Electrical problem...what did I do? Please help!
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 19
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From: Arizona
Electrical problem...what did I do? Please help!
I installed an alarm/keyless entry/remote starter unit in my '85 over the weekend. One of the features this unit had was a rear hatch release by pushing a button on the remote. Since the hatch normally pops up with the touch of one of the release switches in the car all I had to do was connect up to the appropriate wire going to one of the switches. I chose the switch in the door.
When I used a relay and applied power to the correct wire to energize the release solenoid, the interior lights turned off. When I removed the power wire, the lights came back on. I did it again and this time the lights stayed off for good. The fuse is NOT blown and the rear hatch release button in the door no longer works UNLESS I pull the fuse for the courtesy lights!?!? The wire that previously had .2 volts on it now has a full 12 volts on it! The door lights DO work if I turn them on manually (by pushing them in), but they do not come on anymore when I open the doors. Is there a specific circuit or relay that operates the door lights (when the door is opened) that I screwed up somehow?
Thanks in advance,
Daniel
When I used a relay and applied power to the correct wire to energize the release solenoid, the interior lights turned off. When I removed the power wire, the lights came back on. I did it again and this time the lights stayed off for good. The fuse is NOT blown and the rear hatch release button in the door no longer works UNLESS I pull the fuse for the courtesy lights!?!? The wire that previously had .2 volts on it now has a full 12 volts on it! The door lights DO work if I turn them on manually (by pushing them in), but they do not come on anymore when I open the doors. Is there a specific circuit or relay that operates the door lights (when the door is opened) that I screwed up somehow?
Thanks in advance,
Daniel
+1
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
You cannot make connection to the hatch door switch, white wire, because it does not go directly to the hatch solenoid, it goes to the courtesy light delay timer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is why your courtesy lights came on.
If your remote hatch switch wire is grounded when you select, "hatch open", then it should be connected to one of the car hatch switches, the BROWN wire, not the WHITE wire (you connected it to the white wire causing the courtesy lights to come on). The white wire on the hatch release switch normally has 12v on it and it goes to the courtesy lamps and when grounded causes the lamps to come on. To find out why your courtesy lights won't come on, you will have to go through the dianostics for the courtesy timer which I posted in 1986 vert's post titled, "Head lights on engine running STILL chimes".
If your remote hatch switch wire is grounded when you select, "hatch open", then it should be connected to one of the car hatch switches, the BROWN wire, not the WHITE wire (you connected it to the white wire causing the courtesy lights to come on). The white wire on the hatch release switch normally has 12v on it and it goes to the courtesy lamps and when grounded causes the lamps to come on. To find out why your courtesy lights won't come on, you will have to go through the dianostics for the courtesy timer which I posted in 1986 vert's post titled, "Head lights on engine running STILL chimes".
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: Arizona
Thanks for the reply jfb. It's nice to find knowledgable people (who are willing to help) on this forum. I am starting to realize, the hard way, about the ground switching, as opposed to the positive side switching. I looked up your post in 1986vert's thread and that diagnosis should definitely help me to figure out what the problem is. I appreciate it. Now I just have to figure out where the timer and relays are in the car! I am confident that one day I will know the early C4's as much as my other vehicles. 
Thanks again,
Daniel
Thanks again,
Daniel
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 90,675
Likes: 304
From: SE NY
Cruise-In II Veteran
The slick way to wire it up would be to wire a relay across one of the switches so that when you hit the remove button the relay "closes the switch" only while you hold the button depressed. This way the hatch open command will function just as a manual open.
On an '85 Vette:
- the two door switches receive power through the Brn/Wht wire and the Wht wire goes to the hatch lts, dome lt relay, etc;
- the console switch receives power through the Brn/Wht wire and the Tan/Wht wire goes through the gear selector (so the hatch cannot be opened while in gear with doors closed!).
Here again the GM Shop Manual comes to the rescue and is well worth even full price.
Good luck with the R&R and the mod.
On an '85 Vette:
- the two door switches receive power through the Brn/Wht wire and the Wht wire goes to the hatch lts, dome lt relay, etc;
- the console switch receives power through the Brn/Wht wire and the Tan/Wht wire goes through the gear selector (so the hatch cannot be opened while in gear with doors closed!).
Here again the GM Shop Manual comes to the rescue and is well worth even full price.
Good luck with the R&R and the mod.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: Arizona
Exactly! That is precisely what I ended up doing. I found that an easy way to properly activate the hatch release with the relay was to touch the brown/white and white wires together. So I ended up getting my remote hatch release to work, but I still haven't figured out the courtesy light failure yet. It did take me quite a while to figure out that it was the brown/white wire though, since my Haynes wiring diagram says that it is just brown! I tested every brown wire in the door harness before I took a shot and tested the brn/wht wire.
By the way, I know this is a newbie question, but I have only had the car about a month: Where are the relays located? I have been told they are under the dash, but I cannot find them.
Thanks,
Daniel
By the way, I know this is a newbie question, but I have only had the car about a month: Where are the relays located? I have been told they are under the dash, but I cannot find them.
Thanks,
Daniel
