Electrical Gremlin

[Mistalava]

My '86 GTV6 has me stumped on an electrical problem and I am hoping that wiser minds can give me a hand.

Whats started as an intermittent problem now seems to want to be permanent. Out of the blue, my AC fan, Speedo, Tach and both windows stopped working. I checked #7 fuse and it is fine. The fusebox is clean and not oxidized. I doubt that a relay is the culprit simply because each window has a separate relay and both stopped working at the same time (along with the other function mentioned).

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[sfalfa]

Well, guessing from your description of it starting as intermittent and progressing to permanent, I'd look at the wiring. Specifically if there is maybe a male/female type coupler that's worked its way loose somewhere under the dash. Also - did you just check the fuse visually? Sometimes they look okay but aren't. Try changing it for a known good one just to be sure. Do you have a wiring diagram that you can check to see if there is indeed a common connector that all those systems run through?

[Mistalava]

It turns out that you are spot-on Jeff. When I started the car later this morning I noticed that the tach moved momentarily as did the HVAC fan. I gave the fuse box a soft smack and everything was back. I smacked it again, and everything quit. A bit more physical cajoling and all is good. My suspension is very stiff and I guess it is possible that something worked loose from bumps and potholes over the 10 years I've driven the car since I haven't been poking around under the dash for quite a while.

Thank you for your response.

[FrencheGTV]

Ah yes the wonder of italian electrics. I spent 3 hours one day tracing the wiring diagram and the loom trying to figure out why I had only one parking light and one tail light working. Headlights worked, brakelights but only one parker and one tail. Checked all the grounds and whatnot but couldn't find anything wrong. I knew the bulbs were good as I had swapped them all around and connected straight 12v to them but for the life of me I couldn't get them all to work in the car. Out of frustration I hit the fuse box and hey presto, everything worked. Got hold of the fuse and rotated it a bit and they stopped working again, a bit more and they came back to life. I still don't know why only half the lights worked even thought the fuse was making contact but I haven't had any problems with the lights since.

[Mistalava]

Yes, the full spectrum of joy with electrics. I'd like to blame the Germans, though, since most of the components are Bosch, but then again they did not assemble the car :-)

[sfalfa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mistalava Yes, the full spectrum of joy with electrics. I'd like to blame the Germans, though, since most of the components are Bosch, but then again they did not assemble the car :-)