Dave,
you STILL have a problem at the fuse box. My GT6 has the same problem. My
Volkswagen has a similar malady... The tape deck will stop when there is
insufficient voltage to run the amp and/or tape transport. Given a bad
connection in the turn signal area (ie: drawing MORE amperage than should)
you are momentarily "cutting off" power to the rest of life in that circuit.
My guess is you have a faulty turn signal sw. (bad contacts) and/or bad
contacts at the fuse bos. you can get at the F.box if you are a
contortionist from BEHIND te dash (remove parcel shelf on DS). you;re right
about the gauges, they will be cutting out. Why not try running the stereo
off another circuit? (hey, who ever said that masking a problem is a bad
thing - certainly not a lucas employee!) Grab a hot wire off the battery
with a fuse link (pep boys, etc) of 20-25 amps and send it to a buss bar
someplace in the cabin. Then, run an inline fuse to whatever you want to
have direct power ie stereo, air hornm, drive lights, smoke lighter etc -
all will be protected by the fuse and backed up by the fuse link. You can
use a cheapie relay (pep boys again) taking the signal from the acc.
position to the relay so that you have a controlled signal for the stereo
but all else is always live.
Or, just clean EVERY green and red wire on the whole car!
Dave T
-----Original Message-----
From: David Moag <moag@ix.netcom.com>
To: Spitfire Mailing List (E-mail) <spitfires@Autox.Team.Net>
Date: October 18, 1998 8:32 PM
Subject: Strange Electrical Phenomena
>Hello All,
>
>Well, I thought my Spitfire was smiling at me because of it's new O/D.
Turns
>out it was one of those looks you give when revenge is on your mind. I'm
>having a strange electrical failure, which looks like it's due to two
>factors.
>
>First, I had gone out for a nice drive and the car performed perfectly. All
>electrics worked. About an hour later I went back out to run to the store,
>and none of the gauges or stereo worked. Basically, it appeared that
>everything tied to the accessory position on the ignition failed. The
>failure list is: temp gauge, fuel gauge, turn signals, stereo, windshield
>wipers. The still working list: horn, ignition light, headlights.
>
>So I fiddled around a bit, swapped out all the fuses even though the
>originals test out OK, and all of a sudden it all came back to life. Until
>you turn on a turn signal. Then everything cut out. More fiddling and it
>appears some of wires connecting to the fuse box are of questionable
>connection. Jiggling and pressing them got everything to come back and stay
>back. So the first problem is in that area, but I'm wondering if I can do
>much about it without removing the dash again (I don't have the heart to do
>that immediately after 2 months of down time doing other things). Any
ideas
>on how to fix things without tearing the dash back out??
>
>The second problem goes back to the turn signal. Even though I've now got
>the original failure list working, about 50% of the time that I use a turn
>signal, it momentarily cuts the circuit to everything else. This is most
>noticeable in the stereo, the music just stops for a moment and then it
>re-starts itself. It's probably also happening the gauges, but they are
slow
>enough to register that it is hard to tell. Does anyone have any idea of
how
>to start figuring this one out?
>
>Thanks for any suggestions you may have --- even with all the above it sure
>is driving nice!
>
>Dave Moag
>77 Spitfire
>62 TR3B
>
>
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