1984 delta 88 turn signal/brake light problem

[jk121]

hi i just registered. i see im not the first one with this problem. it is frustrating,this car has 120.000 miles on it, but is in great shape, it is a 4 door,and our every day runabout car.it has a 307 ci.and power everything,the car runs and drives great.to the problem, it seems when it rains heavy,the turn signals will light up and blink slowly. and as i press the brake pedal, they stop blinking.inside the rear check lamps show nothing, as i have read so far, i checked the fuse box it is all good,hazard lights work perfectly,i pulled up the carpet in the trunk and didnt see any frayed wires,although there is some moisture in the trunk on the left side, but nothing heavy, it does have that tin wiring, is there any way to bypass that? any help will be great, im not to good at wiring. thanks jk

[Jim's rare 80]

Hey jk. First off, I'd fix the leak in the trunk. Get rid of the moisture. Second, At the back left of the trunk, check the wires, and look for a plug connection. There will be a ground wire attatched to the body by this connector. Make sure it is tight. Even loosen, and re-tighten the bolt that holds the ground wire. After you have done that, You can also purchase a silicone ignition protector spray. Use that to coat the wires and plug to prevent moisture from affecting connections. Mainly, it sounds like your connections are ok, but even the slightest moisture can wreak havoc on anything electrical. Hope this helps, and let us know if it works out. Jim.

[ztim]

Hey jk. I have a 1984 Delta too and have a problem with the dash brake light. Let me know what you find. The folks on this forum will stick with ya until a solution is found. Good luck.
bob

[jk121]

thanks jim, the ground wire coming from the plug connector was coroded, it sure did'nt look like it at first, till i unscrewed it. wow that cheap tin wire was green! i trimed it back slightly, sanded the ground bracket, scraped the crud off of the inside of the screw tightened it all back up, and everything works perfectly, i will make sure i get some of that silicone spray too. i thought i was in for a nightmare, i hate wiring. i hope this information will help someone else with the same problem. hey bob thanks for responding too.i havent had a problem with the dash light though, just that pesky check engine light. if anyone else has a reponse i would like to hear more thanks all jk

[Jim's rare 80]

Hey JK. Glad I could help. I love the easy fixes too.
Hey Bob. What's the issue with your dash break light? Won't go out?
Let us know. Thanks, Jim.

[ztim]

No it won't go out. It may be the parking brake. The cable is bad and inop so I think the switch may be bad although the dash light didn't keep burning until after I worked on replacing a section of brake line.

[Jim's rare 80]

Hey Bob. Simple test. Pull your parking break release handle, and at the same time, pull back on the parking break itself. If it stays on, you probably need to reset your prportioning valve from when you did the brake line. Let us know. Jim.

[Redog]

I agree, if the brake light stays on while driving, you have something with the master cyl.

[ztim]

I tried pulling the brake release while also pulling the brake pedal and the light is still on. The master cylinder looks okay and the fluid level is good.

[ztim]

I can barely see the proportioning valve from under the car and don't know what to do with it as far as adjusting anything.

[Jim's rare 80]

Hey Bob. With the parking brake issue cleared, it must be the proportioning valve, or equalizer valve, as some call it. It's the only other thing that turns the light on. Now, two things could cause this. One is, you still have air in the lines somewhere. (It could be a master cylinder as redog said, but seeing as you changed a line, I'd look more in the air direction.) When you changed the line, did you bleed the whole system, or part? Any air in the system, and the valve won't reset. Try this first. Easy test . With the motor running, pump the pedal fast, 4-5 times, pushing far and hard. If the pedal comes up a bit by the last push, and the light goes out, then let car idle for a minute. Push pedal once, slowly down . If it comes back on, you still have air in the lines. If it stays out, you've reset the valve.. If pedal is firm, and this has no effect on the light, let me know. You will have to manually re-set the valve. Not a big job. Just means jacking and supporting the car for access to it. Let me know how it goes. Jim.

[ztim]

Somehow I ended up with this topic in two different places. I am switching over to the hydrolic page. Thanks guys.