At some car shows this summer, Fiero owners had a gadget on there truck lid latch that kept the trunk & interior lights off when the truck lid was open. Had a red ribbon hanging down from it so it could removed and not left on when the lid was closed. Anyone know where to get or make one?
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Jerry '88 Fiero GT Red and proud of it
[This message has been edited by Jerry Tarnofsky (edited 10-31-2015).]
Fiero1Fan used to sell trunk light timers - light shuts off after 5 minutes. I have one on my Indy and it works great. Not sure if they're still available.
A 2" 3/16" bolt works fine to hold the light switch in the off position. The LED replacement lamp available on eBay is a terrific addition for more light and you can keep the trunk open for hours with little battery drain.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Fiero1Fan used to sell trunk light timers - light shuts off after 5 minutes. I have one on my Indy and it works great. Not sure if they're still available.
That makes no sense. I've daily driven an '84, '86, '87 and '88 Fiero over the years... and none of them do/did that.
To your knowledge, has your wiring ever been tampered with?
Agreed. Something must be messed up. Trunk and overhead lamps get power from the same fuse, but have separate switches providing the ground to turn light on.
[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 11-03-2015).]
Fiero1Fan used to sell trunk light timers - light shuts off after 5 minutes. I have one on my Indy and it works great. Not sure if they're still available.
Here's what I know. Bought the car from a guy who put 2000 miles on it in 22 years. I've put about that much on it in 6 months. Just went over 30K. My wife got something out of the trunk when I was in the hospital for a few days and did not 'slam it' shut. This killed the battery and it was weak, wouldn't hold a charge, so had to replace it. Then noticed the interior lights were on when trunk was open. Just found out the floor lamps are also lighted when trunk lid is open. That's 5 bulbs that are draining the battery when trunk is open. Now, there is one added switch under the dash which I believe is a kill switch. I had it switched once and that sucked the battery dry when trying to start the car back when it was new to me. That time jumping the battery was all it needed. Haven't touched it since. There are also driving lights up front under the nose and these work off a lighted toggle switch under the dash. They work like modern driving lights, on with low beams and off when the high beams are on, if control switch is on. Looks like they are wired into the drivers side headlight. I suspect this is an early '88. Whew! All these questions just to get a trunk light killer with flag. Jerry
It sounds like the different grounds have been connected together somehow.
Did the previous owner install an alarm? They may have been cross-connected when tapping into the grounds to sound the alarm anytime the door, hood, decklid is opened. The unintended consequence of course is having all the lights come on when any one of them is opened.
[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 11-03-2015).]
The previous owner got the car this way. He said he thought it had a 'dead man's switch' but did not have any details on it. There is no alarm on it that I know of. There is a small box of some sort just in front of the wipers under the front lid. The wiring does not look original, but very neatly tied together with tie wraps. Some of the wires go to a horn on the front fire wall just behind the radiator fan. It has a picture of Dick Tracy and says "Crime Stopper " on it. I think that's the horn that sounds when the horn button is pressed. Jerry
switches under dash right controls the driving light, left is kill switch (I think) front of firewall close up of box on firewall Horn behind radiator fan Wiring
Horns for the car are under the fascia behind the turn signal lights.
As I suspected, you have a car alarm system and it's wiring is likely the problem. You'll have to backtrack the wiring to see where the grounds have been all tied together.
That's a "retired" product so you'll have to contact the vendor for an install manual and on/off remote. http://www.crimestopper.com/
[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 11-04-2015).]
The local (Golden Gate Fieros) just had a tech session, and one of the members showed me how to wedge a golf tee into the latch on the lid of the engine compartment.
This keeps the light turned off (the small light that illuminates the carry compartment behind the engine) that would otherwise be turned on when the engine compartment lid is open.
Just a golf tee. Whatever doohickey the golfer uses to prop up his golf ball before he smacks it with the driver. I'm not a golfer, and I don't know if they come in different shapes or sizes. It was machined from wood. He gave me a handful of 'em, all looking the same, and said that if one doesn't exactly fit inside the latch jaws without falling out, try the next one. Like those vending machines that take dollar bills, and maybe the first one you try doesn't work, but the next one does.
I spoke with a Crimestopper tech and he said it is an older product that's no longer made, but if I can find the control box somewhere in the car he may have some info on it from the model #.
Tried a quick look but no luck finding it. Will try again. Maybe it was removed??? Will keep looking.
Just found it. Model # CS 8706. Unfortunately, CrimeStoppers was bought by another company recently and the product is so old (would you believer Fiero's are SO OLD) they no longer have any info on it. Also, the cable from the front of the car has been disconnected. So, that's that. Not going to mess with it any more.
Jerry
[This message has been edited by Jerry Tarnofsky (edited 11-05-2015).]
As stated before, the switch is turning on 5 lights due to a previously installed security system. I did modify some golf tee's so they will fit in the truck lid latch and held buy friction. This works just fine.
Fiero1Fan used to sell trunk light timers - light shuts off after 5 minutes. I have one on my Indy and it works great. Not sure if they're still available.
Anyone know where I can find some info on this? How it was wired up etc. I should be able to find something similar or build something.
The most I found was this:
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Originally posted by Fiero1Fan: It is a relay controlled, straight plug and play module that plugs in between the trunk light and the connector. It will automatically turn off the trunk light after 10 minutes. No wire cutting and easy to install.
I took the bulb out of mine about three days after I bought the car.
I did the same thing- One of the few options on my 85 SE V6.....And the stupid thing just shines in your eyes and blinds you! The front compartment light is worse- Only on when the headlights are on! There was a lot of intelligent engineering on the Fieros....But the guy who did the trunk light designing was a drunk-Chimp!
I just put a simple switch in line with the ground on the trunk latch switch. No mess with flags, bolts or golf tees. If you forget to turn it on and close the trunk... no problem, leave a bolt in there and well you get the idea. I mounted the switch next to the latch on the trunk lid. really a simple task and as a bonus I can turn the light off when I work on the motor. It basicly is the same as the switched light with out a junk yard search and I am going to guess cheaper, should be around 3 to 5 bucks depending on how fancy of a switch you want. How ever being a very sad sad Fiero owner who is 3,000 miles from my cars (I hope they miss me) I can not give you pictures of the install... sorry
Thanks for the suggestions but I definitely wanted a relay/automated approach. I actually changed how the trunk is lighted so I don't have a bulb installed in the oem location, it's just blinding there. Was going to put a switch but relay is nicer.
I just had to think about how to wire it up but I've figured it out now. Pretty simple actually.
Other option that I thought of was a photoresistor relay. It would only turn the trunk light on if it is dark out.
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