electrics dont work

[fazzer]

right then i have a diesel t25,the problem is the interior light(above drivers door)dont work,the dash lights dont work,the clock dont work and the temp gauge dont work,ive checked fuses all ok is it possible these are all connected.

[Reimotim]

Have you checked the earth points behind the fuse box?

[Woodyyellow]

I had a similar problem, turned out to be the live lead to the dash via the radio supply. Someone had cut the original radio plug off to power a replacement set, not realising the power also then went on to the dash clock.

[fazzer]

thanks for help will check earth points,there was a stereo fitted (badly)so you probably right a bout that one,did it only affect the clock tho.

[Woodyyellow]

Clock and dash lights. Temp gauge was duff sensor and poor connections.

[fazzer]

mucho appreciated

[fazzer]

update should of stayed in bed.after removing all wiring for dodgy stereo and an old alarm,still cant find problem,i bypassed the dash and the interior light works but cant get the clock or dash lights to work,i also replace temp gage sensor and that still dont work.what colour would the live wire be to dash and where would it go to.

[pirate-pete]

Don't know how old your van is and there are different connectors depending on year your van is.

For the earlier dash panels with a vertical multiplug connector the third connector down is for the dash lights and will connect to the dimmer under the headlamp switch. 7th one down is the live for the clock and is probably fed direct from fusebox. If you have the later horizontal dash connector the positions might be different but I don't have them handy right now.

If you have a meter try measuring voltage at the connector at these positions. If you don't get 12V then you need to trace wiring back to source in case anyone has been mucking about and tapping into it for accessories. If you do get 12V then fault probably lies in dash cluster itself but first try running a temporary wire from the negative terminal of the clock to bare metal to rule out bad earths.

To test the dash you could try removing dash pod altogether and connecting a battery between the earth terminal of the clock and the positive for the clock. If the clock still does not work then the capacitors inside the clock can be replaced for less than the cost of a pint of ale. There is a post somewhere detailing how to do this. The old ones pack in with age and in my case caused the clock to only work when it felt like it but you could sometimes see the second hand twitch rather than move round. At first I thought it was loose connections as you could sometimes get it to work with a clout.

If clock works fine when connected directly check for continuity between the clock +ve and the 7th track down on the connector in case there are any breaks in the pcb. I've not had this but if I did I would just try and bridge the broken bit with a jumper wire.
As for the lights leave the battery -ve on the clock earth terminal and try the +ve on the third connector down and see if it lights up. If not follow the copper track on the pcb to the first light and connect it to this side of the bulb. If still nothing - and you know the bulbs are OK, again trace the pcb tracks from bulb to connector and also from bulb earth side to the clock -ve.

Also make sure the bulb holders are clean and making good contact with the pcb. I've got good bulbs in at the moment that work fine and came with their own holders but the ones I had in originally needed a bit of card wedged underneath to stop them flickering.

[fazzer]

thanks for info pete its an 89 diesel van.