James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Gauge cluster lights up when I push the brake pedal. No key in the ignition. After 3-4 pumps it stops

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

your 3rd gen has the ghost of Datsun past in it

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

Your brake light circuit is leaking to the parking light/illumination circuit. Swap or repair the headlight switch, if that doesn't work, take a loot at the tail lights themselves.

maximagician

a vague memory tells me you should look at the contacts

of the 1157 brake bulbs

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

I haven't had time to mess with this yet. I noticed tonight though after a quick Walgreens run that when I got in my car to leave, my gauge cluster lights didn't come on when I turned the headlights on (and never came on the whole drive home). The clock didn't dim like it should with the lights on and the brake lights and corner lights also didn't work. The headlights did work (thankfully since it was dark) though

I'll do as Hectic suggested and replace the headlight switch. I've had 2-3 headlight switches fail on me over the years but never had this happen. In the past when the switch failed, the headlights wouldn't work, or one only one side worked. So this one is an odd symptom.

Out of curiosity, Hectic, since I'm no electrical guru, how does the brake light circuit "leak" to the headlight circuit? I mean, what goes "bad" that allows that to happen?

Brad92SE

iTrader: (9)

The taillights are connected in some fashion to the gauge cluster lights, in that if you have a taillight/brakelight out, the cluster lights will go out to "warn" you. Not really sure how its very safe, since it happened to me once at night while driving and all the cluster lights went out, making me think something catastrophic happened

So in your case, if you dont actually have a bulb out, it might be a bad connection in one of the 1157s like maximagician suggested. Though, what you are describing is kind of the opposite of what happened to me... could be related I suppose, or it might describe the "leak"

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

sounds like the ground connection died on one of your 1157 bulbs and the +12V from the brake lights is leaking back through your tail light circuit to the dash. it slowly comes on/off because it's got a lot of current going through the bulb.

since it's not working now, it probably blew the fuse for the dash, brake, or tail lights because of the excessive current draw. or the bulb burned out from carrying too much current (anything is possible at this point.)

If you could make the car repeat the issue, then all you have to do is find someone to work the brake pedal while you watch the tail lights. you will probably see one brake light slowly come on and then dim while the rest go on and off normally.
Whichever one is doing that is your culprit.


Also... I've had several of those bulb sockets die on me over the years, as the piece that presses the contacts into the back of the bulb is cheap (soft) plastic. it bends/distorts over time and the contacts get a bit loose. then the contacts oxidize in/around the connection. then the connections get hot due to the higher resistance and passing current through the contacts (current + resistance = heat) more heat causes the plastic to melt and distort more, causing the problem to get worse.
take a browse through some junkyards that are well stocked w/ 3 gens if you ever get time.. I bet you'll find at least one car with a burned up corner where the taillight caught fire... it was from this. I think Chris91SE had that happen to his old 90.. I always caught mine when the bulb first started acting funny cause I had a neighbor that always warned me about lights being out when he saw me back out of the driveway. (he was one of those old retired people who sit on their front porch from 6am to 7pm every day and watch the world go by)

Anyway, check those out. hope it helps.

DMad8724

iTrader: (4)

been having the same problem on the 92 i picked up a couple weeks ago...
dash lights go out cuz the tail light fuse blows, but the first time it happened the dash lights would come back on when i had the brake pedal pressed in..

pointless post just thought id say whats up brad

maximagician

yup,most third gens i see rarely have all 4 brake\tail lights working

im always "wigglin my bulbs" on my 91 then they all work for a few days

i think i may splice in some new bulb sockets just for all 4 of the 1157's

i had some wierd problem like james92se once on my sold 92se but after getting

4 new 1157's and replacing a blown fuse it was good

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Well I swapped in the headlight switch from my other VE and the taillights and corner lights still didn't work. I took a look at the taillight bulb harnesses/housings themselves and they looked literally brand new. I took all the bulbs out and inspected the contacts for corrosion etc. And found none.. Put all the bulbs back in and still didn't work. So I swapped in the complete bulbs/housings from my other VE and still no luck. At this point I had both the headlight switch and bulb/housings from the other VE swapped in and still not working.

Only then did I think to check the fuse. The 10A brake light fuse was blown so I replaced it and they all worked.

Now, surely something is still "wrong" no? I mean, even before my corner lights/taillights stopped working I was still having the weird brake pedal lights the dash up issue.

Should I just replace the switch itself regardless? Or will the fuse still potentially keep blowing even after a new switch?

Pearl93VE

iTrader: (14)

What about the actual wiring on the circuit boards, any loose ground eyelets? I would put your old boards back in now that you have a good fuse and see if it blows it again (maybe the HL switch too)- try playing with the circuit board while someone presses the brakes.

If not, check the rest of the circuit (corners, stop lamp switch, actual gauge cluster)

IIRC Courtesy has circuit boards for $15 and surprisingly the dealer even had them for $18 when I called looking for one of my customers.

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

If the illumination and brake circuits conjoin, then when you hit the brakes it will light up everything on the illumination circuit. The problem is most likely in the housing or maybe the bulbs themselves. I don't know why I said to swap headlight switches, because it really has nothing to do with the brake light circuit, only the illumination/parking light circuit. It's just easy to do and I was probably drinking at the time

DMad8724

iTrader: (4)

if you cant come to any decent conclusions id check your TCU as it controls the instrument panel illumination..
ive been having the same problem with the fuse blowing and my tailights look brand new as well, but i know my TCU is goofy because the car will lock itself with the keys in the ignition/engine running

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Yeah, I forgot to mention that I put the old boards and headlight switch back in. I couldn't find ANYTHING loose or even corroded looking on the boards. They seriously looked brand new.

I haven't had any issues (and no brake pedal causing the dash to light up) since replacing the broken fuse. But, I haven't driven it all that much either

the108penguin

beg yur pardon but what is the TCU

DMad8724

iTrader: (4)

TCU (time control unit)
according to the FSM it does 11 things:

1 & 2 - intermittent wiper control
3 - windshield washer & wiper control
4 - light warning chime timer
5 - ignition key warning chime timer
6 - seat belt warning chime timer
7 - seat belt warning lamp timer
8 - rear defogger timer
9 - interior lamp timer
10 - door key hole illumination timer
11 - instrument panel illumination control

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Well, I started to notice some symptoms again today. Brake pedal lights up my gauge cluster, head-unit, and dims my clock for the first 4-5 pumps. Also, there was a corresponding relay sounding click coming from the glove box area each time I hit the brake pedal. I was alone so I couldn't push the brake pedal and listen to where exactly the noise was coming from at the same time though (so I can't be anymore specific than "behind the glove box").

DMad.. where is the TCU? This clicking sound was a distinct relay type of sound. Sounded alot like the clicking you'd get from the door lock timer

DMad8724

iTrader: (4)

under the steering wheel behind the dash panel...its behind one of the alarm components iirc

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Alright, well, about two weeks ago this issue got to the point where my taillight fuse would blow, I'd replace it, and it'd blow again within 5 minutes. Pretty unsafe as this kept happening when I was driving at night and in a pretty bad downpour. I had brought several extra fuses with me but blew through all of them before I could get home. Luckily I didn't get rear-ended.

Last week I replaced the entire taillight socket assemblies with the ones from my black VE and haven't had a single issue since. Hopefully it's cured! I'll just grab some new assemblies for my black VE when I get it back on the road

gp540

iTrader: (1)

Wooooah im having the same issue years later. My issue for people searching... because this is a great thread

Lost dash illumination, found bad tail light fuse replaced would blow brake pedal turns on dash and side markers so on, found bad connection in 1157 sockets replaced assembly replace fuse(s) no more blown fuse BUT still no tail light/dash illumination or side markers. Head lamps change with multifunction

To be edited

Eeeeeddddiiiitttt

Still no resolution I am having the same relay click from the glove box area when I hold my shift lock I can hear it my tail circuit are grounded for some reason

Edit 2
After looking at the Fsm for hours now I believe / hope it's one of two more things,(tcu or crossed illumination wires behind stereo (that's been in for years) if not I might be paying someone. Lol


Edit 3 it was not the tcu next check is the the illumination wires behind the stereo.

gp540

iTrader: (1)

A new post reply means I found the problem!!


So in my circumstance.

I noticed today that fuse 7 left side ( rad fan ) had now blown.
It would appear that at some point behind the fuse box it shares connection with tail lamp/illumination circuit.

So two issues caused my fault.

1 bad tail lamp housing/bulb housings
2 bad connection on rad fan #2 (NOW UNPLUGGED)

I unplugged the suspect rad fan replaced the fuse and was Golden.