Handful of electrical problems

[gt crazy]

OK im just gonna make a list of the things that are messing up and please let me know how much it would cost or how to repair these.

1.My headlights sometimes don't work on low beam but seem to work almost always on highbeam.

2.My wiper, defroster buttons are broke. Need to know which year instrument panels buttons are able to be compatible for a 72.

3.Worn ignition, how much would this cost?

4. My amp gauge needle bounces around like a jumping jack. and the lights go nuts also.

I just got the opel back on the road for a dailer driver and just now figuring out the little bugs day by day

[namba209]

Originally Posted by gt crazy OK im just gonna make a list of the things that are messing up and please let me know how much it would cost or how to repair these. 1.My headlights sometimes don't work on low beam but seem to work almost always on highbeam. 2.My wiper, defroster buttons are broke. Need to know which year instrument panels buttons are able to be compatible for a 72. 3.Worn ignition, how much would this cost? 4. My amp gauge needle bounces around like a jumping jack. and the lights go nuts also. I just got the opel back on the road for a dailer driver and just now figuring out the little bugs day by day

1. Could be a couple of things, bad headlight relay, or worse yet, wiring shorting out in one of the headlight rotating shafts.

2. Any GT switch panel should fit.

3. Check with OGTS, they can repair your old one, look at their on-line catalog for pricing.

4. Check the wires on the four studs in the center of your fuse panel. The battery, alternator, in and out of the ammeter hook up to those four studs, make sure they are clean and tight. Also you can check the wires at the ammeter for the same.

HTH.

[markandson]

Sounds like you may also have a short in the headlight wiring which could be fatal for the wiring harness or maybe the entire car if not addressed. That would sure give you the bouncing ammeter you mentioned.

[gt crazy]

my car came with a extra instrument panel but the switchs seem to have differant connections on the back of the wiper, defrost, and fan buttons. i was gonna use it but i think it had 1 less connection on the back

[namba209]

Originally Posted by gt crazy my car came with a extra instrument panel but the switchs seem to have differant connections on the back of the wiper, defrost, and fan buttons. i was gonna use it but i think it had 1 less connection on the back

According to my DESTEC schematic, for 70-73 GTs, there are three male spade lugs on the blower switch, two on the rear window defroster switch, and six on the wiper switch. You may have one of the male spade lugs broken off flush with the body of the switch, I've seen that before.

[gt crazy]

i think the instrument panel that came with the car is a 69 panel. buttons have same design as a 69

[OriginalOpelGTOwner]

In addition to all the above, and when you are 100% positive you have no short or open circuits, even if intermittent, and you still have ampere meter bounce, do the following: If you still have the original alternator regulator which is mechanical, take the cover off, which is held in place with tape, and carefully clean the relay contacts with fine emery cloth. Over the years they get pitted and no longer make a reliable good electrical contact resulting in random interupts to the field current to the alternator. I have cleaned the regulator contacts on my alternator regulator several times over the last 37 years. Once cleaned the ampere meter will not bounce.

[gt crazy]

does it matter if the needle and lights go crazy? or do i need to fix it asap?



ok today was iced all over and i had the day off school. so i went out to the 72 parts car and took off the fan, defrost and wipe, button.

this is whats on the back 6 connectors to the wiper, 2 to the defrost, and 3 to the fan. and none is broken off.

[OriginalOpelGTOwner]

By the way, make sure you disconnect the battery before you clean the alternator regulator electrical contacts. Ampere meter bounce, if caused by alternator regulator means you are spiking the electrical system and not getting an uniform charge on the battery.

The yellow alternator light going on and off or flickering may be caused by another issue like an intermittant open circuit.

[namba209]

Originally Posted by gt crazy does it matter if the needle and lights go crazy? or do i need to fix it asap? ok today was iced all over and i had the day off school. so i went out to the 72 parts car and took off the fan, defrost and wipe, button. this is whats on the back 6 connectors to the wiper, 2 to the defrost, and 3 to the fan. and none is broken off.

GTs are known to have electrical problems, especially in the headlight wiring, That circuit is not fused. If your short is in there, you can short out your whole electrical system, so I'd check that first. As was said earlier, that could be the cause of your ammeter going bonkers. Use the search button for headlight wiring and read for a while, then fix.

[gt crazy]

i think the problem is in the actual mechanism that switch the low beams to high beams because if i click it around the lights will flicker and sometimes work normally

[namba209]

Are you talking about the turn signal lever or the dimmer relay in front of the fuse box? If it's the turn signal lever that could be a loose switch in the steering wheel hub. If it's the headlight relay, then it could be nothing more than a loose wire on the relay.

[gt crazy]

the turn signal lever thingy. if i turn my brights on and off and jiggle it sometimes my lights work again and sometimes they dont work at all

[namba209]

Probably a loose wire at the switch under the steering hub or the switch going bad.

[gt crazy]

BUT i just remembered sometimes when i flip them over they dont turn on. sometimes it takes a couple minutes and a couple of times it turned of when i was driving! luckly the brights worked when i flipped them on. so if that may help any

[namba209]

That being the case, you've got more than a single problem with your headlights. There is a microswitch behind the rotating mechanism on the left headlight that is sticking, or your headlights are not opening enuff to contact the microswitch. You'll need to find the thread by Keith Wilford on the care and feeding of the headlight mechanism, along with Wayne Torman's article on how to remove the mechanism. Lotsa luck on this one. It's not one of the funner things to do on a GT.

[gt crazy]

could it be because im not opening my lights hard enough? i never really though about slamming open

[yellaopelgt]

You have a short somewhere...slamming the buckets open will just aggravate things. You should give them a good "thud" open but nothing with alot of force. Take the top of the headlight buckets off and look at the wires and connections and see how corroded they are,this will give you an idea how good/bad the wires are. The PO might have replaced them already. If he did.... did he replace them all the way back? A popular place to splice the new/old wires is at the MC and I know you just replaced that. Look for a splice there. Or was this problem happening before the brakes went out? Just a few suggestions......
Joe

[gt crazy]

well i never really drove the opel gt cuz i just got my license then my brakes went out so know i just got it back on the road and im just now finding out the little bugs in the car

[gt crazy]

i think the short was because one of the wires on the back of the alternator. we messed with them and bit and short went away. but they need to be cleaned

[MarkRHayes]

Originally Posted by namba209 Probably a loose wire at the switch under the steering hub or the switch going bad.

i've had my GT for four years now and have never had a problem with the headlights til now. i suspect two things - i recently lowered the steering column to work on stuff behind the instrument panel. i'm wondering if i crimped a wire when i put the steering column back up. the other is my poor excuse for a fuse box. the plastic holder broke and now it is hanging down too far. i called gtsource and they sent me a diagram of how to make one out of sheet metal which i do intend to do. but i wonder if the relay was damaged or shorted out. i'm assuming that the clear box looking thing that is kind of out there by itself is the relay. how do i check to see if it is okay? also, how would i check to see if the steering column is not the problem?
lastly, does anyone have a picture of how the fuse box/panel should look? mine is a real mess.