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Interior lights faint glow? No indicators. 

 

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 Post subject: Interior lights faint glow? No indicators.
Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 11:45 pm 
Oompa Loompa
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Age: 54

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Ride: 98 Fairlane Concorde 4.0

Location: Sunshine Coast
QLD, Australia

My son has an AU S1 XR6, a month or two ago I pulled a defective alarm from it. It was straight forward, I only had to cut it away from the loom, the loom was never chopped so it was simple removal, not complex rerunning of wiring.

The car still starts, but the smartlock remote wont lock the car. The horn just beeps at me suggesting a door is ajar. The interior light starts off brightly, then fades down as it should, but it stays on slightly. Its an LED (has never been an issue before). Smartlock remote and interior lights worked perfectly until I pulled the alarm. Indicators dont work and neither do the hazards.

There is a relay in the dash fuse panel which even with the ignition off, is still active. The relay is the middle one, its the one that in the diagram I have says its for power windows, which this car does not have. I pulled the relay and refitted it to check it was running, and I can feel it clicking in my hand. If I pull it, and then just touch it to the connectors and wiggle it to make and break contact it clicks each time it contacts. If plugged in properly it stays active, and gets pretty hot. I have no idea what this relay is for.

When I reconnected the BEM and put the ignition in the acc position, the BEM clicks every 5 or so seconds. It seems to click like a relay clicking on, then maybe 1/2 a second later it clicks off (sounds like that to me). 5 or so seconds later, it does it again. It definitely feels like its the BEM where the click is as I can feel it slightly as it clicks off. This is happening independently of the relay mentioned above. It still does it with the relay removed.


If it helps, the BEM is olive green.


Can anyone help, Im at a loss.

 

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1978 XC Fairmont GXL Update 5.8 with 218 Cam @ 50

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 Post subject: Re: Interior lights faint glow? No indicators.
Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 9:04 am 
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I would double the bem is plugged in properly, otherwise was there any wires you may have left bear that could be shorting??
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 Post subject: Re: Interior lights faint glow? No indicators.
Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:25 pm 
Oompa Loompa
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Location: sydney
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My LED interior light stays on faintly 24/7 then when the key is turned on it lights up normally, i don't know if thats a problem or not
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 Post subject: Re: Interior lights faint glow? No indicators.
Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 7:58 pm 
Oompa Loompa
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Ride: 98 Fairlane Concorde 4.0

Location: Sunshine Coast
QLD, Australia

TROYMAN wrote:
I would double the bem is plugged in properly, otherwise was there any wires you may have left bear that could be shorting??

I didnt unplug the BEM until after I had an issue. Unplugging one of the plugs (theres 3 I think) it shut off the interior lights so I dont think its not plugged in properly causing it. But its worth a try.

The short, now thats the million dollar question I didnt want to hear. I took the drivers seat out to pull the alarm, its still out so I will lay down under the dash again and grab the looms and shake them about to see if the problem changes at all.

The only other thing I can think of is the bonnet switch. Its still under the bonnet but not plugged into anything, the wire stops near the booster. Does the standard smartlock system have a bonnet switch?

TheUte wrote:
My LED interior light stays on faintly 24/7 then when the key is turned on it lights up normally, i don't know if thats a problem or not

The LEDs previously switched off completely. Theres one in the dome, one in the boot, and the two reading lights in the rear which are all blue leds. The two map lights are white leds. They all work as they should, its just the three associated with the door lights which dont completely go out.

 

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1978 XC Fairmont GXL Update 5.8 with 218 Cam @ 50

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 Post subject: Re: Interior lights faint glow? No indicators.
Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 9:57 pm 
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The relay is the power window relay and if the doors are opened it'll stay energised for 40 seconds... If the door isn't it'll stay energised for an hour... Relays do get hot... They're a large electromagnet...

Your led light stays on by chance... It is transistor/triac driven to get the diming... It is possible they still conduct some small current when off... You don't notice it with a globe because little current won't illuminate it... LEDs do illuminate on near no current... I fixed my boot light by adding in a diode... The door ajar in the cluster was illuminating the light softly... It would have done the same with a globe but people would have never noticed... On au the power wire turns off after 5 mins of door inactivity to protect the battery in case you leave the boot popped or the door ajar...

Most alarms cut into wiring as well as splice into wiring... If the alarm came with door locking feature the door locking wiring would have been cut to be joined to the aftermarket crap... So it'll need to be joined back up... It's possible the door wiring has been cut to allow for the aftermarket alarm as well... Depends what the alarm needed...

What you need my friend is a wiring diagram and to start testing wiring continuity to see what isn't connected anymore and to start joining s**t back up... Proving the circuits are present at the bem plugs... Could turn out to be a bloody nightmare yet...

Cheers,
Tim

 

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 Post subject: Re: Interior lights faint glow? No indicators.
Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:41 pm 
Oompa Loompa
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Age: 54

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Ride: 98 Fairlane Concorde 4.0

Location: Sunshine Coast
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TimmyA wrote:
The relay is the power window relay and if the doors are opened it'll stay energised for 40 seconds... If the door isn't it'll stay energised for an hour... Relays do get hot... They're a large electromagnet...

Your led light stays on by chance... It is transistor/triac driven to get the diming... It is possible they still conduct some small current when off... You don't notice it with a globe because little current won't illuminate it... LEDs do illuminate on near no current... I fixed my boot light by adding in a diode... The door ajar in the cluster was illuminating the light softly... It would have done the same with a globe but people would have never noticed... On au the power wire turns off after 5 mins of door inactivity to protect the battery in case you leave the boot popped or the door ajar...

Most alarms cut into wiring as well as splice into wiring... If the alarm came with door locking feature the door locking wiring would have been cut to be joined to the aftermarket crap... So it'll need to be joined back up... It's possible the door wiring has been cut to allow for the aftermarket alarm as well... Depends what the alarm needed...

What you need my friend is a wiring diagram and to start testing wiring continuity to see what isn't connected anymore and to start joining s**t back up... Proving the circuits are present at the bem plugs... Could turn out to be a bloody nightmare yet...

Cheers,
Tim

But I dont have power windows. Thats what got me, why is it even there, and why is it doing anything at all?

The interior light never goes out fully, not even overnight so that makes me wonder given in AU the pwr cuts after 5 mins. It used to shut off fully after 30 seconds, or when I hit the remote to lock the doors, that was until I pulled the alarm.

I would have thought the doors would lock via smartlock as normal, and the alarm was simply in that. When i removed the alarm it was simple enough and no wires went anywhere I couldnt explain. The only odd thing was the sensor or switch that was mounted to the column. The rest was I think one box under the dash and the siren/module under the bonnet.

The alarm was one of the standard type fitment to Fords, but wasnt Ford or Tickford, but was the same. I cant recall its name now and I tossed it. I remember looking it up and finding it was a common alarm for AU's. I believe there was a thread here about replacing the batteries in them. I was going to change the batteries in it, but its condition made me decide to pull it instead. Extractors had melted the body of it a little and distorted it, meaning it would let in moisture if not water.

The lack of indicators does indicate something is missing though. They also worked fine prior to alarm removal. Im wondering if the lack of indicator flash when I hit the remote is the reason the car wont lock too. Maybe its in there, the indicators flashed with the alarm, but they also do so with smartlock. On my NL Concorde, the lights flash, and the indicators.

I hate electrical gremlins. And temps are set to be in the 40's over the weekend. Something tells me my temp will be way hotter.

 

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1978 XC Fairmont GXL Update 5.8 with 218 Cam @ 50

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