Electrical Lights Flicker Until Rear Defroster Turns On

bruno said:

Small update and another question.

I took out the headlight switch and sure enough, it was burnt. Replaced switch and connector, but lights continue to flicker.

Here's the question, when I replaced the switch I noticed the new switch has 2 black wires coming out of it. My original switch only had 1 black wire. At least, it only had one wire when i took it out. Should I be looking for an additional black wire somewhere in the dash? If so, where would it come from?

Had to work on gf's computer this weekend so I didn't get to check my grounds. This weekend I'll get under there and see whats what.

Click to expand...

Completely forgot about this, the GT headlamp flicker. There was a TSB on this many years ago. Found it on my LAN. I had to pay Ford to fix it, $50 25 years ago, probably $150 today. If I was doing it myself, I would add a relay to the circuit.

In the February, 1991 edition of Popular Mechanics, the "Car Clinic" by Mike Allen had the following:

Fogged Out

"I have a 1988 Ford Mustang GT. After about 20 minutes with my headlights and fog lights on at the same time, the headlights blink intermittently."
...
"I rarely find the answer to a Car Clinic problem covered in a TSB, but every now and then...

Ford TSB 89-17-11 says this is caused by overheating in the headlamp circuit. It's a phenomenon affecting '83-'89 Escorts, '83-'87 EXPs and '87-'88 Mustangs. You'll need to replace the headlamp and dimmer switches, several connectors, and then bypass the wiring in the circuit with new 12ga wire run alongside the original harness. It's supposed to take 1.3 hours for a service technician to do this, and you ought to see if the dealer will still do the repair under warranty."

Grounds

This checklist applies to all Mustangs , not just the EFI equipped cars. Some of the wiring will be different on carb cars and carb conversions

Revised 26 –Oct -2016 to add fuel pump ground to the list.

Grounds are important to any electrical system, and especially to computer controlled engines. In an automobile, the ground is the return path for power to get back to the alternator and battery.

Make sure that all the ground places are clean and shiny bare metal: no paint, no corrosion.

1.) The main power ground is from engine block down by the oil filter to battery: it is the power ground for the starter & alternator.

Temp gauge goes up as electrical load increases
2.) The secondary power ground is between the back of the intake manifold and the driver's side firewall. It is often missing or loose. It supplies ground for the alternator, A/C compressor clutch and other electrical accessories such as the gauges. The clue to a bad ground here is that the temp gauge goes up as you add electrical load such as heater, lights and A/C.

Any car that has a 3G or high output current alternator needs a 4 gauge ground wire running from the block to the chassis ground where the battery pigtail ground connects. The 3G has a 130 amp capacity, so you wire the power side with 4 gauge wire. It stands to reason that the ground side handles just as much current, so it needs to be 4 gauge too.

The picture shows the common ground point for the battery , computer, & extra 3G alternator ground wire as described above in paragraph 2. A screwdriver points to the bolt that is the common ground point.

The battery common ground is a 10 gauge pigtail with the computer ground attached to it.
Picture courtesy timewarped1972


Correct negative battery ground cable.


3.) The computer's main power ground (the one that comes from the battery ground wire) uses pins 40 & 60 for all the things it controls internally: it comes off the ground pigtail on the battery ground wire. Due to its proximity to the battery, it may become corroded by acid fumes from the battery.
In 86-90 model cars, it is a black cylinder about 2 1/2" long by 1" diameter with a black/lt green wire.
In 91-95 model cars it is a black cylinder about 2 1/2" long by 1" diameter with a black/white wire.
You'll find it up next to the starter solenoid where the wire goes into the wiring harness.

All the grounds listed in items 1,2 & 3 need to bolt to clean, shiny bare metal. A wire brush or some fine sandpaper is the best thing to use to clean the ground connections.


4.) All the sensors have a common separate signal ground. This includes the TPS, ACT, EGR, BAP, & VSS sensors. This ground is inside the computer and connects pin 46 to pins 40 & 60, which are the main computer grounds. If this internal computer ground gets damaged, you won't be able to dump codes and the car will have idle/stall/ performance problems

5.) The O2 sensor heaters have their own ground (HEGO ground) coming from the computer. This is different and separate from the O2 sensor ground. It is an orange wire with a ring terminal on it. It is located in the fuel injector wiring harness and comes out under the throttle body. It gets connected to a manifold or bolt on back of the cylinder head.

6.) The TFI module has 2 grounds: one for the foil shield around the wires and another for the module itself. The TFI module ground terminates inside the computer.

7.) The computer takes the shield ground for the TFI module and runs it from pin 20 to the chassis near the computer.

8.) Fuel pump ground the fuel pump has a ground pigtail the connects to the body under the gas tank. You have to drop the gas tank to see where it bolts to the body.



See http://assets.fluke.com/appnotes/automotive/beatbook.pdf for help troubleshooting voltage drops across connections and components. Be sure to have the maximum load on a circuit when testing voltage drops across connections. As current across a defective or weak connection, increases so does the voltage drop. A circuit or connection may check out good with no load or minimal load, but show up bad under maximum load conditions. .

Voltage drops should not exceed the following:
200 mV Wire or cable
300 mV Switch
100 mV Ground
0 mV to <50 mV Sensor Connections
0.0V bolt together connections



Extra grounds are like the reserve parachute for a sky diver. If the main one fails, there is always your reserve.

The best plan is to have all the grounds meet at one central spot and connect together there. That eliminates any voltage drops from grounds connected at different places. A voltage drop between the computer ground and the alternator power ground will effectively reduce the voltage available to the computer by the amount of the drop.


Flickering lights on 87-93 GT model Mustangs
SEE Mustang GT Fog Light Fix to fix the foglight problem. The stock wiring isn't up to the job and is overheating. The headlight switch & turn/multifunction switch are affected by Ford's wiring problem. Sometimes it overheats so badly that the plastic shells of the wiring connectors start to melt. This will show you how to add a relay to the fog lights to relieve the overload on the headlight wiring.

Be careful not to use bulbs rated at more than 55 watt each with the stock fog light wiring. Using oversize bulbs can result in overheating the wiring harness and electrical fires. Definitely do the fog light fix first.

I did mine differently, but I had to build my own wiring harness for the fog lights. This is more trouble than it is worth for most folks. I left all the wiring on the stock light switches in place and used the fog light wiring to power the relay coil. The other side of the relay coil is connected to ground. I have an inline fuse that picks up power from the battery side of the starter solenoid. It is connected to the relay contact. The other relay contact is connected to the new wiring harness I made for the fog lights.



The advantage of making your own foglight wiring harness is that you can run 100 watt fog light bulbs. The stock wiring harness will not use 100 watt bulbs without overloading and causing a fire.

Unless you are good at electrical wiring, have the skills and tools (crimp tool, soldering gun, heat gun for the heat shrink tubing, etc.) I recommend that you stick with the Corral method.

Technical explanation of why the wiring and switches overheat.
You asked for it...

I= Current
E= Voltage
R= Resistance
W= Watts

Two 55 watt fog lamps =110 watts. Find the current in the circuit
I= W/E
110 watts/14 volts = 7.85 amps for fog lights alone.
Since the lighting circuit supplies headlights, taillights, and parking lights, etc.

56 watts 2 each GE Part # L3156 corner light 28 watts each
90 watts 2 each GE Part # 9004 headlight 45/65 watts each (low beam)
63 watts 2 each GE Part # L194 parking light 31.5 watts each
56 watts 2 each GE Part # L3157 tail light 28 watts each
265 watts Total

Total other exterior lighting current
I=W/E
265 watts/14 volts = 18.92 amps
18.92 amps other exterior lighting current
+ 7.85 amps fog light current
26.77 amps with all exterior lights and fog lights on.

The 12 gauge power feed wire to the exterior lighting switch is rated at 20 amps
26.77
- 20.00
6.77 amps excess current

7.85 amps used by fog lights
-6.77 amps excess current
1.08 amps to run the fog lights left if you stay within the 20 amp limit of the wire.
With 1.08 amp of current, the fog lights probably won’t produce any useable light.

Added resistance required to reduce fog light current to permissible 20 amp limit
R=E/I
14 volts/6.77 amps = 2.06 ohms
Resistor wattage
W=EI
14 volts x 6.77 amps = 94.78 watts
You would need a 2 ohm, 100 watt resistor.

Light bulb ratings from http://www.roadparts.com/catalog/section30.pdf
Radio shack resistor catalog - no matches , and no combinations that could be used to make a 100 watt, 2 Ohm resistor.
See RadioShack.com

Ohm’s law – in case you have any questions about my formulas - Ohm's Law Calculators