regularJJ Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 Could really use some advice here, I suck with electrical issues. Taillights, console lamp, license lamp do not work at all. Plus console-brakewarninglight is permanently on and seat belt warning doesnt work. I have checked all the fuses 3+ times and the multimeter shows no loss in voltage. The ground connections have all been replaced cleaned and double-backed up. Fusable link looks like shit but has been cleaned and shows no loss in voltage w multimeter. Lightbulbs are good. All plugs under the dash are clean and firmly plugged in. The interior has been kept very clean, rust free and absent moisture damage, and all visible wires in the harness look fine. The only place I havent checked is the combination switch, thought I should ask for advice before I remove the lower dash assembly and steering wheel in case there is something Im forgetting. ~10k miles ago the brake light came on and did not ever go out. Bought new DiehardGold battery and replaced pretty much all the ground wires + the positive batt wire about5k miles ago, and when i started the car for the first time after that the seat belt warning light/alarm came on which I had never heard before. Then it stopped working again. ~ 1 month ago/3k miles the console lamp went out, then came back on after a few minutes, did that 3 or 4 times before it went out and never came back on. Im assuming the tail/lic. lamp was also going out w the dash lamp and I just did not notice until the police pulled me over. Quote Link to comment
regularJJ Posted November 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Still trying to track down the electrical issue in my Sentra. I found this weird thing called the 'Illumi Cont Unit' , its a small black box connected to a 3 wire plug and a potentiometer. Turning the pot has never seemed to do anything. All I can find online about this thingamajig is a couple people with Suburus who've had similar issues as me with several system lights going out at once and also unable to find the problem. My crappy Haynes manual does not have the full schematic and I don't see the Illumi cont unit in any of the electrical diagrams. So, wtf is an illumination control unit? Is this supposed to be a dimmer or something? Could it be the cause of my tail, lic. lamp and dash console lamp going out at once? Quote Link to comment
regularJJ Posted November 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 Update: Found a body ground in the schematic that connects to the tail section fuel pump and lights. Was very oxidized and replacing it/doubling up the ground did not solve the problem. Also redid the entire engine compartment ground again looking for mistakes and found nothing. Dash coming off soon I guess. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 Check the emergency hand brake lever switch be sure it shuts off in the down/off position. Some brake master cylinders have a low fluid level switch in them. Check your master cylinder fluid level. All Sentra are equipped with a dual braking system. If there is a loss of hydraulic pressure in either one, a sensor detects this imbalance and turns the brake light on, on the dash. When you turn your headlights on, are the dash lights working in front of you? A console is usually referring to a feature on the transmission tunnel around the shifter area. The dash is where all the gauges are. Are the front marker lights working? Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 No it cannot cause those symptoms It is the dash panel light dimmer. It can only cause problems with the dash lights. Can't cause problems with the exterior lights. my tail, lic. lamp and dash console lamp going out at once The fuse going out could cause that. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 Still trying to track down the electrical issue in my Sentra. I found this weird thing called the 'Illumi Cont Unit' , its a small black box connected to a 3 wire plug and a potentiometer. Turning the pot has never seemed to do anything. All I can find online about this thingamajig is a couple people with Suburus who've had similar issues as me with several system lights going out at once and also unable to find the problem. My crappy Haynes manual does not have the full schematic and I don't see the Illumi cont unit in any of the electrical diagrams. So, wtf is an illumination control unit? Is this supposed to be a dimmer or something? Could it be the cause of my tail, lic. lamp and dash console lamp going out at once? You already have a post on electrical problems so I merged into this one. The dash, rear and front marker lights are all from the same source but use different sub harnesses. If the front lights are out also then I would say that the fuse or the source is the problem, perhaps even the light switch.Don't trust a fuse just by looking at it. replace or swap with a known good one. Quote Link to comment
regularJJ Posted November 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 Check the emergency hand brake lever switch be sure it shuts off in the down/off position. Some brake master cylinders have a low fluid level switch in them. Check your master cylinder fluid level. All Sentra are equipped with a dual braking system. If there is a loss of hydraulic pressure in either one, a sensor detects this imbalance and turns the brake light on, on the dash. When you turn your headlights on, are the dash lights working in front of you? A console is usually referring to a feature on the transmission tunnel around the shifter area. The dash is where all the gauges are. Are the front marker lights working? Yes all the front lights work, and I meant the dash lamp. I did try swapping the fuses even though they look good and it didnt help. The brake light definitely does not turn off when the E brake is all the way down, its been like that for quite a long time. Probably not a related issue. Will check the master cylinder level. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 Yes all the front lights work, and I meant the dash lamp. I did try swapping the fuses even though they look good and it didnt help. This is good news as this means the power/fuse and lighting switch is ok... has to be ok if the front is working. Are the brake and signal lights working at the back? If not, then I would suspect a bad ground back there. If they are working try un-plugging the lights at the back from the harness that goes to the rear. Sometimes just plugging them in cleans a bad contact inside the plug. The brake light definitely does not turn off when the E brake is all the way down, its been like that for quite a long time. Probably not a related issue. Will check the master cylinder level. There is a switch somewhere on the E-brake, make sure it opens when the lever is down to shut off the light. Quote Link to comment
regularJJ Posted December 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Problem solved. What a pain in the ass. I had no idea the running lights run through the radio on this &%$#ing car. The connection was bad. Brake light turned off, seat belt warning light/sound work, all running lights work. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 84 Sentra running lights are not supposed to run through the radio. A previous owner may have rewired it. But in any case, glad to hear it's now working. Quote Link to comment
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