Brake lights not working (Page 4/5)
Cliff Pennock DEC 10, 06:11 AM
Apeldoorn is a 1.5 hour drive from Zandvoort. I don't think my car will even make it that far...
Cliff Pennock DEC 10, 04:44 PM
The braided ground strap on the passenger side of the deck lid, what's its purpose? To what does it provide ground?

Fiddling with the strap (and any wire around that area) causes the tail lights to go on and off (with headlights on).
Patrick DEC 10, 04:51 PM

quote
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock:

The braided ground strap on the passenger side of the deck lid, what's its purpose?



What is each end currently attached to?

If it wasn't pouring rain here, I'd go out and look at my Formula's ground straps.
Cliff Pennock DEC 10, 04:56 PM
One end is fixed to the hinge, and I have no idea where the other end goes to (raining here as well). It is fixed to something, it didn't feel like it was loose or anything.
Patrick DEC 10, 05:34 PM

quote
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock:

One end is fixed to the hinge, and I have no idea where the other end goes to...



I believe the ground strap from the passenger side hinge is supposed to be attached on the other end to the forward head.

[EDIT] Okay, I did some digging to confirm what I suspected.


quote
Originally posted by jetman in This thread:

The 4 main ground ties and positive leads.
#1. (-)Braided block/head to body ground deck lid hinge. The main braided strap is critical.
#2. (-)Trans to body. The trans to body is a backup.
#3. (-)Battery to body. Battery (-)post to tray.
#4. (-)Battery to engine block. The big batt cable (-)post to bolt on engine hoist hook.

Positive leads (+)

#5. (+)Battery to starter
#6. (+)Battery to main terminal below C500.
#7. (+)Alternator feed to main terminal below C500.

NOTE. The Ogre has mentioned that if #7 is bad, you will get large voltage drops under load just like a bad ground. We all know what bad grounds do to a Fiero's electrical systems!
All my life I have been a real stickler about good grounds and connections. It was theogre who taught me about those grounds and also the positive feeds on the Fiero so credit where the credit is due, all I did was to put it on a list for everyone to see.


[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 12-10-2023).]

theogre DEC 10, 07:48 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:
I believe the ground strap from the hinge is supposed to be attached on the other end to the forward head.

The pic of wire is the Deck Lid ground I said above. Lid Metal part should have an "ear" right next to the lid "framing" bolts that to hinge. Raining today can't get a pic.

If "ear" broke, check other side & move the wire to use it.
No "ears" then stuff wire/metal between the lid & metal until spring then solder or other permanent fix.
Wire broke the crimp new end or replace as needed.

Engine Braided Ground is just that & have no insulation. Often goes to the Right hinge or near the battery to engine Head in Fiero.
Example: dorman 60213 https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-28495-60213.aspx
But many GM & other OEM are not "tinned" like Dorman part.

Dorman etc makes 4 & 0 Gauge Braided Ground Straps too but most cars don't need them. Those are for Trucks w/ a lot of crap pulling a lot of power from the Alternator.

The braided straps is the main ground return from vehicle to the engine & alt. I was told caries more Amps vs similar normal wire ~ same size but get different answer as to why. Example: Many claim is wire's "Skin Effect" as Braided cable have a massive surface area but many also say Low Volt DC doesn't matter.
Braided cable w/ no insulation can dump heat way faster then normal wires may have something to do w/ it use too. More heat = more Ω. Battery cables normally won't care because only running @ 100-200A for Seconds & 4AWG can't get hot enough to matter.
theogre DEC 10, 08:15 PM
Rain stop temporary...
I forget how the wire attach to the lid...
Metal has depressed area so clip on wire grabs it.
Likely you can't get same thru aftermarket but can do similar...

This images is larger than 153600 bytes. Click to view.

Note: 88 doesn't have this.
Some say built into & ground thru hinges. Other believe GM just deleted to save cost.

If not that, there is an "extra" ground from to engine to frame there...
other ends is bolted to "stud top" bell housing bolt on the transmission. Can put a new loop end & attach anywhere handy on engine or trans.
If that it, check/clean/fix all engine bay grounds & lube w/ silicone or brake grease to keep out "water."
If can't find the Braided ground then get equiv from aftermarket sim to dorman example.

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 12-10-2023).]

Cliff Pennock DEC 16, 04:53 PM

quote
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock:

Fiddling with the strap (and any wire around that area) causes the tail lights to go on and off (with headlights on).



So that was a few days ago. I fiddled with the wires (without exerting any strain on them) an noticed the tail lights would sporadically start working. At one moment the tail lights stayed on so I closed the trunk and drove a short distance, like a few hundred yards, to see if they would stay on. It seemed they did. So I parked the car and left it at that. Today I wanted to start the car again and the battery was dead. The interior light was very, very dim so it wasn't completely drained but turning the ignition key did nothing.

So not sure what drained the battery
Cliff Pennock DEC 16, 04:59 PM
I just realized something... Could this be caused by something under the dashboard? About a month (or two?) ago, I removed my digital dashboard because it stopped working and put in my old original dashboard. But I left the underside cover off since I wanted to put the digital dash back in once I would have that fixed. I haven't been able to work on the digital dash yet so all that time the wires are hanging loose under the dash and a few times my foot got caught in the wires getting in and out of the car.
Cliff Pennock DEC 16, 05:22 PM
Wait, no. Because if it was, then fiddling with the wires near the braided ground wire in the engine bay would not cause the light to start working...