Wiring EU Taillights/TS Problem

[Villeman]

Hello everyone,

 

i have a turn signal problem driving me mad. Only thing left is that it´s the EU spec taillights. Plugs are fitting but no turnsignal. Tested switch, relay, fuse, Harzad switch.... Only that the hazard switch is from another year (other plug in 77 than 75). So far I think its wired in correctly though.

So, anybody did a Eu taillight conversion and can explain to me what to change how?

 

thanks a million,

Richard

[SteveJ]

Please provide more details.

Is the light coming on but not blinking?

Do your hazard lights work?

Are the lights not blinking in the front, rear, or both?

[Villeman]

So:

Hazards on --> front+Rear static on

Hazards off --> is all dark..

Combination switch has no effect.

That said i have EU taillights, guess they may be wired wrong...

Somebody worked a 77 switch in but it looks properly wired. Everything was disassembled and multimetered, Relay was bidged to rule it out.

[SteveJ]

Is this a North American spec car?

[Villeman]

Yes, thats why I assume it must be that. I had tested it before with US light, but maybe at that time the combinationswitch was still corroded. Has anybody ever made them work? I know on a 240 you have to rewire them, was hoping i could skip that part ^^

[SteveJ]

The 280Z did not combine the functionality of the brake light with the turn signal, so you wouldn't need those modifications.

Let's break this down. First get a copy of the factory service manual (FSM). I believe you can find it in the downloads section.

Page BE-10 has a break-out of the turn signal wiring. Page BE-11 has the hazard lights.

Please note that the hazard switch will break the turn signal circuit. The turn signal flasher unit is a good place to test. Unplug the flasher and see if you have 12 VDC to ground at the green wire with the white stripe. If you do, plug the flasher unit back in and measure voltage at the white wire in the dash harness where the turn signal switch plugs into it. That should also be 12 VDC to ground if the previous measurement was good. 

For the hazard lights not flashing, I would just start by changing the flasher unit. Be careful if you have to use a 3 prong flasher unit as those require you to run a ground wire in addition to the connection in the dash harness. Those units are also picky about line and load side of the flasher unit.

[Villeman]

iirc i have 12VDC at the relay, then I bidged the relay and got 12V at the switch, but still no lights at all. Pretty sure its not "just" the flasher. Odd part, we got the relay to switch (crossed some connections) but still lights werent on. Maybe they wired the Hazard switch in wrongly....

 

(BE12 on 76 cars, like i said, got a 77 switch, should be the same though. Maybe not....)

Edited May 3, 2018 by Villeman

[SteveJ]

I believe the connectors are different between the 76 and 77 turn signal switches. Please post photos of the connector on the turn signal switch and the connector in the body harness. Try to get the wire colors, too.

Also, are you using incandescent or LED bulbs in the car?

[Villeman]

Yes, they are. But I checked the 76 and 77 wiring plans and it seems properly wired in. No idea though why they changed it. All switches in the car were perfect. Maybe they switched green and green/yellow since it became identical ^^

[SteveJ]

Now you have me confused. What 77 switches did you put in your 76? How did you get the incompatible connectors to connect? 

[Villeman]

That was the ONE manipulation on the whole car apparently. There is a 77 switch + connector in the car. thats why i dont spot it as an error source first. But the switch should be the same once the wires are correctly connected. Thats about the only error source left if its not the taillights causing the problem. You are sure 280z taillight don´t light brake+turnlight when using the turnsignal?

[SteveJ]

23 minutes ago, Villeman said:

That was the ONE manipulation on the whole car apparently. There is a 77 switch + connector in the car. thats why i dont spot it as an error source first. But the switch should be the same once the wires are correctly connected. Thats about the only error source left if its not the taillights causing the problem. You are sure 280z taillight don´t light brake+turnlight when using the turnsignal?

So, is the turn signal switch a 76 or 77 switch? I see that the hazard switch is for a 77.  Do you see any splices in the harness where the 77 connector(s) was(were) put in? Please note that the wire colors in the wiring diagrams applies ONLY to the wire harness. Sometimes components have wire colors that differ from the wire harness.

I have disassembled and reassembled both types of switches. https://fiddlingwithzcars.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/late-280z-turn-signal-switch/ https://fiddlingwithzcars.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/turn-signal-repair/ You can see they are designed completely differently. There are only 3 wires going to the 280Z turn signal switch: positive 12 VDC, left and right. On the 240Z there are 6 wires.