Weird Brake Symptoms
Puruco
04-18-2006, 01:58 PM
A while back I posted a message here about my 97 Blazer having strange electrical problems. Well, thanks to the advice on this forum, I replaced the circuit board for my wipers and now they work perfectly. I had a bunch of other problems too: brake lights don't work, tail lights don't work, directionals don't work, gas gauge dead, oil pressure gauge reads 60 at all times, even when the engine is off, and the anti-lock brakes light is permanently on. I put in a new ignition switch module (based on the advice here) and that fixed my tail lights. Also, the gas gauge is now working, but I think it started working before I put in the ignition switch module. I'd love to get my directionals and brake lights working again. Here's the story:
After putting in the ignition switch module, my brake lights now work ONCE. Right after you start the engine. You put your foot on the brake, you get lights, but only once. After that, they're dead. Shut the engine off, start it up again, put your foot on the brake, you get the lights one time only. After that, they're dead. Shut the engine off, start it again, brake lights are dead. Really weird.
Also, with the engine off, my gas gauge behaves as if the engine were on. Same thing with oil pressure. It reads 60 whether the engine is on or off. The temp gauge is permanently at about 120 degrees, with the engine on or off. The directionals are totally dead. All fuses are intact and clean, but the directionals, instead of having a 15 amp fuse as required, have a 25 amp fuse. Could this have fried my directionals? The bulbs are intact. Could a too-large fuse have fried the flasher unit? I got a replacement but can't locate the original flasher for the directionals under the dash.
There is a fuse for "Brake" and there is a fuse for "Stop." Which of these is for the brake lights? The fuse that says "Brake" is supposed to have a 10 amp fuse in the slot but there currently is a 20 amp fuse in there.
And as if things weren't interesting enough, the previous owner disconnected a lot of the original wiring under the dash so he could install a CD player, which I took out. Now I have five connectors hanging out of the radio space with no mates. Some probably belonged to the original radio, but surely not all of them did.
And the final thing: With the new ignition switch module there was one small black clip with (I think) three prongs. It's actually the female side of a three-pronged connector. I can't find its counterpart anywhere under the dash or around the steering column, and I've had the entire thing apart. There are three wires coming from this small black connector. One is gray, one is orange, and I believe the third is purple. Does anyone know what this goes to?
Thanks, as always, for any help.
After putting in the ignition switch module, my brake lights now work ONCE. Right after you start the engine. You put your foot on the brake, you get lights, but only once. After that, they're dead. Shut the engine off, start it up again, put your foot on the brake, you get the lights one time only. After that, they're dead. Shut the engine off, start it again, brake lights are dead. Really weird.
Also, with the engine off, my gas gauge behaves as if the engine were on. Same thing with oil pressure. It reads 60 whether the engine is on or off. The temp gauge is permanently at about 120 degrees, with the engine on or off. The directionals are totally dead. All fuses are intact and clean, but the directionals, instead of having a 15 amp fuse as required, have a 25 amp fuse. Could this have fried my directionals? The bulbs are intact. Could a too-large fuse have fried the flasher unit? I got a replacement but can't locate the original flasher for the directionals under the dash.
There is a fuse for "Brake" and there is a fuse for "Stop." Which of these is for the brake lights? The fuse that says "Brake" is supposed to have a 10 amp fuse in the slot but there currently is a 20 amp fuse in there.
And as if things weren't interesting enough, the previous owner disconnected a lot of the original wiring under the dash so he could install a CD player, which I took out. Now I have five connectors hanging out of the radio space with no mates. Some probably belonged to the original radio, but surely not all of them did.
And the final thing: With the new ignition switch module there was one small black clip with (I think) three prongs. It's actually the female side of a three-pronged connector. I can't find its counterpart anywhere under the dash or around the steering column, and I've had the entire thing apart. There are three wires coming from this small black connector. One is gray, one is orange, and I believe the third is purple. Does anyone know what this goes to?
Thanks, as always, for any help.
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