Electrical woes

[gorgath]

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone have had this problem before.

I am having an electrical problem which I need to trace and fix it because I failed on my rego checked today. My right side (driver side) parker lights on both front and back, my TCL, fog lights (both), plate number light, the lamp sign on the cluster (both low beam and high beam) are all not working.

I have already checked all the bulbs (except the cluster) are good, not busted. Checked every single fuses both in the engine bay and cabin are all good. Checked the connectors of the bulbs and there are all good.

I don't know whatelse to do, other than to think there is a short circuit or lose wire somewhere. I have 1wk to fix this before my refgo expire.

So, does anyone here in Sydney that is car electrician qualified on any member here that could help me out? I will pay for your effor/labour to get this fix.

 

[Xoxide]

I've got the exact same issue with mine currently.
It manifests in a very odd, specific way as you've mentioned. Right hand parkers front and rear, Fog lights (yet driving/turning lights still function), rear plate light and you'll probably also have lost the interior accessories/courtesy light (coin tray light, aircon back light).

Double check your bay fuses again, as I'm finding (9) right rear tail light blowing regularly (but not instantly after changing).
Also note that the left fog lamp fuse is 10A but the right is 20A.

Mostly likely though there is a short in the cabin somewhere I believe.... which could be anything from dodgy aftermarket stereo wiring or spliced in boost controllers / gauges etc from the previous owner.

 

[Scubasteve]

I've had this issue for some time and have seen at least 3 other galants the same. It's not exactly a fix but might help you get by for your rego. I bypassed all interior lights to another power source. Disconnected both front and rear Parkers and bridged power from the left to the right. Be sure to disconect the original power wires and fuse as the short is on the power wire that runs to the rear somewhere in the dash. Hope this makes some sense as I've had a few turkeys. Not sure about the number plate lights tho

 

[naughtika]

just wondering, when you checked all the fuses, did you pull them out and also visually checked them?

i had similar issue before with my headlight, I guess mine wasn't that severe as yours but whenever I checked for continuity. it was all good.. but it would never power or turn on my lights..

i replaced the fuse without checking and it worked.. so i got confused and visually checked and compared the fuse against a new one and the 10amp fuse was like 'hanging on its last string/thread'

 

[gorgath]

Cheers all for the replies, appreciated it.

My first thought would be bridge and tap a wire from the left to right which was the same suggestion from you Scubasteve as it worked when I was doing volt testing.

I never pulled the fuses really when checking it, so Christian insists that I do visual check this time so I did. And there it was, busted fuse at number 8 which is exactly what Xoxide said. So my parker lights, and fog lights are now in working order.

The only one left issue to fix is the TCL light. When I turn the key to "ON" the TCL OFF light on the dash comes on which it goes away once you start the car.

When I turn the TCL switch to Off, that TCL OFF light does not comes on so I don't know if the TCL is off or not.

 

[Xoxide]

Glad to hear hopefully it was just an isolated trip as that circuit Is a nightmare to test for shorts.

I might go back and pull every cabin fuse by hand to check as I only did a continuity test. I'm 90% sure my headaches are caused by the horrific cabin splicing done by the original owner..

 

[Tophler]

Sometimes the best way to find the problem is pull the entire interior of the car out one weekend and inspect all the wiring, could be a case of someone putting a self drilling screw through a cable somewhere or a wire bring crushed by some trim or seats or other metal components. As an electrician I find that 90% of faults can be found by visual inspection, it's only a small percentage that is only able to be detected by testing

 

[sideburns]

I'm a fully qualified auto elec where are you located?I could come out next week possibly if your interested?pm me