"MonkeePuzzle" (monkeypuzzle)
06/29/2018 at 11:15 • Filed to: RuqSaq
4
7|
"MonkeePuzzle" (monkeypuzzle)
06/29/2018 at 11:15 • Filed to: RuqSaq | 4
| 7 |
Pics of wires and broken buttons don’t make for very interesting post lead images, so here’s my pupper
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Two days ago I thrashed to complete everything for my complete interior wire harness swap, and then checked and rechecked the essentials and drove the car to work. Well on the way home I was made aware that my brake lights were no longer working. and you NEED brake lights. Es specially when you drive a tin can death trap on the roads with american SUVs and pickups and their inattentive texting drivers.
So last night was spent chasing demons.
I was once told the best way to stay motivated was to complete some small, achievable tasks first. So I chased the non-functional gauge cluster backlights first.
as suspected the new dimmer switch (that has the sunroof and cruise control buttons with it) was non-functional. Easily tested by reconnecting the old one. Having confirmed it was indeed the issue I swapped out the part into the new one so that when I am done with the project I will have the cruise control button I need.
I then disconnected the SRS warning light from the gauge cluster because I won’t be able to solve the missing airbag issue until later. And I might just go the route of aftermarket steering wheel, or JDM airbagless one anyway.
Then it was time to tackle the real issue, non-functional brake lights. My main suspect was the large connector between the main harness I had just swapped in and the small trunk harness that connected the tailights and such.
I knew it was the likely candidate because I already knew its configuration didnt match. On the EX, which is a coupe, the wiring for the rear speakers passes through this connector because the speakers are located behind the rear seats on the rear parcel shelf. On the VX, which is a hatchback, the wiring for the rear speakers branches off before this connector because the speakers are directly beside the rear passengers.
But... that connector is behind a VERY large piece of plastic that is annoying to remove, and you have to take out he rear seats so I hit a few less likely, but also possible candidates first.
brake sensor switch on the pedal? Tested good. not the issue
fuse? the brake and horn share a fuse (WHY!?), and the horn wasnt working. “AHAH!” I thought, GOTCHA!. Nope, the fuse was good (all of them were, as I figured I should just double check them all while I was at it). The non-functional horn was because the connection behind the airbag in the steering wheel was loose. Corrected that too.
bulbs? checked, they’re all good.
Wiring to rear of car? overall good, as the rest of the lights are all working fine.
google? it just said to check all the things I’d already ruled out.
So it was on to my likely candidate. I tore apart half the rear of the car, and there was that connector, ayup the pin-outs didn’t match.
I found a good ground on the car, jammed one end of my multi-metre into that, and then test each wire with my foot on and then off the brake. It was easy to identify that green/white wire, with 2 brown dots, was the brake wire. And when comparing the other side of the connector that it was going to the wrong spot.
De-pinned the connector, shuffled things around. Tested all the lights (which at midnight is tricky as everyone is asleep. I had to setup my cell phone to point a the rear of the car, film the lights, then go pump the brakes, then come back and review the video).
Everything now tests good. I’ll have to sort out the speaker wiring at some point, so I’ll be back at this connector again, but for now the bluetooth speaker jammed into my empty radio DIN slot is doing all my music duties until I get the door internals swapped over.
Ok, now the car is drivable again. Time to get the donor car’s wiring put back together and running so I can move onto the engine swapping.
benjrblant
> MonkeePuzzle
06/29/2018 at 11:18 |
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Yay! Fixing things!
CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
> MonkeePuzzle
06/29/2018 at 11:20 |
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Nice!
If it were me, I would have set that thing on fire out of frustration long ago. That being said, with me doing wiring, it would probably have set itself on fire before I could.
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MonkeePuzzle
> CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
06/29/2018 at 11:22 |
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there were a few times over the last week that I did a little tally of the cost so far, what I could likely sell it all for in its current state, and did a worst case scenario calculation.
I’d say worst case I’d be out $3k... and I was ok with losing $3k :D
But I’ve persevered , and wiring-wise I’ve come out the other side barely bruised.
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> MonkeePuzzle
06/29/2018 at 11:22 |
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I bet you’re having nightmares of getting snagged by the wires and dragged in, right?
That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
> MonkeePuzzle
06/29/2018 at 11:23 |
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Your dog looks like a black version of my dog, Chewie. I actually wanted a black version of Chewie, I was literally going to name it Black Chewie.
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MonkeePuzzle
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
06/29/2018 at 11:26 |
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no, my nightmares (or rather the overly active brain that wasn’t letting me sleep) was this:
the thought that somewhere in the mountain of wires I had just transplanted was a small nick that was grounding the circuit and ruining the whole plan and that I was destined to spend months with a multimetre checking every connection everywhere
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MonkeePuzzle
> That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
06/29/2018 at 11:28 |
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at least Chewie is easy to photograph. In every picture I take of Zoe you cannot see her face. Her fur is so very very black my phone can’t get any detail. So a lot of colour, brightness, and contrast balance have to be done to make here appear as anything more than a furry blotch on the landscape