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The 1987 manual I have (I've never been able to find a PDF of an 86) does not mention this.
The owners manuals state to turn the lights on. You'll find it under the "opening the hood" section. It is powered by the left front parking light, so either method, headlight switch or left park light function, will enable it.
The owners manuals state to turn the lights on. You'll find it under the "opening the hood" section. It is powered by the left front parking light, so either method, headlight switch or left park light function, will enable it.
So I'm back home and was able to test this. On my 86 951, EITHER turn signal location does the same thing. Left or right causes JUST the 8 running lights to come on, along with the under hood light. That's the front and rear lights, and the side marker lights. It does NOT turn on the dash lights or the license plate lights. So that's the use case for doing the turn signal thing vs. just turning on the parking lights at the light switch. I don't know how much power it saves not having the dash, accessory, and license plate lights not on, but it can't hurt if all you need is the parking and underhood light.
All my interior lights, including the Clock, I converted to LED. The only non-LED lights I have in the interior are the A/C controls. Or I would test draw just "out of interest". But I can have my interior lights on for hours and hours without any drain on the battery.
Anyway, I've derailed this thread enough with talk of the underhood light! Back to your regular programming.
... EITHER turn signal location does the same thing ... Anyway, I've derailed this thread enough ...
I looked at the schematic for an 86 and it seems that only one side should light. If you would like to start another thread we can discuss (and perhaps someone with a new car can join in.)
I believe activating the parking lights using the turn signal switch after the car is off is or was a German regulation. Every BMW I've owned dating to the 70's does this and so does my 86 944.
Anyway, I've got another small update:
It appears that my friend hit the odometer reset while driving which caused the odometer to stop working. So, while waiting on exhaust system repairs, I decided to take a peak at the speedo assembly and find out what's up. It was also a great opportunity to replace any burnt out instrument cluster bulbs (I found three). A very simple test rig consisted of a 9 volt battery and a couple of small alligator leads permits testing without connecting the car battery.
I was expecting the odometer gear to be shattered but it had simply slid along its shaft away from the worm gear. A tiny bit of Gorilla Glue and perfecto!! (Picture shows the gear back in place and just prior to the dab of glue.
While waiting on the glue to dry, I removed all the fuses and cleaned all contacts (fuses and fuse panel tabs). One less thing to worry about later...
Another step forward: The exhaust system came back from my buddy's shop and is in place! I should be able to start the engine as soon as this arctic blast leaves the region. We got down to -7 deg this morning, with a wind chill of -35 deg...
What's that saying "Three steps forward, two steps back"? Well, today was interesting to say the least.
The good:
- Filled the engine with oil & coolant and she started right up - almost Lexus smooth with the new motor mounts!
- Repaired both cabin and rear hatch lamp switches, as well as both door light switches.
- Replaced one non-operating fog lamp, driver's side turn signal lamp and passenger side (front) marker lamp.
- Removed the windshield wiper motor and cleaned all contacts, including the armature/commutator.
- Dissembled windshield washer motor/pump, cleaned/lubed and reassembled - works great now!
Not so good:
- I've got a funky turn signal problem that I'll have to dig deeper into...
- The clutch pedal stayed on the floor when depressed - you guys know what that means.
- The fresh air blower motor started to spark badly and almost caught on fire while running on high speed. I found a bad shaft bearing (bushing) upon removal. The shaft was wondering about while spinning so that's shot.
All in all, I'm making progress... Sorry no pictures today.
On the turn signals, that switch on the stalk is just as prone to corrosion/oxidation/carbon build as all the other point contact switches in these cars. When I got my 86, you had to hold the high-beam switch for the high beams to work. And 95% of the time if you tried to engage high beams the "normal" way, the lights just went out. I pulled that whole piece and tried to get micro files inside to get it working. It helped but increased the working % to about 20%. IIRC, it's held together by 3 rivets. You're not SUPPOSED to be able to take it apart. But I drilled those out, cleaned all the internal contact points, and used bolts to put it back together. That was about 2017 or so. I'm a little fuzzy on the details. I looked for a writeup, but for once, doesn't seem I'd done one. Cause, you know, I'm so quiet and sparse with my words...
I agree; however, I've gone through the lever connections and that part of the harness. I think there's something going on near the turn signal lamp socket. The driver's front doesn't flash although I've replaced the bulb. I'll just have to break out the multimeter and perform some voltage/continuity tests.
01-22-2023, 03:50 PM
