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New owner of Vin 4468, with a few teething problems!
#1
Hi there
I'm Steve the new owner of 4468.
Having had the car for just over a month I am loving it! The previous owner, SteveyP, has done most of the heavy lifting and she runs and looks great.
Of course there are a few snags I am having. Here are the electrical based ones...

First my 'Door ajar' light stays on. I have tested the plunger switch on the doors and it works but it seems the drivers door is not pushing it in enough to work. I notice the door is missing a thin piece of plastic in this area but I don't think it is thick enough to amke much difference. Door align problem?
Also I see there is a 2nd plunger in this area, whats it for? I assume its a buzzer for leaving the headlight son but it doesn not seem to work (I swapped the wiring round on these two switches and it's not the switch itself)

My courtesy lights don't come on (possibly related to the above) The light themselves work if I rock them to the always on position so it's not the bulbs.

Thirdly: having a look in the fuse and relay area I noticed a large black thing with a bunch of cables coming out disconnected (see pic) Looking at the diagram it appears to be the 'impulse unit' Whats this for and should I plug it back in??!!

Lastly (for now) I have my front drivers speaker and my passenger rear speaker not working. The head unit is not original but is an old sony 80's tape. The sound is a bit crap so I want to replace the front and rears and the head unit.
I will probably make a new rear carpet board and put 6x9's on it than try and use the old rear speaker mounts but want to replace the fronts. Is there a how-to guide on replacing front speakers or how to get the dash pulled apart without breaking anything?

Thanks all in advance!
S.
Vin: 4468
DOC No: 758
www.theportlandarms.co.uk
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#2
Quote:First my 'Door ajar' light stays on. I have tested the plunger switch on the doors and it works but it seems the drivers door is not pushing it in enough to work. I notice the door is missing a thin piece of plastic in this area but I don't think it is thick enough to amke much difference. Door align problem?
Would not mess with the doors for now, no where near a wiring diagram at the moment either.
Quote:Also I see there is a 2nd plunger in this area, whats it for? I assume its a buzzer for leaving the headlight son but it doesn not seem to work (I swapped the wiring round on these two switches and it's not the switch itself)
IIRC it's for the buzzer box but it's a seat belt or door ajar warning one rather than for the headlights, probably has been un-plugged as it's very annoying. Again may be related to the first, perhaps all the wires are muddled up?
Quote:Thirdly: having a look in the fuse and relay area I noticed a large black thing with a bunch of cables coming out disconnected (see pic) Looking at the diagram it appears to be the 'impulse unit' Whats this for and should I plug it back in??!!
Does your central locking work? I'm sure this controls that.
For the speakers your probably best off just running new wiring for them, removing any existing modifications etc. You can replace the front speakers from underneath the dash, infact IIRC you cant fit the dash with them fitted. Your options are very llimited as to what will fit in the front due to size. This is good bedtime reading on speakers: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?572-C ... t+speakers If you can find good front ones that work well please let me know as I really need to do mine. IIRC I used JBL ones on my old D.
Chris
Membership Secretary DOC UK
2021's DeLorean event: http://www.deloreans.co.uk/forum/showthr...p?tid=6056
VIN#15768 Ex VIN#4584
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#3
On another note, I have just remembered how close you are to me. If you need any help or pointers as to what things are/do then feel free to pop around and I will go through things with you.
Chris
Membership Secretary DOC UK
2021's DeLorean event: http://www.deloreans.co.uk/forum/showthr...p?tid=6056
VIN#15768 Ex VIN#4584
Reply
#4
I suspected it's for the central locking, I just wonder why it has been left unplugged? I'll try and plug it back and see what happens... *bang!*
I was considering upgrading the module for remote central locking, does anyone have any recommendations or suppliers in this regard?

Looks like your only a half hour from me so I may well take you up on your offer Chris!
Vin: 4468
DOC No: 758
www.theportlandarms.co.uk
Reply
#5
posting error.
VIN# 04708, Grey interior, 5 speed, October 1981
DOC 649
ex DOC 562
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#6
The original central locking was one of the many parasitic draws on the battery when left sitting. Many owners opt to just unplug it rather than spend the money on a new unit, or the time on modifying the existing unit.
VIN 4494, Grey interior, 5 speed, October 1981
DOC 757
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#7
Without trying to hijack this thread has anyone tried having the parts rebuilt by MartinG? Did it cure the drain, did it work better after?
Central Locking solenoids and control module. There is a very bad design flaw in the original control module which causes the otherwise extremely reliable solenoids to burn out. We rebuild the control module with hermetically sealed relays that can't stick, and rewind the solenoids with a heavier gauge wire for improved force. NB this will NOT correct problems elsewhere in the wiring.

£150 for YOUR units to be rebuilt. 2 week turnaround.

[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
www.delorean.co.uk

Chris
Membership Secretary DOC UK
2021's DeLorean event: http://www.deloreans.co.uk/forum/showthr...p?tid=6056
VIN#15768 Ex VIN#4584
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#8
Hi Steve, I noticed the module was original and therefore unplugged it. The module is badly designed and if it hasn't already caused the lock solenoids to burn out, it's only a matter of time. It also causes a parasitic draw.

There are a lot of cars out there with my rebuilt modules going back 10+ years, though I've only recently started labelling them. If when you pop the lid off, there are two little black boxes on the board in place of the original relays, then it's one of mine. Rissy and #1458 has the original and it's been going now for over 30,000 miles and nearly 14 years.

This is the job they need

www.dmcnews.com/Techsection/pdfs/lockmod91.pdf

The solenoid failures unfortunately are a by-product of this crap design, though there's nothing wrong with them (on the Jaguars from which they were sourced, they're considered bomb-proof!). It took me a while, but I've worked out a way to re-wind them reliably, using Dave Stragand's guide - though it's a lot trickier than it at first seems.

http://dmcnews.com/Techsection/stragand ... inding.htm
Martin Gutkowski
DeLorean Cars
http://www.delorean.co.uk
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#9
jwrayth Wrote:The original central locking was one of the many parasitic draws on the battery when left sitting.

It actually accounts for 75% of the entire draw. 20mA when connected, 5mA when not, IIRC.
Martin Gutkowski
DeLorean Cars
http://www.delorean.co.uk
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#10
Thanks Martin. I will take a look inside next time I am with the car.
I did plug it back in as a test, seems that the doors lock together but don't unlock. Would this be a fault of the module or wiring? Anything I can do to help diagnose?

If it is as we suspect an original module and may already be faulty I was wanting to replace it with a modern unit with remote locking. If I went down this route whats the best way? I see DMC have a digital door lock unit that can be upgraded to have remote central locking but it's rather expensive. DMCNW have there system that appears to need you to replace the solenoids with actuators with there door upgrade kit and then choose a keyless system on top:
http://www.delorean-parts.com/delorean-p...-Alone.pdf
This still works out cheaper than the DMC solution and allows for the future upgrade of there remote door opening system which might be cool! 8)
Anyone got any experience with these?
Vin: 4468
DOC No: 758
www.theportlandarms.co.uk
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