'79 Spider 2000 - 'Brake' & 'Fasten Seatbelt' lights lit ALL the time..

[angello]

Can anyone help me understand how the 'Brake' and 'Fasten Seatbelt' lights work? Mine are permanently lit, irrespective of whether seat belt is fastened or not, brake fluid level is correct or not etc. etc.
Does anyone have a schematic for them? I assumed they were simple and just lit when a switch contacted in the brake fluid reservoir or seat belt receiver, but having been playing with those last night I find those switches are all working perfectly, but the lights never go out?
I'm getting bored of the bright red glow all the time....

Do these lights also take an input from the handbrake? where is the switch for that if they do?

[spider2081]

There is a timer that is mounted on the relay panel below the glove box. The timer is a cube similar to the relay cubes and is easily mistaken for a relay. The base of the timer where the male terminals are has the following labels. C,C1, +,-. The relays terminals are numbered 30,87,
85,86. Check the wire colors to be sure you have the timer socket for it to plug into.
+ blue/white
- white/black
C dark blue/red
C1 violet/white.

It is possible the timer has failed and is not turning the red lights off. It is also possible at some point a relay was placed in the timers socket as they have the same style socket and pin positioning.
The hand brake as a small black push button switch in the base of the center console When t he hand brake lever is not fully down this button is up turning on the brake warning light.
Hope this helps

[dinghyguy]

the timer fails and is not readily available. BUT we have found an adjustable timer relay that can be retrofit by opening up the fiat timer, removing most of the innards and connecting wires from the terminals of the timer relay to the spades on the fiat timer. then you can adjust the time delay on the timer and your dash lights will go out as intended. If you want more info ask and we can post more details.

cheers
dinghyguy

[angello]

Ah, that's very helpful - thank you. I'll have a look for that and see what butchery has been perpetrated on it in the past....
If you are able to post the details of the adjustable timer relay that can be retrofitted, that'd be great! I'm up for that sort of job and like to have everything working properly in my cars.

[bobplyler]

There is a switch that the handbrake operates. It's visible inside the car, through the rubber pad the handbrake hits.
That said, when the bulbs burned out, I just never replaced them. You could just remove them.

[spider2081]

I'll have a look for that and see what butchery has been perpetrated on it in the past

troubleshooting before replacing parts is a smart approach.

[dinghyguy]

Angello,
Alas Dinghyguy is sailing until 9th August. I trust you can wait that long. Ping me directly in august to remind me and i will send you some information.

cheers
dan

[angello]

Pulling the time relay has put the lights out, so that works as a temporary measure. I've also bought one of those cheap delay timers off eBay that I might be able to adapt at some point. In the interim, I've checked that the light still illuminates if brake fluid were to get low and it does, so I haven't disabled the safety feature. Once I can work out how to resolve the timer relay I can get that back in and working.