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1993 Electrical Issues


Albeitt
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Hi, I'm really new to Pathfinders and NPORA, but I'm excited to own it. I got my 1993 about a week ago for really cheap because it needs some work. I'm currently picking off little bits to work on here and there, and it's going slowly but surely.

 

Currently, there's an issue with the lights and door chime. When the battery is hooked up, the running lights/signal lights, the taillights, the instrument cluster lights, and the door chime stay on even without the key in the ignition. The door chime does turn off when I close the door, though.

 

At first I thought it was a short or something, but I've done some research and I have a hunch that it's the ignition switch causing the issue. I came here because I couldn't find any other posts with my exact scenario (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

A few of the previous owners did some wiring work. Could I have some information regarding which wires go to which lights? For some reason when I activate the turning signals, the front lights to the side of the head lamps do not blink.

 

If you guys need any more information, just ask and I'll try to provide details.

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43 minutes ago, Albeitt said:

Hi, I'm really new to Pathfinders and NPORA, but I'm excited to own it. I got my 1993 about a week ago for really cheap because it needs some work. I'm currently picking off little bits to work on here and there, and it's going slowly but surely.

 

Currently, there's an issue with the lights and door chime. When the battery is hooked up, the running lights/signal lights, the taillights, the instrument cluster lights, and the door chime stay on even without the key in the ignition. The door chime does turn off when I close the door, though.

 

At first I thought it was a short or something, but I've done some research and I have a hunch that it's the ignition switch causing the issue. I came here because I couldn't find any other posts with my exact scenario (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

A few of the previous owners did some wiring work. Could I have some information regarding which wires go to which lights? For some reason when I activate the turning signals, the front lights to the side of the head lamps do not blink.

 

If you guys need any more information, just ask and I'll try to provide details.

Could be the actual head light switch/parking light switch. The internal connectors could be broken and are on all the time because of that. This would be a good explanation for the lights on but no ignition. The door chime is also connected to the switch so that you don't leave the lights on when you exit the vehicle. The chime only activates when the door is open rather then when its all closed up as it would get quite annoying if you were sitting inside with the chime on for no reason. 

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Hi -- Mine's a '95 SE, and has all kinds of electrical gremlins. Now and then the security system takes on a life of it's own, locking the doors as I'm trying to get in (made worse by the fact of a jimmied driver's side lock and a broken latch, so I have to enter from the passenger side -- or the rear hatch, and break my back getting into the driver's seat from behind).

Also, the alarm arms itself, whether turned on or off. And was going off by itself at all hours to the point I had to disconnect both the siren and the horns. Oh, and yeah the ignition switch is plumb worn out, and requires a heavy hand to make electrical contact, but she usually starts just fine... except when due for a new starter (replaced two times now, in 4-5 years, not too big a deal once you know how). 

 

I'm allergic to working with wiring (or anything much else) under the dash, so my technique is basically just cursing and keeping my fingers crossed until it behaves. Sorry, I know that's not much help at all. Except for maybe the fingers-crossing bit(?)

 

Notwithstanding said weird glitches, I drive this vehicle every morning and every evening to and from my shop, with zero actual problems about 99% of the time 8>]

 

Good Luck! (to both of us)

--Dave

Edited by shaggy
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21 minutes ago, Strato_54 said:

Could be the actual head light switch/parking light switch. The internal connectors could be broken and are on all the time because of that. This would be a good explanation for the lights on but no ignition. The door chime is also connected to the switch so that you don't leave the lights on when you exit the vehicle. The chime only activates when the door is open rather then when its all closed up as it would get quite annoying if you were sitting inside with the chime on for no reason. 

The switch as in the lever on the left hand side? 

 

I dug into that today and managed to fix the front headlight that was giving me trouble. The headlights, high beams, and lower blinkers work. The parking/running lights stay on permanently whether I switch to off or headlights or not. 

 

Is there a way to get the chime to only ring if I opened the door and had the key in the ignition? Seems like that would make more sense. 

Edited by Albeitt
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22 minutes ago, shaggy said:

Hi -- Mine's a '95 SE, and has all kinds of electrical gremlins. Now and then the security system takes on a life of it's own, locking the doors as I'm trying to get in (made worse by the fact of a jimmied driver's side lock and a broken latch, so I have to enter from the passenger side -- or the rear hatch, and break my back getting into the driver's seat from behind).

Also, the alarm arms itself, whether turned on or off. And was going off by itself at all hours to the point I had to disconnect both the siren and the horns. Oh, and yeah the ignition switch is plumb worn out, and requires a heavy hand to make electrical contact, but she usually starts just fine... except when due for a new starter (replaced two times now, in 4-5 years, not too big a deal once you know how). 

 

I'm allergic to working with wiring (or anything much else) under the dash, so my technique is basically just cursing and keeping my fingers crossed until it behaves. Sorry, I know that's not much help at all. Except for maybe the fingers-crossing bit(?)

 

Notwithstanding said weird glitches, I drive this vehicle every morning and every evening to and from my shop, with zero actual problems about 99% of the time 8>]

 

Good Luck! (to both of us)

--Dave

My electrical gremlins don't seem to be as serious as yours. Nothing is locking on me, and everything else works. Power windows power mirrors surprisingly all work. 

 

The locks are broken and theres a missing handle but I guess I'll have work for a while. 

 

Good luck with the gremlins

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9 hours ago, Albeitt said:

The switch as in the lever on the left hand side? 

 

I dug into that today and managed to fix the front headlight that was giving me trouble. The headlights, high beams, and lower blinkers work. The parking/running lights stay on permanently whether I switch to off or headlights or not. 

 

Is there a way to get the chime to only ring if I opened the door and had the key in the ignition? Seems like that would make more sense. 

Yes I am talking about the left hand lever. If it has day time runners then it could be the hand brake signal. Not 100% on the WD21 but on most vehicles it’s connected to the parking brake. On my 97 when I put the hand brake down the day time runners come on and on my 6.0 they turn on and off with the parking brake. The chime is also supposed to go off with the key in the ignition. The only time it goes is seat belt, head lights being on or the key in the ignition when the door is opened. There very well still could be an issue with the lever itself or the previous owner wired something funny to it. 

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If you unplug the multifunction switch(headlight/turn signal) switch, does the park lights remain on? If not, then you have a bad switch that will continue to give you issues untill it is replaced. If the lights still are on with the switch unplugged, you have to start chasing wiring to see what "repairs" you will have to fix. 

Just for the record, the marker lamps next to the headlights are just marker lamps. The ones in the bumper are just turn signals. Seperate circuits there. 

The warning chime does 3 warnings.

Key in the ignition, on only when key is in the ignition and the driver's door opened. 

Lights on warning, on only when park lights are on and door open.(That is to remind you the lights are on and the battery might be dead when you come back) 

Seatbelt warning. Only on for about 8 seconds if the ignition is turned on and drivers belt is not buckled. 

 

Factory alarm is a known problem child. Best thing is to remove the driver's seat, lift the carpet and unplug the harness from the small black box and remove said box and adjust it with an 8lb sledge hammer. Take the 2 heavy wires and jumper them together. You will lose the keyless entry, but the other issues will go away. The factory alarm does flash the parking light I believe, that could also be why the park lights are on if the relay has failed on. 

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23 hours ago, Mr_Reverse said:

If you unplug the multifunction switch(headlight/turn signal) switch, does the park lights remain on? If not, then you have a bad switch that will continue to give you issues untill it is replaced. If the lights still are on with the switch unplugged, you have to start chasing wiring to see what "repairs" you will have to fix. 

Just for the record, the marker lamps next to the headlights are just marker lamps. The ones in the bumper are just turn signals. Seperate circuits there. 

The warning chime does 3 warnings.

Key in the ignition, on only when key is in the ignition and the driver's door opened. 

Lights on warning, on only when park lights are on and door open.(That is to remind you the lights are on and the battery might be dead when you come back) 

Seatbelt warning. Only on for about 8 seconds if the ignition is turned on and drivers belt is not buckled. 

 

Factory alarm is a known problem child. Best thing is to remove the driver's seat, lift the carpet and unplug the harness from the small black box and remove said box and adjust it with an 8lb sledge hammer. Take the 2 heavy wires and jumper them together. You will lose the keyless entry, but the other issues will go away. The factory alarm does flash the parking light I believe, that could also be why the park lights are on if the relay has failed on. 

 

Hi, thanks. If I remove /bypass or clobber the little black box under the seat, will that take out the alarm system altogether? Mine still works (when it works) as a deterrent.

(Not worried about remote entry, that was busted when I got vehicle.)

Edited by shaggy
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On 6/26/2020 at 11:58 PM, Albeitt said:

My electrical gremlins don't seem to be as serious as yours. Nothing is locking on me, and everything else works. Power windows power mirrors surprisingly all work. 

 

The locks are broken and theres a missing handle but I guess I'll have work for a while. 

 

Good luck with the gremlins

Thanks, yeah they do drive me nuts at times. 

I hope yours are fixable.

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Yes, removing the alarm module will remove the alarm. You can spend $50 and install an aftermarket unit that actually works reliably and get keyless entry back. I actually did this about 16 years ago to mine and got remote start and hatch glass remote release as well. That system was about $120 and worked fine for years. I actually had it in the same location as the factory unit and used the factory units wiring. 

It has since been removed, I now have a keyless ignition system that operates the locks automatically when the key fob gets close to the truck. It was a cheap ebay system a friend gave me when it got too complicated to install in his car at the time. I did lose the remote hatch glass release and flashing lights, but still have all the other features I was interested in and the key stays in my pocket. Fell in love with that system when I got a 2010 Altima 10 years ago. Miss that car...

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You can get a '90 service manual from cardiagn.com that covers my '93 pretty well. Nicoclub has a '94/'95 for the round-dash trucks. The EL section is your friend for wiring issues.

 

I doubt the ignition switch is causing the issue. The headlights are independent of the ignition (at least they are on mine, IIRC the Canadian trucks had DRLs, which might complicate things), and an ignition switch stuck on accessory would leave a few other things on.

 

Something's powering up the marker light circuit that shouldn't be. Unplug the headlight switch and see if that makes the lights turn off. If it does, clean and adjust (or replace) the headlight switch. If it doesn't, +1 for deleting the alarm. Like Mr. Reverse said, the alarm itself is pretty easy to remove. It's the square box under the driver's seat with the sticker on top (or the round hole in the middle with a pushbutton under it, if the sticker's gone). Jump the two black and yellow wires labelled "starter" together, unbolt/unplug/chuck the alarm brain, and abandon the rest in place. I electrical-taped up the harness connectors so they couldn't short out later if something ended up under the seat, and also removed the wire tapped into the marker circuit (look for a wire spliced into the headlight harness, near the switch, with a Scotchlock connector).

I had just about forgotten about the various beepers these came with! I completely de-beeped mine when I got it. No dinger, no beeper, seat belt switch bypassed. I was impressed that the dinger had actual mechanical bells inside, but not impressed enough to want to listen to it for minutes on end when I was tracking down some issues with my headlights.

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Thanks Mr. R! 8>]

 

It's funny when your truck starts playing tricks -- yesterday my Pathy locked me out -- w/ the key in the ignition -- haha! It's obviously got a sense of humor (it knows I keep a spare key under the chassis). Luckily I am pretty forgiving. I just wish someone would hurry up with that Time Machine -so I could have a brand-new '95 SE 8>}

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On 6/26/2020 at 11:34 PM, shaggy said:

Hi -- Mine's a '95 SE, and has all kinds of electrical gremlins. Now and then the security system takes on a life of it's own, locking the doors as I'm trying to get in (made worse by the fact of a jimmied driver's side lock and a broken latch, so I have to enter from the passenger side -- or the rear hatch, and break my back getting into the driver's seat from behind).

Also, the alarm arms itself, whether turned on or off. And was going off by itself at all hours to the point I had to disconnect both the siren and the horns. Oh, and yeah the ignition switch is plumb worn out, and requires a heavy hand to make electrical contact, but she usually starts just fine... except when due for a new starter (replaced two times now, in 4-5 years, not too big a deal once you know how). 

 

I'm allergic to working with wiring (or anything much else) under the dash, so my technique is basically just cursing and keeping my fingers crossed until it behaves. Sorry, I know that's not much help at all. Except for maybe the fingers-crossing bit(?)

 

Notwithstanding said weird glitches, I drive this vehicle every morning and every evening to and from my shop, with zero actual problems about 99% of the time 8>]

 

Good Luck! (to both of us)

--Dave

if your door locks are autolocking/refuse to lock. there is actually a door switch around the latch that wears out over time. replace those and all will be good in the world. 
 

door switch

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two other wiring issues I've had were the clutch pedal clutch pedal ignition lock switch. I installed a new one as these distort over time and if you really want to have fun, run the wires up to to a toggle switch mounted somewhere on the dash.. (I'm currently running a pigtail loop locked into the harness).

Another issue is the fuse on the interlock relay. wires (it's by the battery and has two wires, one going to the battery and the other to the ignition components connected). Check the fuse or do what i did and make a brand new one. I can post photos later.

I had problems starting my truck and some days it would not start and those two mods have made my '93 pathy start with the first turn of the key. 

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On 6/27/2020 at 9:50 AM, Strato_54 said:

Yes I am talking about the left hand lever. If it has day time runners then it could be the hand brake signal. Not 100% on the WD21 but on most vehicles it’s connected to the parking brake. On my 97 when I put the hand brake down the day time runners come on and on my 6.0 they turn on and off with the parking brake. The chime is also supposed to go off with the key in the ignition. The only time it goes is seat belt, head lights being on or the key in the ignition when the door is opened. There very well still could be an issue with the lever itself or the previous owner wired something funny to it. 

My parking brake is actually broken, so I'll have to check if that's causing the issue. Thanks! I'll get back to post results pretty soon.

 

On 6/30/2020 at 1:28 AM, Slartibartfast said:

You can get a '90 service manual from cardiagn.com that covers my '93 pretty well. Nicoclub has a '94/'95 for the round-dash trucks. The EL section is your friend for wiring issues.

 

I doubt the ignition switch is causing the issue. The headlights are independent of the ignition (at least they are on mine, IIRC the Canadian trucks had DRLs, which might complicate things), and an ignition switch stuck on accessory would leave a few other things on.

 

Something's powering up the marker light circuit that shouldn't be. Unplug the headlight switch and see if that makes the lights turn off. If it does, clean and adjust (or replace) the headlight switch. If it doesn't, +1 for deleting the alarm. Like Mr. Reverse said, the alarm itself is pretty easy to remove. It's the square box under the driver's seat with the sticker on top (or the round hole in the middle with a pushbutton under it, if the sticker's gone). Jump the two black and yellow wires labelled "starter" together, unbolt/unplug/chuck the alarm brain, and abandon the rest in place. I electrical-taped up the harness connectors so they couldn't short out later if something ended up under the seat, and also removed the wire tapped into the marker circuit (look for a wire spliced into the headlight harness, near the switch, with a Scotchlock connector).

I had just about forgotten about the various beepers these came with! I completely de-beeped mine when I got it. No dinger, no beeper, seat belt switch bypassed. I was impressed that the dinger had actual mechanical bells inside, but not impressed enough to want to listen to it for minutes on end when I was tracking down some issues with my headlights.

Yes, mine is the Canadian model and has running lights on it, which aren't automatic. The dashlights also stay on too, but that wouldn't be caused by an ignition switch? If that's the case, one less thing to fix is always nice! :D

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12 hours ago, Palionu said:

two other wiring issues I've had were the clutch pedal clutch pedal ignition lock switch. I installed a new one as these distort over time and if you really want to have fun, run the wires up to to a toggle switch mounted somewhere on the dash.. (I'm currently running a pigtail loop locked into the harness).

Another issue is the fuse on the interlock relay. wires (it's by the battery and has two wires, one going to the battery and the other to the ignition components connected). Check the fuse or do what i did and make a brand new one. I can post photos later.

I had problems starting my truck and some days it would not start and those two mods have made my '93 pathy start with the first turn of the key. 

Haha, I have a feeling I'm going to run into a few more issues with this thing. I feel like every time I turn around I notice another problem.

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On 6/30/2020 at 1:28 AM, Slartibartfast said:

You can get a '90 service manual from cardiagn.com that covers my '93 pretty well. Nicoclub has a '94/'95 for the round-dash trucks. The EL section is your friend for wiring issues.

 

I doubt the ignition switch is causing the issue. The headlights are independent of the ignition (at least they are on mine, IIRC the Canadian trucks had DRLs, which might complicate things), and an ignition switch stuck on accessory would leave a few other things on.

 

Something's powering up the marker light circuit that shouldn't be. Unplug the headlight switch and see if that makes the lights turn off. If it does, clean and adjust (or replace) the headlight switch. If it doesn't, +1 for deleting the alarm. Like Mr. Reverse said, the alarm itself is pretty easy to remove. It's the square box under the driver's seat with the sticker on top (or the round hole in the middle with a pushbutton under it, if the sticker's gone). Jump the two black and yellow wires labelled "starter" together, unbolt/unplug/chuck the alarm brain, and abandon the rest in place. I electrical-taped up the harness connectors so they couldn't short out later if something ended up under the seat, and also removed the wire tapped into the marker circuit (look for a wire spliced into the headlight harness, near the switch, with a Scotchlock connector).

I had just about forgotten about the various beepers these came with! I completely de-beeped mine when I got it. No dinger, no beeper, seat belt switch bypassed. I was impressed that the dinger had actual mechanical bells inside, but not impressed enough to want to listen to it for minutes on end when I was tracking down some issues with my headlights.

I managed to fix the issue. The headlight switch was bad, but I bandaided until I can get a replacement. It's nice not having to unplug the battery lol

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