Dean_Fuller

My sons 80 model has had none stop gauge and buzzer/lights issues from day one. The other day I was pulling and cleaning relays when one would not come out. After a couple minutes it gave way and as I pulled RUST DUST came out of the panel at the tab locations. The tabs on the relay and others were rusty. I cleaned what I could and replaced. Our driveway where we live is VERY steep. There was always dampness in the REAR passenger floor board. I deduced that the car had a leak...not coolant....no smell of coolant. It must be rain water. Called my good buddy Roger at 928'sRus and talked about it. Ended up replacing the fuse panel with a good used panel and some seals in the firewall and what do ya know!!! This fixed ALL dash problems that included erratic gauge function, mystery buzzing and warning lights. Just thought I would share. With these old cars all it takes is a little water over time to corrode a fuse panel...and it LOOKED fine from the outside.

Orest

Glad to hear that it got fixed. Another source of water is the drains for the sunroof. I also had water on the floor boards and it was as a result of leaves in the forward drains as well as along the channels in the hatch between the body and hatch itself.

Dean_Fuller

I hear ya...my sons 80 is a non sunroof car so that eliminated that in my case.

linderpat

please share exactly how the fix to the seals worked. What seals, and how did you replace them? I may have a similar issue...TIA

Emickelsen

Very interesting. I have some querks on my dash as well. Not as bad as yours, tach goes dead with brights on, no high beam indicator light, fog lights not working. I've taken the pod off enough times to be confident everything is ok there. I know the bulbs are good. I was concidering all the relays/fuses next. I have already pulled, checked, and cleaned every fuse.

So, Dean, was it hard to swap out the panel? I would imagine it was a bit of a nightmare to keep all the plugs and relays in order. I think this is worth a try. Thanks for the info.

Dean_Fuller

Very easy to swap out. The bank of wire harness plugs are marked starting with A on far left. I loaded the new panel with all new correct fuses after cleaning the contact points, transfered relays that were good and added a few that were not showing rust. Just a few minutes in the floorboard is all. Most of the work can be done on a table top. By the sound of it this may very well be your fix as well.

Dean_Fuller

Hi Ed,
Actually I'm still in the process of fixing the seals. Until it is done the car stays out of the rain. I hope to have all this finished in the next few days and get back to you...hopefully with some pics.

linderpat

Thanks Dean - I'll be watching closely! I think this is the source of my leak too. Not a big leak, but one that brings in moisture to an area where it is real bad!

Dean_Fuller

Yes...this leak is not bad. BUT...its an OLD car and MANY days in the rain or getting washed. You don't need much to get corrosion started big time.

Steve Tacheny

Hi

Just an FYI. I had the rear most clip where the screw goes in to hold the heater fan rust out and it caused a water leak similer to yours that also ran down on the fuse panel. Ended up removing the heater fan to replace the clip. This is the screw that goes up into the fan motor from inside the car above the package tray. Hope this helps

Steve

Emickelsen

So, when swaping out my relays, theres a few i would like to check. I probably should have searched this first, but if you jump the proper terminals and you hear the click, does that mean it'a a good relay? Is that all they really do?

Steve Tacheny

The clicking you hear is nothing more than the contacts closing. If the contacts are bad it won't pass current even if they are closed. Best is to swap w/ a known good relay

Steve

Alan

No - clicking is required - but it doesn't mean the relay is good. The click indicates the solenoid actually moved the contact set. However the contact set can still be gunked up enough that is has very high resistance and will not switch well or perhaps even appears open circuit.

The common reasons for the relay to not click are that the contacts are stuck (~welded) together - stuck on(87) or stuck off(87a) - due to contact arcing. The coil windings could also have failed - but this is quite rare.

Reasons for poor contact connections can also be contact arcing (high contact resistance) or corrosion from humididy or water (high contact resistance or open circuit).

You can buy relay testers - but they are very expensive and you could buy >100 regular realys for the same price - most of them cannot test any of the complex relays (and certainly none can test all of them...)

A relay 'break-out box' is actually the best method to see what a relay is doing while in circuit - but very few people make them. This lets you plug into the relay socket and remotely mount the relay and probe the pins while it is actually operating - to see whats going on.

I have never see a double type (though you could use 2) and the ones I have seen have not included the small corner pins...

Alan

Emickelsen

DAMN you guys are smart!!!! Thats great stuff. Thank you very much

Steve Tacheny

I think I speak for all when I say "You're Welcome"

Steve