Hazard Switch Possessed by Gremlins

[KillerB]

I got my Spider in July and have been tinkering with it since. The other night I decided to repair my Hazard Light Button. It appeared to be stuck in the off position. When I opened it up, the only thing wrong with it was the spring was missing. Easy fix right?

I picked up a bag of of a thousand or so various springs a few months back, so reassembly was a snap. But when I installed the switch and reconnected the battery, the voltage, oil pressure, seat belt and emer brake lights were all on.

I wasn't too set back by this, and actually expected some oddball snag. Then I started the engine... all of the warning light went out, and the hazard switch appeared to work perfectly (phew!). But when I turned the ignition to off, the engine kept running until I turned the Hazards back on and then off... weird huh?

I did a quick search and found something similar on the forum. http://www.fiatspider.com/forum/viewtop ... ght=hazard


In his first post CrAzY RuSSian states " just got my first car and it is 1979 fiat 2000 spider pinifarina. I love it, but i have some electrical issues. the blinkers dont work when the hazard flasher is pluged in. but if the flasher is pluged in engine will not shut off (i have to unplug the flasher) and the cooling fan does not turn on. " which almost mirrors my snags, however in his second post "i just find out that the problem is in the temperature swith on the bottom of the radiator, and i ordered one." But he didn't say if it was the fix for all the snags or just the non running radiator fan.

The only wiring diagrams I can find online are for 1980 and up with Fuel Injection and pre'75.

Everything works with out the spring in the hazard switch (except the switch itself of course!) and since the spring is part of the circuit I'm sure it part of the problem and solution.

What do you think?

[Danno]

i dunno, but here's a wiring diagram I have for your 79....
http://www.danielreinhardt.com/fiat/Ser ... agrams.pdf

also, i did a search on Mirafiori.com and found several different threads where people had this same exact problem....

[KillerB]

Cool thanks!

[racydave]

If you look at page 5 of dannos good schematics, you can actually read by the picture how the circuts go through the switch. I dont have this problem cauz mine has been removed.

[punes]

I had the same problem with my dash warning lights and guages, coming on at times, for 2 years. Also at times the car wouldnt shut off when I turned back the ignition. I found by, fluke, that the hazard switch was I guess shorting out when the red button was moved side to side. It was actually making a connection of sort and I could mimic this behaviour anytime. I would have to disconnect the battery whenever I left the car unattended it case it came on and drained the battery.
Well another switch took care of that problem.

79 Fiat Spider

[mbouse]

the hazard switch circuit (and related) is not a simple thang.

replacing the switch is not cheap, but relatively inexpensive considering the car is 28 years old.

if the sprang was missing when you opened it up, that means that the PO screwed it up. the sprang just can't evaporate. I'd bet that part of the sprang is shorting out the switch, and causing issues.

buy a replacement switch. i'm betting anyone that has used dash gauges, also has a handful of these switches too. or, our standard vendors have new replacements.

and, despite which way you fix this issue, expect the switch to fail sometime in the future. it is a poorly designed mechanism and prone to failure. plan for the future: http://flumichigan.italiancarclub.com/T ... switch.pdf

Good luck.

[Danno]

plan for the future: http://flumichigan.italiancarclub.com/T ... switch.pdf

Good luck.

I was gonna say "good find" but it seems you wrote that, lol. Thanks MB, I'll add that to my "gonna need it eventually" binder.

[mbouse]

at that webpage, there are several accumulated tech articles written by various Fiat Freaks (besides me). Most of them tend to be the simple things, rather than the complex. good reads for newbies and the experienced.

Please, everyone .. feel free to visit.

[KillerB]

Yes, I had read your "Fix that Hazard Switch" just minutes before I attempted the fix... It's a good resource to have at hand.

I put everything back the way it was, and I'll be tackling that and a host of other things this winter while the car is laid up. Nova Scotia has long miserable Winters, so it's good to have a hobby. I'm sure I will get some strange looks in the parking garage, wile I sit in my Spider with the top down making "Vroom vroom" noises in January!

My Bumperetts are on their way from Germany!

[KillerB]

Well It took the better part of 4 months... off and on. But I've solved all of my electrical woes. (for now)

Saturday I replaced the battery connectors and carried out the "Brown Wire Surgery", which although didn't fix any problems, it did make all of my lights brighter. I highly recommend it... and bless the guy who invented it!

On Sunday I decided to tackle my lighting issues... in particular the hazard switch.

First off, I fixed the back-up lights, they were unplugged from the switch on the transmission TOO EASY!

Then I tried as follows:

1) re-assembled the hazard sw w/spring. Result - won't shutdown, dash lights etc, just as before;

2) hazard sw w/spring insulated - same snag;

3) next I isolated each tab on the switch until the snag went away, Result - removing the connector for the second tab (clockwise)from the switch plug worked!

Then I had to function all of the systems in the car to verify I didn't kill something else. Headlights, Signal and Parking Lights, Backup Lights, Horn, all checked out except the Wipers and Spray. So I put everything back the way it was... and the wipers still didn't work! Then I checked the fuse...loose!


Moral of the story... always check the fuses before and after a smoke check.

[radiopilot]

Hi, read this thread and although I don't have this problem, the fuse holder under the dash leaves much to be desired, although it seems I could go to any auto store and buy a new fuse box for all the fuses and use standard auto fuses I thought the original fuse box seems to work at least until today when my son and I decided to take a drive and found out the left blinker was not working... sure enough I jiggled the fuses and the left blinker started working.

I might just recheck all the grounds and install a new fuse box to avoid any trouble plus where does one get these older Fiat fuses anyway?

Nick

[rlux4]

The fuse type is GCB, but no one at an auto parts store under 50 will know what that is, so if you ask for a "European" type fuse you'll get "oh yeah, we have those." I get mine at Auto Zone, no problem. They'll have 100 pegs for all the other fuses and 2 pegs for ours, 8 and 16 amp.

[KillerB]

Amazingly I had no problem finding fuses in Canada. Canadian Tire a national Auto and DIY chain simply know up her as 'Crappy Tire' to most Canadians, actually had 4 pegs of them. 3 different amperages and a mixed box as well.

Now that I've got the electrical gremlins sorted out, next I'll try the brakes, then the interior... one thing at a time
I guess.

[stefhahn]

Hi there -
just for the records - as the original Fiat switch is not easy to be located - the BMW hazard switch of the 2002 and 1602 can be used and is cheaper than the Fiat part- and has a nice chromed bezel - see e.g. here - I have that one installed in my Spider around 15 years ago as there was no chance to get an original - still working fine.
ciao,
Stefan