autobotguy

So I'm riding home from work this evening in my '90 Maxima SE when my dash lights along with A/C lights went out. I clicked the headlights on and off to see if something went funky with the switch with no avail. I hit my brakes due to traffic, and the dash lit up. So now.....every time I hit the brakes the dash lights up. WTF is up with this? Has a fuse gone funky on me? If anyone has any ideas (besides gremlins), please let me know! ^_^

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

done electrical work on it lately? Ive never heard the lights coming on when yo brake, thats probably not the cause but maybe a loose wire and when you break and the weight shifts, it makes the connection

jbbons25

iTrader: (2)

Check the light bulbs and the sockets they go on the tailight housing. It could be that the contacts on the 1157 light bulbs melted and they joined together or corrosion built up between the contacts.

LvR

Measure the battery voltage and alternator output voltage (fat cable) with the engine running and all the lights switched on .................... any difference of more than about 0.3V between the two measurements mean a broken cable, bad connection somewhere, blown protector fuse or blown alternator

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

Usually when this happens the tail light fixture (where the bulbs go) is corroded.

mrjasonlyrics

That don't sound like something that happens every day. Have the car looked at by an electrician. I doubt that's a DIY job

maximagician

(more rumors of nissan electrical nightmares from slack jaw yokels)
when you pull out the 1157 tail bulb ,look inside and notice the 2 contacts
they have a spring behind them and they dont stay aligned with the outer shell that
has the groove locks for the bulb,

also the 2(-?)wires with the 2 metal eyelets touching are screwed
down to the plastic plate and can be loose,ive seen this on other cars too

i just wiggle my bulbs when i notice they are not all lit
but i am thinking of buying new 1157 bulb sockets 4 a few bucks

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...possessed.html

autobotguy

I work at Napa, so I got a couple of new spring terminals for the sockets. We'll see if this works as there was some corrosion on the spring terminals. <fingers crossed>

autobotguy

Well.....just my luck, Nissan's 1157 pigtails are not standard 1157 pigtails. The contact point on the pigtails are 90 degrees off. Soooo....this leaves me with buying new tail light circuits. yay :|

Doughboy89

iTrader: (1)

my pathfinder did something similar forever ago, was the brake light fuse.....

Yakattak

Probably not very similar, but I noticed that my temperature slider light will be out, then I'll change the path of the air and it will switch back on, extremely weird.

autobotguy

Well on napa's site I found that I can get 2 complete tail light circuit boards for roughly $38. Of course....working for napa means I can get it them for considerably less. ^_^ I love working there!

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

an 1157 socket is an 1157 socket. The mounting may be different, but the guts internal to the socket are always in the same place.
I've always been able to get the $3 parts store sockets to work, but some brands have required a bit of work getting them mounted to the board.

But if you can get both of them for $38, that's a win-win for you.