Hi all,

 

New to the world of zx and indeed this forum.

 

I own a z32 1990 tt.

 

I have an electrical issue which has baffled me.

 

Basically when I start the car now, my wipers (front and rear), heating - basically anything on the pod on the left of the steering wheel doesnt work. In addition to that the cigerette lighter doesnt work, nor does the folding mirrors or electrical adjust side mirrors. Also the break light doesnt work when i press the pedal. Although when I have the lights on the first setting break lights do work.

 

I think its an issue with the fuses or the ignition positive wire going to all of these.

 

Any thoughts on how to fix or diagnose. I have checked fuses and switched around but no joy. Im thinking either a main fuse which I may not be aware off or possibly a main wire.

 

Hope you guys/ girls can help

Welcome to the club gurps5 and I see you have a few electrical issues sorry I cant help but hope somebody else might have a few ideas.

you say you have checked the fuses, have you checked the ones in the drivers footwell?. near where you right foot would be, about 10" up from the floor, check the top row to start, usually 10amp 3rd in, has issues that will effect most of this stuff. if you have, then check for water ingress via the front targa drain tube, (if you have targas) as the silicone pipe may have come undone, and water is now emptying into the rear of the fuse box.

 

If these are a no no, then i would be looking around passengers footwell around the ecu for the same.

 

if these fail, it could be a long drawn out job, as it sounds you have a short somewhere.

hope this helps.

stu

Its dry as a babies bottom

 

Yes checked and swapped fuses in drivers well, and two pockets of fuses under hood.

 

Are there any more fuses anywhere?

 

Im thinking short but how can i diagnose locate or confirm this. Checked the cigerette lighter wiring. Ground ok, illumination ok, battery permanent ok, ignition live doesnt work...so im thinking its this ignition wire which runs all of my issues and the issue is further fown this wire...but i dont know what to do now yo test this.

Everything on the heater pod is run from the accessory circuit ( position one on the key) this is activated from a relay on the back of the footwell fusebox, this can fail and cause the exact problem your having.

 

The cig lighter is also on the same supply so you need to get the accessory circuit working again, fuse box out job which is a pain on the ass but no other way around it.

 

Jeff TT

Interesting and sounds like a pain...

 

Do you have a picture of the relay i am looking for and any instructions of how to get to it.

Ist picture is the front of the fusebox which is the bit you can see when looking in the drivers footwell area, the second picture is the rear of the fusebox that can only be seen after removal.

 

Removing the fuse box is trickly, you need a good strong torch, 10mm socket and phillips screwdriver, disconnect the battery and then the sill and trim around the fusebox requires removal first, the accelerator pedal requires removal next ( 2 x 10mm bolts) the fusebox has many plugs and these need all unplugging and then the 10mm bolts will be clear to see holding the fusebox in, there should be 3 in total but most times there will only be two.

 

When you pull the fuse box clear there is still some plugs to disconnect on the rear, once these are done it will come clear for you to see the relay to check/ change it.

 

Good luck

 

Jeff TT

 

 

 

Thank you for such a detailed response.

 

Once i get to the relay how can i test?

Hi, I also found it easier if you undo the bonnet release cable... (another two bolts)...

 

when doing this also check the earths/ground.

 

I think the same coloured relays are interchangeable, and I'm sure someone will have some spare on here....

Edited July 2, 201213 yr by Medallion Man

Will give it a go once it stops raining and keep you guys posted.

Ive taken the fuse box out and can see the relays. Now what can i do to test the relays. I havent got a spare working one to interchange.

Ive taken the fuse box out and can see the relays. Now what can i do to test the relays. I havent got a spare working one to interchange.

check them, the ones the same colour are the same (I'm sure, but good to get a second opinion).... move them around or take/swap one form the engine bay fuse box, see if the problem moves as well..

Hi, I also found it easier if you undo the bonnet release cable... (another two bolts)...

 

 

 

Top man clean forgot about that!! the relay your looking to test is the larger blue one next ( almost) to the smaller blue one, if you look close on the fusebox you will see it is marked up as accessory.

 

Jeff

Edited July 4, 201213 yr by JeffTT

the relay your looking to test is the larger blue one next ( almost) to the smaller blue one, if you look close on the fusebox you will see it is marked up as accessory.

 

Jeff

 

Hey Jeff, can you confirm if the the same coloured relays are interchangeable?

Same colours are interchangeable...i asked nissan.

 

My accessory circuit works...thanks guys.

 

But my wipers dont.

 

On the fuse box front pic above...the m5 plug which is the plug on the bottom left is empty. Can someone check to confirm it is empty just incase i forgot to put aplug in.

Just to add rear wipers work and water does. Just not front wipers

Changed fuses...all working now.

 

Thank you all.

 

Will post pics of my car as soon as paint job is done.

This is a good thread - I have the same problem I think, so will be doing the fix detailed above at the weekend. Had to drive home today with the left hand side of the dash not illuminated - including the speedo! Had to wait for the street lamps to tell me how fast I was going! And the air con and wipers have stopped working..

I have had this intermittent fault for a few months now, no front wipers, no blower, no clock, no mirror control and i researched and this thread came up.

 

It failed completely and so yesterday i took out my drivers seat and took the steering wheel off, bit extreme but it's not a pleasant job.

 

Information in this thread is of course correct, torch is essential, remove the acc pedal and remove the bonnet release, pull all the multi plugs from the fuse box area and tilt the box and you'll see 2 x blue identical relays, remove both.

 

Go to the main fuse box in the engine bay and remove both blue headlight relays, right and left.

 

Stick the earlier 2 x footwell relays in these positions and turn on your dipped beam, one i expect will not work, find which side and throw that relay as far as you can into a field, swap out probably for the time being the a/c relay, test and put the 2 known working ones back in the footwell.

 

Don't worry about all the plugs they tend to let you know where they go as they bend accordingly.

 

Before all trim is replaced, test and you'll probably find that wipers, etc, are all good again.

 

Replace the 'borrowed' a/c relay in engine fuse box at your leisure.