wellcraft

My ZX always has the brake light (on the dash) is always on even when the the brake is not in use, also every time I press the brakes the light icon turns on. I check the all the bulbs and they are all working, what could be the problem?

Just FYI I had to remove the dash a while back and I'm having this problem since that.

Forgot about this one, after a few days of not using the car the battery dies, this also didn't happened before removing the dash.

I check the grounds and everything seems to be ok.

Thanks in advance

hoov100

sounds like you have a short in the wiring.

wellcraft

were should I star?

Goofyz

unplug and pray. You said you had to remove the dash earlier well, start there again and now you unplug all the plugs you did before and put a multimeter on the battery posts, if the battery dies in 2 days you should see voltage movement (decreasing) until you get to the right plug, this could take 5 minutes a plug to see voltage decrease, unplug one plug at a time if voltage continues to decrease move to another plug etc. etc. that way you can narrow it down to the correct ckt. You will know its correct cause you wont see the voltage drop anymore with it unplugged. When you find the right ckt you can then trace which wire(s) are shorted.

as far as the brake light being on all the time you should check your master cylinder reservoir and see if you are low on brake fluid, that can cause it to stay on too.

Superduner

Hmmm if i were you i woudl start at the major less TIME CONSUMING things to work ok. 1 i would take (or self check) your battery, 2 test your alternator. car are pretty old... replacements parts are to be expected it it is a stock parts car. howveer thats some advice. start with the simple things. then if BATT and ALT are good.. then u can take your sweet day or DAYS tearin the dash off and checking for shorts.

Goofyz

I assumed he did the easy stuff already like test across the diode pack of the alternator for reverse flow, and for a bad battery. I guess I shouldn't ever assume

wellcraft

I honestly dont know how to check the alternator, when I took the car to the paint shop I remember that they had problems starting the car, the problem was a small cable that is located next to the battery. Is a small box with I guess some strange fuses, all of them look like that except the first one that looks like a jumper cable. This one was bad, I replace that small cable and the car started ok again but didn't notice the lights after I put back the dash.

Since that was giving them a problem I believe this could cause some kind of problem. Now I notice that the security icom is not showing, I just removed the cluster and checked the bulb and is ok. BTW the clock is not working either , I just the rebuild the whole car and now a bunch of problems.

Invest more than 3k to put this car like new and now will see whats next.

I checked th efluid level and everything is ok.

ZLover4Life

.......... WTF?...........

wellcraft

Man, This car has been park a little bit more than 2 years, the car now looks almost like it came out of the dealer, except for this F$%&^% problem.

Goofyz

it's about assuming making an *** out of u and me. it's late and it was the closest I could come to an icon for that...sheesh...what put you in a bad mood.

Goofyz

Really shouldn't cause a power drain, If the car has been parked for 2 years, was it stored correctly? I mean battery out of car, natural oil just changed before it was put in storage, put up on blocks, air filters pulled and holes blocked with oiled rag. Put in a giant plastic bad and then vacuumed sealed shut, <- just kidding but you know that is actually an option (for real).

But seriously, get the alternator tested at Auto Zone or somewhere similar. a Bad alternator especially the diode pack will cause the battery to drain over a couple days or so, might cause your idiot light problems and is relatively easy to check.

for you Zlover (Just kidding)

ZLover4Life

uh, yeah, I was saying WTF because I had NO idea what that icon was. It was not a bad mood. In fact, I'm almost never in a bad mood - you guys tend to either take my criticizm too seriously or my amusement at ignorance too negatively. I'm usually laughing or at least smiling when I'm posting stuff.

domsgarage

Try changing the dead light bulb....... idiot.

Just kidding. It probably is a short though.

I had a battery dying issue one time, i dont remember what it was, but i do remember going out and buying a volt gauge.

good luck.

in addition. i believe that if even on of the fusible links are blown, the car wont start.

in addition again...... there was some sort of recall done to the early Z'x. i cant remember what it was called, it was a litle black box thing, i wish i could remember, but call the dealership, theyll do it for free, that could be part of your issue.

entropy31

as for the light warning, are you CERTAIN that no bulb is out?? it is fairly common that the bulbs in the 3rd brake light are the culprit, and they are often overlooked. i am getting this same warning light right now, and it is due to the 3rd brake light. it looks like it is ok if you just glance at it, but closer inspaction reveals that there is indeed one small bulb out.

ZLover4Life

domsgarage - you do know that you can edit posts, right? Those three posts you did sequentially could've been made into one post by clicking the "edit" button.

Riz Z Speed

but then that would leave me nothing to do but impart wisdom onto the masses and i just can't seem to justify doing that all the time so, I merged his posts.

Goofyz

Nah, Zlover, I was just messing, I know you were just poking fun and I was just poking back. I just like using emotes that don't get used very often, you see how many there are now?


Wellcraft any luck testing the alternator? or other problems?