then the smaller two-wire connector (comes out of the side of the CPU box).

With the CPU out of the car, remove three more nuts that hold the housing together.

Now if I remember correctly, the blinker relay is the larger and taller relay on the board. It's got a couple of contact points on it - easy to spot. The wiper relay is in the center of the board and again, if I remember correctly, it has a plastic door that you can open to access it's guts

That's about as far as I'm going to go now. I think that should get you started. Hope it works out for you.

 

Hmmm...Maybe what I was playing with wasnt the turn signal relay after all? Its a metal relay that plugs directly into the side of the CPU box under the cover of a plastic "thingy". It has 5 prongs and is just a standard electromagnetic relay.

~T.J.

 

Ah, I think that's the flasher relay. It's accessible through a cover that snaps onto the larger CPU cover. It's got a coil on it.

 

Ok I didnt even know our cars had a CPU.

The only thing that I can think of that would have made this happen was when I was connecting the clutch pedal switch, when i changed my car from an automatic to a stick.

There were two connectors that were on the wire strand that fit the switch. At the time when I connected it however, I only saw one connector. It was blue.

Later on I found a connector on the same set of wires farther up that was taped down. It occured to me that that was for the clutch switch, not the blue plug.

Anyway I did reconnecto my battery with teh clutch switch being pluged in to the blue plug. Does anybody know what the blu plug is for? I have a pretty good feeling that that may have killed my turn signals.

 

ever think that perhaps your flasher is gone?

I know in my prelude, the flasher sticks, and then my signals don't work, so I slap the bottom of the dash around where the flasher is, and they work again

 

ok well what would be my best course of action here? If i were to get the relay from the yard, I might as well get the entire CPU as well that way I can rule two things out at once.

But does anybody know what might have happened with me pluuging my clutch switch in the wrong plug?

 

A flasher relay should only be like $5 brand new from the auto parts store... at least it has been in all my other vehicles... never had to replace it on the 7...

it's just a little silver metal cylinder that you plug into the electrical system of your car in most cases...

 

Yeah....Uh huh. Obviously you havent seen the flasher on the 7. Its not silver, its not even a cylinder. Its a 5 prong rectangle looking relay. Schucks will tell you that the replacement is an EL12 or whatever universal flasher. Yeah. Right. It doesnt even come CLOSE to fitting in there. Most auto parts stores only list a flasher for the 79-80. Mazda Trix says the flasher is $60. I got mine from the junk yard. Do a search on the forum for flasher relay and what not. I only found like 5 real threads about it, and they all ended in junk yard visits. I searched before I posted . Anyway, I guess that since there are so little people having this problem, we can at least say that they last a long time .

~T.J.

 

Ok, well for everyones information, I managed to get my turn signals working. I pulled the CPU and disected it. Turns out that I was having intermitant continuity (sp?) from the pins on the board (where the switch plugs in) to the terminals for the turn signal switch. I have a feeling there is a broken solder joint on the board somewhere. I kept the parts thinking that someday when Im bored Ill investigate it furter. For now, I fixed it for $5 for a new CPU from the junk yard. I also now have 3 good turn signal flashers because as it turns out, my old one still works .

~T.J.

 

Glad you got 'er fixed!

 

well since my car doesnt run yet anyway, I'll just wait till next payday and then go get andother CPU. it would rule out the chance of teh relay or the CPU being bad.

 

Like I said above, I haven't replaced the one on the 7 yet...

I have a '79 and it's just a silver metal cylinder that's $6.95 canadian or so from Lordco auto parts

 

Well you suck .

~T.J.