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Technical => Electrical Tech => Topic started by: jpc647 on February 04, 2011, 08:35:26 PM

Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jpc647 on February 04, 2011, 08:35:26 PM
I got into my car tonight, and I noticed part of my radio didn't like up. It's only the part that displays the station. It still works as if I shine a flashlight at it, it is visible. Now I also noticed my left turn signal does not light up on the dash, but they work on the outside of the car.

I checked all the fuses pertaining to the radio, cluster, and signals, and swapped a flasher to no avail. Suggestions?
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: hypostang on February 04, 2011, 08:36:39 PM
Sounds like you lost two bulbs at the same time
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: CoogarXR on February 04, 2011, 08:40:26 PM
Quote from: hypostang;351832
Sounds like you lost two bulbs at the same time

X2 - Just a coincidence, you blew two different bulbs at once. Neither of which are super easy to change, heh...
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jpc647 on February 04, 2011, 08:48:01 PM
What are the odds, lol. How can one change the radio one? That's probably easier.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: CoogarXR on February 04, 2011, 08:54:42 PM
Pull the radio out, take the top off, and there is a tiny bulb inside. Not real hard, just time consuming.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jpc647 on February 04, 2011, 08:57:47 PM
Quote from: CoogarXR;351837
Pull the radio out, take the top off, and there is a tiny bulb inside. Not real hard, just time consuming.

Radio out... stay tuned.

Well I changed in another radio, and it lit up fine. Which is "good news". Now it sucks because the whole dash has to come apart  to fix the blinker.. That really irks me. Those bulbs are less than 2 years old, lol.

I was going to install my sequential lights tonight, but the car had other plans... Grr...... end rant.

Thanks guys, you were right.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: vinnietbird on February 05, 2011, 01:44:30 AM
Hey,pulling the cluster is easy stuff. By now,we all should have that down to about 2 or 3 minutes max.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jpc647 on February 05, 2011, 09:03:24 AM
Quote from: vinnietbird;351875
Hey,pulling the cluster is easy stuff. By now,we all should have that down to about 2 or 3 minutes max.

Um? Really? There are like 8 bezels to come off and stuff, lol. The only good thing is with the floor shift now, I don't have to try to align the thing for the column shifter.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: hypostang on February 05, 2011, 09:08:36 AM
Quote from: jpc647;351900
Um? Really? There are like 8 bezels to come off and stuff, lol. The only good thing is with the floor shift now, I don't have to try to align the thing for the column shifter.

Two words  "electric screwdriver "
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: vinnietbird on February 05, 2011, 12:46:13 PM
One word........"practice". I've had that dash apart so many times I got quick at it.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jpc647 on February 05, 2011, 02:15:02 PM
Quote from: hypostang;351902
Two words  "electric screwdriver "

Yeah, I know. Makes it a little faster. lol

Quote from: vinnietbird;351932
One word........"practice". I've had that dash apart so many times I got quick at it.

Oh I've done it a quite a few times too, but it doesn't make me anymore excited to do it.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: vinnietbird on February 05, 2011, 05:52:21 PM
Better than a heater core.................
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: sarjxxx on February 05, 2011, 09:42:16 PM
2 words: Practice + screwgun;)

And I'll tell you what else.... I changed ALL those ridiculous hex head screws to the phillip head screws, the same as hold the dash bezels on. That makes things a whole friggen lot quicker. Next time your at the yard, pull all those phillip screws out of all the bezels on the cars. I've got like a stash of em. And they're all a universal thread so they fit like every  screw in the car lol.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jcassity on February 06, 2011, 08:16:46 PM
Quote from: vinnietbird;351932
One word........"practice". I've had that dash apart so many times I got quick at it.

 
well,, you'd run circles around me,,
I cant do it that fast,, maybe if I had my game face on then 15 minutes job complete but not 3.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jcassity on February 06, 2011, 08:18:13 PM
Quote from: sarjxxx;351982
2 words: Practice + screwgun;)

And I'll tell you what else.... I changed ALL those ridiculous hex head screws to the phillip head screws, the same as hold the dash bezels on. That makes things a whole friggen lot quicker. Next time your at the yard, pull all those phillip screws out of all the bezels on the cars. I've got like a stash of em. And they're all a universal thread so they fit like every  screw in the car lol.



yep,,
did that on the TFI module as well and a couple other areas.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jpc647 on February 06, 2011, 08:21:08 PM
Quote from: vinnietbird;351956
Better than a heater core.................

Touche. That it is vinnie. If my replacement heater core blows in the next 4 years(It's been in there 1), my car is going to the junkyard. I'm doing it again, lol.

Quote from: sarjxxx;351982
And I'll tell you what else.... I changed ALL those ridiculous hex head screws to the phillip head screws, the same as hold the dash bezels on. That makes things a whole friggen lot quicker. Next time your at the yard, pull all those phillip screws out of all the bezels on the cars. I've got like a stash of em. And they're all a universal thread so they fit like every  screw in the car lol.

That is actually not a bad idea. I have a parts car, so I think I may have enough normal screws to do that. I figured they wouldn't fit/never really gave it much though. next time it's apart, I'm definitely doing that.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: sarjxxx on February 06, 2011, 09:39:34 PM
Quote from: jpc647;352119
...That is actually not a bad idea. I have a parts car, so I think I may have enough normal screws to do that. I figured they wouldn't fit/never really gave it much though. next time it's apart, I'm definitely doing that.

Quote from: jcassity;352115
yep,,
did that on the TFI module as well and a couple other areas.

It definitely makes things much less of a hassle;)

...do you have a habit of removing your TFI module all the time? I hear so much about them on here, and problems with them. I've never even touched mine...Hell, I don't even know exactly what it does...:rolleyes:
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jpc647 on February 07, 2011, 12:21:52 PM
Well both bulbs were indeed blown. I'm hoping they both naturally wore out at the same time and something wasn't overloaded. We shall see. Thanks guys.

Now to fix the sequentials.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jcassity on February 07, 2011, 11:58:42 PM
at a certain point i was needing to pull it on the white coug so i made a point to install self tappers.

I had to grind down a socket to get the little hex head ones out...yeah theres a tool for that but I made mine quicker than I could drive out and buy it.

I to mess with things that aint broke so when I dig in and figure out an improvement then I do it.  Normally nothing big or easily seen.
Title: I thought I blew a fuse, but it doesn't appear to be that easy
Post by: jpc647 on February 08, 2011, 08:18:51 AM
Quote from: jcassity;352284
at a certain point i was needing to pull it on the white coug so i made a point to install self tappers.

I had to grind down a socket to get the little hex head ones out...yeah theres a tool for that but I made mine quicker than I could drive out and buy it.

I to mess with things that aint broke so when I dig in and figure out an improvement then I do it.  Normally nothing big or easily seen.

Yea. Installing the universal bulbs was a little "tricky". But my problem turned out to be I needed to ground the unit to each of the two universals. I made a thread about it. If you care to see it, it's here: http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?30687-Sequential-Lights&highlight=