No headlights, tail lights, radio, clock or interior lights – 1984 Trans Am
05-05-2013, 09:20 PM
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Car: 1984 Trans Am
Engine: 305 L69 (E4ME)
Transmission: NWC T5 1352-072
Axle/Gears: 3.73 (6HS)
No headlights, tail lights, radio, clock or interior lights – 1984 Trans Am
Not looking for a response, just posting what happened and how I fixed it. Some of my terms are not exact, but get close to the general idea.
Headlights, tail lights, radio, clock, or interior lights were not working on 1984 Trans Am. The headlights would not pop up nor would the lights come on.
The problem turned out to be a faulty headlight switch. Some how the headlight switch was shorting out the wire or fusible link that gives it power from the connection at the starter. It was like a teeter-totter. The headlights would work for a minute, then the switch or the wire would short out and there would be no power to the switch. Get one working and the other would go out. I ended up replacing both switch and wire. Now everything works great. Headlights, Tail lights, radio, etc. Took some pictures.
First go to the starter. Look for where the positive battery cable bolts to the back of the starter. Along with the positive battery cable you will find two other smaller wires. One of these wires goes to the headlights, radio, and interior lights. The other goes to power the ignition, etc to start the car. The wiring diagrams say they are red, but most likely gray. The fun part is that you will find the fusible links inside a metal tube that bolts to the bell housing.
I recommend taking out the bolt to the bell housing. It is easier to remove the wires to get to the fusible links.
The next pictures are locations of the wires from the starter. Note that they turn into three due to a splice somewhere. These pictures show the wires running on the back side of the brake booster before C100 on firewall.
In the picture above, you see three black wire looms. The one you are looking for is the larger of the three.
Headlights, tail lights, radio, clock, or interior lights were not working on 1984 Trans Am. The headlights would not pop up nor would the lights come on.
The problem turned out to be a faulty headlight switch. Some how the headlight switch was shorting out the wire or fusible link that gives it power from the connection at the starter. It was like a teeter-totter. The headlights would work for a minute, then the switch or the wire would short out and there would be no power to the switch. Get one working and the other would go out. I ended up replacing both switch and wire. Now everything works great. Headlights, Tail lights, radio, etc. Took some pictures.
First go to the starter. Look for where the positive battery cable bolts to the back of the starter. Along with the positive battery cable you will find two other smaller wires. One of these wires goes to the headlights, radio, and interior lights. The other goes to power the ignition, etc to start the car. The wiring diagrams say they are red, but most likely gray. The fun part is that you will find the fusible links inside a metal tube that bolts to the bell housing.
I recommend taking out the bolt to the bell housing. It is easier to remove the wires to get to the fusible links.
The next pictures are locations of the wires from the starter. Note that they turn into three due to a splice somewhere. These pictures show the wires running on the back side of the brake booster before C100 on firewall.
In the picture above, you see three black wire looms. The one you are looking for is the larger of the three.
Last edited by cxxm; 05-05-2013 at 09:43 PM.
05-05-2013, 09:23 PM
#2
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Join Date: Feb 2010
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Car: 1984 Trans Am
Engine: 305 L69 (E4ME)
Transmission: NWC T5 1352-072
Axle/Gears: 3.73 (6HS)
Re: No headlights, tail lights, radio, clock or interior lights – 1984 Trans Am
Pic4 shows C100 and S236
Pic5 shows the fuse that was out. The radio, interior lights, clock, etc get power from here. The fuse was not bad. No power was reaching it from starter.
The pic above is C100 from inside the car. Imagine you are sitting in the drivers seat. C100, if you removed all the cover panels from the dash underside, would be found above your left foot. It has a black plastic cover over it that is a pain to get off. There are small tabs on the left side of the cover. Also, in the pic when I say ignition wires, I just mean power that goes to steering column, etc.
Pic5 shows the fuse that was out. The radio, interior lights, clock, etc get power from here. The fuse was not bad. No power was reaching it from starter.
The pic above is C100 from inside the car. Imagine you are sitting in the drivers seat. C100, if you removed all the cover panels from the dash underside, would be found above your left foot. It has a black plastic cover over it that is a pain to get off. There are small tabs on the left side of the cover. Also, in the pic when I say ignition wires, I just mean power that goes to steering column, etc.
Last edited by cxxm; 05-05-2013 at 09:31 PM.
05-05-2013, 09:25 PM
#3
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 121
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Received 4 Likes
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Car: 1984 Trans Am
Engine: 305 L69 (E4ME)
Transmission: NWC T5 1352-072
Axle/Gears: 3.73 (6HS)
Re: No headlights, tail lights, radio, clock or interior lights – 1984 Trans Am
The picture above is what the connector looks like that the headlight switch goes into. Slot or Letter D is where the red wires comes in to bring power into the headlight switch.
Link to another headlight problem, I posted....
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...headlight.html
Last edited by cxxm; 05-05-2013 at 09:47 PM.
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