Another Deli with headlight issues ....Fixed....yay....

[Artacoma]

Driving to work this morning with my headlights on my right turn indicator is on dimly.
pull over and check outside and all my right turn bulbs are on at half power.
They strobe to full power when I switch on my turn indicator.
My left turn bulbs are all happy and normal.
With the headlights off all turn signals work normal like.
So the suns up now.
I disconnected my Grote DRL (self installed 2 yrs ago) no change.
Checked fuse box - all good.
Took off steering column shroud and blasted away with compressed air - no change.
So can some one say if I should pull my steering wheel to access the switch for a pullapart and clean?
Or should I be able to get it off without?
Or should I be looking somewhere else?....the only "hacks" to my wiring are the DRL and stereo install and they were done 2+ yrs ago

.........
So i'm fiddling around and pull the horn fuse cuz I might take off the wheel and everything (except the horn) is back to normal.?????????
Ya crazy huh.
Any ideas what else is on the horn circuit?
.......................... 1 hr later
So I figure i can drive without a horn and put everything together and give everything a test and and everything seems to work except ..................... now the "sidewalk light" that comes on with the right turn signal now flashes with the turn indicator. Driving to work this morning with my headlights on my right turn indicator is on dimly.
pull over and check outside and all my right turn bulbs are on at half power.
They strobe to full power when I switch on my turn indicator.
My left turn bulbs are all happy and normal.
With the headlights off all turn signals work normal like.
So the suns up now.
I disconnected my Grote DRL (self installed 2 yrs ago) no change.
Checked fuse box - all good.
Took off steering column shroud and blasted away with compressed air - no change.
So can some one say if I should pull my steering wheel to access the switch for a pullapart and clean?
Or should I be able to get it off without?
Or should I be looking somewhere else?....the only "hacks" to my wiring are the DRL and stereo install and they were done 2+ yrs ago

.........
So i'm fiddling around and pull the horn fuse cuz I might take off the wheel and everything (except the horn) is back to normal.?????????
Ya crazy huh.
Any ideas what else is on the horn circuit?
.......................... 1 hr later
So I figure i can drive without a horn and put everything together and give everything a test and and everything seems to work except ..................... now the "sidewalk light" that comes on with the right turn signal now flashes with the turn indicator.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Hey Rik, how'sitgoin',eh?

I discovered something one time whilst at Jay's shop. Some DRL add-on wiring devices are poor quality and not designed to last. They bite into the existing wiring and get their connexion that way. When they do this the wiring begins to corrode over time and the power becomes more inhibited as time goes by.

Give Jay & Christine (TardisDeli) a PM, maybe they can help.

Falco.

[Golf Cart]

Rik,

You will need to pull the steering wheel off to remove the comnination switch. It sits over the steering shaft. Its held in place by 2 screws, and attached to the harness with a master plug in. Ive done 4 now, and I can do it with my eyes closed in 5 minutes.

As far as a the switch goes, check the attached pics of what you will find. the switch part showing is the wipers, the signal/light lever was removed.

If you dismantle the switch, have a look under the circuit board where the contacts for the park/headlights are.

Do you smell anything unusual, light heating plastic ? Also , with mine, the outer column casing was warm to the touch.

Sounds like oyur problem may be a little different than mine. Good luck and keep us updated

Cheers
Gregg

[TardisDeli]

Hi Rik, the Grote's just die with old age, cheap.

But not usual to have the dimming lights u describe, my hunch is bad ground somewhere ie a wire rubbing on metal, or the very very very nasty skinny delica wire has gotten tinned or a connection is loose. Work yr way back from the actual light, and replace the connectors and cut back the wires half an inch to get new wire without the aged corrosion. Painful but it is common (electrical joke... get it... common ground, sorry) on these older vans, the wiring is very thin guage, and the connectors are pressure fit without any waterproof cover or heat shrink cover.

Greg Golf Cart has already replied about the actual steering wheel switch, he is expert at that part.

Butch at CVI was telling me last week that his number 1 problem recently on all delica's is battery: the terminals havent been cleaned, and the cables arent completely tight, might be a good starting point for you.

How comfy r u with wiring, can you just bypass the DRL and wire it so you actually turn on yr lowbeams by Hand when you are ready to drive away. Can just put in a simple pull on switch like in old landrovers, room beside the cig lighter, if get fancy with wiring can pull to first position for yellow and red running lights, and pull all way on for low beams. Continue to use regular switch steering wheel for turn signals and high beams.

As to yr horn, probably getting that known problem of the foam breaking down which then allows a horn circuit similar to hand pressing the horn. Use the Coffee Stir stick fix as seen in the postings, where you place some short stir stick sections across the hand press area so the contact needs to have further to travel and needs more than air pressure to activate.

By the way, are you having any other issues which are all related to one quarter of the fuse block beside your knee area. I am not describing it well, but the main point is the Fusible Link above the battery, a small plastic thingy just hanging above the battery often shoved way back so u cant see it. Has 4 wires curling out and back in, each wire is a Fusible Link, which is a short 2 inchs section of wire meant to melt if things go wrong, is sacrifical to prevent wire melting further along. Anyway, the plastic holder gets old and brittle, and then one day one of the 4 wires melt, and the symptom is that 1/4 of the electrical stuff geographically located is dead. Easy fix, just replace the 2 inch bit of wire, but wondering if u are about to have an issue.

Jay is not up yet, so can't ask his opinions. But I have given u several things to check. Suggest u phone him later (after 10:30 am, till midnight) Will pm u his cell number. If you're over this side of pond, stop by our house and Jay can help.

Cheers, Christine.

[Artacoma]

Thanks for the ideas , I got a few days off now so I'm gonna start pulling apart and renewing any connections that I can get at. My DRL is completely disconnected now so thats not it and the crimpons that came with it were never used.
I redid the horn last year and hid a push button under the rubber in the center of the wheel.
I'm gonna start with the battery area cause its easy to get at then the multi switch because it just feels alittle rough.
If I uncover any interesting innards I'll photo and post.
Wish me luck

[Artacoma]

So still no fix ........
I was poking around the battery box and found some cooked connections and bought some new wire and connectors then carefully put everything back together and lo and behold my van wouldn't start ...aaarrghgh.... tried reassembling to no avail . then phoned Jay of Tardisdeli fame and he explained the demons that are called fusible connectors. So....... pulled the batteries out again and put in a couple inches of fresh wire and my van once again starts..

THANKS JAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.. just in time to make it to Georgies to meet up with the bunch of Victoria Delis for coffee and a yak...
....very cool to meet some new faces!
So I'll poke at it tomorrow some more ..... Jay figures it's probably a rouge ground somewhere and I concur....also on the way home the turn signal relay seemed to sound a bit funny so I might pull that tomorrow and see if I can find a replacement at Lordco.

[Artacoma]

Then on the way home my turn signal comes on with my brake lights aaaaaaaahhhhhh.!!!!!!!!

So ...... I don't know why I didn't think of this before but I checked my trailer wiring and sure enough the plug is hot and bubbling, a couple of snips and and my van is happy again...it was a quality harness from Crappy T installed by a stellar mechanic Crappy Me.

[mararmeisto]

...Jay figures it's probably a rouge ground somewhere and I concur....

You guys been going to the theatre together?

[FalcoColumbarius]

Hahahahahahahahahahaha Gone to the theatre... smiles.

[Firesong]

"I don't know why I didn't think of this before but I checked my trailer wiring and sure enough the plug is hot and bubbling, a couple of snips and and my van is happy again...it was a quality harness from Crappy T installed by a stellar mechanic Crappy Me."

I have been having an intermittent problem with my right signal light coming on solid when the lights are turned on.
I was dreading a problem with the stalk and happened to read this.

Went out and took off the wire for my trailer light harness to the right light and my problem went away.
It's within a year so it will have warranty... now where did I buy it.. Crappy Tire, PartSource or princess auto..
shucks...

FS

[TardisDeli]

Wow, both of you solved the weird wired problem by cutting off the defective trailer wiring. Hmmm, a new thing to watch for, but such an easy fix now we know about it. Cheers, Christine.