Lighting issues, no tail lights!!!

[Matt&Kim]

Hey all! So our Deli has been having some issues lately...

Over the last few months, occasionally our dash and parking lights (markers, tail) have been not coming on with the headlights.

Usually a few clicks of the headlight switch will get it going again but last week this won't work any more.

In order to drive at night i need to have my fog lights on, as that's the only way to run these other lights.

I have checked all the fuses under the dash on the drivers side, other than one fuse with a white-ish corroded build-up i would say they are all ok.

I've searched the forum on this topic, and short of replacing my combo switch, was wondering if there are any other tricks to try, also can anyone tell me the location of the main fuse panel, there must be another set, however i cant find it!!! (searched the engine bay....?)

Thanks for any tips!!! Cheers yall! happy new year ;)

[thedjjack]

Headlight combi switch is going:

Rebuild switch (post on this somewhere) $

Replace combi switch $$$

Rewire with dash mounted switch and floor dimmer switch:

I think likely headlight switch...

Personally I would wire in dash board switch for headlights like the one used in hot rods...like a $25.00 switch with built in dimer and circuit breaker...combi switches are weak links and not worth replacing..



http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-V-Volt-Headl ... 0761759197

[TardisDeli]

hi m & k, there used to be another L300 is smithers, who was very expert at delica stuff, maybe he's still around (5 years ago).

Sounds like the combo switch for sure, if you can fix it by joggling the switch. All the fuses for lights are by your knee, on the wall at the base of the steering wheel.

The only other fuse related to lights is the fusible link wire above the battery, which is a little box about 2 inches wide with 4 wires snaking in and out, each of those wires is an exact size guage to allow it to melt before the wiring that connects to it can catch fire. But each of the 4 links covers about a geographical quarter of the van, so you would have huge problems ie no lights and no horn.

As thedjjack says, mount a manual pull switch instead, and bypass the entire DRL Daytime running lights system, you just gotta remember to turn on your headlights all by yourself, tough. We installed mine by the cigarette lighter on the dash, to left of steering wheel. Pull switch has 2 settings, pull halfway for running lights, and all the way for headlights, and just use the combo switch for highbeams and turn signals and wipers. If you wanna get fancy, jay installed relays for the highbeams and turns signals and wipers so the combo switch merely sends a small power signal to each of those 3 items, but the full power to run those items is done via the relay itself, which takes the strain off the combo switch. Any 12 volt expert can do this, maybe a retired boat wiring guy, or a ham radio operator (they can build radios, they can wire headlights).

The combo switch itself often fails at the base of the stalk inside (remove steering wheel to remove the combo), where a small plastic doo hickey with a ball shaped end moves when you push or pull the switch. This plastic thingy cracks in half so the 2 bits are held in place by the housing, but they move about a little bit so they don't always get a good contact.

We actually installed a whole separate set of headlights on the bambi bars (just metal worm type screw strapped in place), with their own switch (bought as a cheapo $20 cdn tire kit meant for wiring up as an accesory on your pickup truck bumper). So in case the combo switch totally died I could still drive home; This in combo with the pull switch system I mentioned before which gives you running lights, but you have no turn signals.

Used switches are avail, but beware to buy from good source as you have no way of testing it till you've paid for and installed it. New ones are expensive.

Jay has fixed this on many L300's so if you have an expert, you can phone Jay for them to have a technical chat.

Cheers, Christine.

[salmostrom]

My van had the same issue. All of a sudden, tail lights and dash lights went out, but head lights still came on. I could, however, get my tail lights and dash light on with my fog light switch, but was blinding folks with them. In the interim, i unplugged the fogs, and was going to investigate the dodgy DRL relay set up. I stumbled onto Falco's combination switch rebuild, and I am back in business! Thanks Falco for an awesome post!!! The switch was gunged up pretty bad, even felt rough to turn, but works like a charm now!
Only took an hour so to do, but took 3 weekends to get it done.....
New babies are cute an fun, but they make all your projects take way more time!!!! Oh well.
Salmo

[strada-caster]

just had the same problem myself. turned out to be a dodgy fusible link not getting proper contact for some reason. it was arcing and caused a little metal/plastic buildup.

simple test. see if you are getting power to the fusible link. if so, try the wire connection under the steering column connecting to the combo switch. do you have power to the large Red/Black wire?. If yes, check out your combo switch as that is next in line. there is a post on here somewhere how to clean it up.

goodluck

[Matt&Kim]

Hey Guys!!!

Haha, i've been in the same boat as salmostrom for a few months, using the fog light switch to get my parking lights and using the combo switch to get my headlights. Fine and dandy, but annoying as this winter was very foggy.

I found Falcos post about cleaning the combo switch and finally took a crack at removing the steering wheel yesterday to take a peek. Worst case scenario I would install a pull switch as recommended. After getting to the switch's circuit board it was clear the contacts were oxidized so i took some fine sandpaper to them and cleaned everything with electrical cleaner. Success!!! While i was in there i cleaned up all the contacts for my horn (which works very well now...hehe)

I put it back together and drove for a few minutes before the steering column began to smoke terribly, cutting our trip short...By now the combo switch was not working at all, no lights.

I took another stab at it today armed with a CT 15$ soldering gun and as suspected had melted a few wires from the circuit board. I reattached them and cleaned some more, added some dielectric grease to everything and it seems to be working fine.

To be honest, I don't know what i did to fix it, because as far as i could tell there was no contact being made between the two long contacts under the board, (the ones connected via the sliding carriage dealy) hence, no parking lights. After i reattached the wires with solder I prodded one lump of solder directly above the shorter of the two contacts, figuring this was my problem spot and it needed to die, and it started working again, with no sparks or smoke this time.

All in all a little tinkering around, some guess work and one blown fuse and I managed to resurrect my combo switch! It was pretty fun actually :)

Thanks for all your help and advice!

[FalcoColumbarius]

In the Combo Switch thread I posted, the stuff (Deoxit) I put on the connexions ~ important part ~ it stops arching between the switches, that would likely have been the source of the smoke.

Falco.

[riverrun]

This an old post but for whatever's it worth, I suggest looking into the DRL (daytime running lights relay) as a possible issue. Vehicles in Canada are required to have driving lights on while on the road so an aftermarket relay is wired into all Delcia L300. I fixed my non-working headlights, running lights, brake lights, clock, interior lights electrical issue by tracking it down to poorly wired DLR relay that had the terminals covered in a powdery blue/green build up. The Nissan relay was wired in behind the left headlight. I cleaned up the corrosion on the relay with lemon juice, q tips, emery cloth, and later used baking soda and water to neutralize the acid. Vinegar would have worked just the same but I was out. I soldiered all wire connections and used heat shrink covers. All is good now. The low-voltage line from the relay was also poorly connected by being loosely wrapped around a partially barred live wire without electrical tape. It was barely resting on the wire. I soldered it as well.

What drove me a bit crazy was that the electrical issue would act up when the humidity rose -- Vancouver? And, when I went over a bump it would cause the stereo to go off. I think the increased humidity allowed the blue/green corrosion build up to absorb moisture and then acted as an insulator. Does anyone know if that is correct? The other problem was the very loosely connected low voltage line. Another question, would the corrosion on the relay terminals come from the loose low voltage connection? Naturally a person thinks the issue is related to the combination switch on the steering column. I went through Falco's awesome instructions to clean up the combi-switch on the steering column but that was not the issue however I now have a clean combi-switch.

Glad to have her all lit up again:)

[nottofar]

Thanks Falco the "how to" on fixing the combi switch.
I found on mine that the soldered on contact for the middle setting/buzzer (big L-shaped one) had lost connection. So if a made the connection (with a bit of wire)on the soldered side, buzzer would come on/ rear lights and dash lights (if key is in) everything working fine... if a tried the same trick on the copper side nothing happened.
I re-melted the existing solder and voila.. contact working again... and all my contacts refurbed thank to Falcos guide.

In the nick of time as well as need to be using the van in the dark on Monday.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Fab gear! I need to do an update because I recently had a meltdown and one of the contacts on the little square carriage that moves back and forth had shed all the copper and was left with just the aluminium, so I switched it out with and extra that I cannibalised off another broken combo switch. Still didn't work. I took my el cheapo multimeter and measured the resistance from the circuit board to the fuse box ~ 70.4 ohms if memory serves me, so that works. then I checked from one side of the circuit board to the other ~ nada. Really carefully drilled a tiny little hole from the backside of the circuit board through to the backside of the actual contact, took my soldering pencil and filled it with solder ~ she rides again!

Glad it helped you out. Welcome to Delica Canada

Falco.