Unwanted Chime

[GRNCH]

Hi all,

I hope y'all can help me with a problem that has me baffled for a couple of months now.

The headlight warning chime goes off (fast chime) when I press the brake with ignition off and lights off. It doesn't happen with the ignition on or when the lights are on. All of the fuses check out okay. New headlight switch and the dimmer checks out. Friends have suggested that it is a loose ground, but I can't see any loose wires. Here are some additional observations:

1. When the hazards are engaged, the chime dings with each flash.
2. If I pull just the Stop/Hazard fuse, the chime no longer goes off when I press the brake pedal.
3. If I pull just the Instrument fuse, the chime no longer goes off when I press the brake pedal.
4. If I pull just the Instrument fuse, the chime no longer dings with each hazard flash.

I poured over wiring diagrams and scoured the boards without luck. Any ideas specifically where I should look?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Check out my wiring nightmare.

 

[Wageslave]

Oh dear lord that is a mess.

I would recommend just methodically going through and shortening up all the excess wires and removing ALL of the crimp terminals and splices that have been added in. Replace them with soldered and heat shrinked terminals and then see if the problem continues. If the issue persists, then check your ground connections between the frame and the body.

A cheap and quick way to check this is a set of alligator clips and a long wire. Clip one end to the negative battery terminal and the other to a few convenient grounded places on the body. Preferably close to the fusebox (think parking brake pedal frame or pedal cage.)

 

[pagrunt]

You might need this to go with those wires...

But seriously, is that a factory reminder chime or an parts store add on? The factory unit replaces the regular seatbelt buzzer unit & plugs a gray wire into a accesorry light port in the fuse box & two wire (a orange & a light green) into the spot where the standard door/key reminder buzzer goes. (Per '81 Chevy A body wire diagrams)

 

[GRNCH]

Hi and thanks for the quick replies!

Wageslave (aren't we all - lol) that's a good test. I'll add a ground to the parking brake assembly and see if that makes a difference before starting to re-solder every connection. Checking grounds against the body is also a good idea. A ground bolt may have come loose.

Pagrunt, yes it is a spaghetti nightmare. It still has the factory chime for an '87 Buick. Q: When you say that the gray wire plugs into a accessory light port, do you mean that a gray wire with a plug on the end goes from the chime to one of those single slots on the front of the fuse box?

Thanks!

 

[pagrunt]

Yea, that is part of circiut 8 insturment & panel lights, gray wire. I believe the your '87 would be the same reminder chime like my '81.

 

[GRNCH]

Cool, thanks! I'll check it out and let you know about both the gray wire and adding a temporary ground from the battery to the parking brake assembly.

 

[GRNCH]

Happy Friday!

Okay, I first ran a ground directly from the battery and attached it to every ground location under the dash I could find, starting with the parking brake assembly. Unfortunately, the problem is still there. All the grounds I can see were tight and I used a meter to check continuity with the ground wire from the battery and all of the ground locations are good.

There is no wire I could see going from the chime module to the LPS plug on the fuse box. The wiring diagram I found appears to show that the gray wire comes from the fuse itself on the fuse box and is then distributed to may other places (see attached).

I took out the chime module (what a pain) and tested the incoming wires. The gray wire gets +12v when the lights are on (good so far). Then I measured about +5v when I press the brake pedal. Ah ha! I had a hunch and turned the garage lights off and saw that the instrument panel lights also came on when I pressed the brakes. I had put in red bulbs so never noticed this before.

So it appears that pressing the brake pedal sends +5v to the instrument panel lights and to the chime module. I know the answer should be obvious now, but I've been working on this so long I can't see the forest through the trees.

Suggestions on where and what I should be looking for? Should I take apart the instrument panel again and if so, what am I looking for?

Thanks for your help! We're getting close.

 

[GRNCH]

Hi,

Did some more troubleshooting this morning.

So the dash lights get it's power from the Instr fuse. That fuse gets it's power from a dark green wire from the dimmer. A brown wire powers the dimmer coming from the light switch. The light switch gets it's power from a red wire from the fuse box and passes it to the brown wire when engaged.

Okay, I get +5v on the brown wire coming from the light switch to the dimmer when I press the brake pedal. Testing the light switch, it does not send power to the brown wire from the red when the brake is pressed. So the light switch seems okay.

The problem is that power is being fed into the brown wire in between the light switch and the dimmer. The brown wire disappears into a harness and I can't see if anything is spliced in between.

Do you think I'm on the right track or chasing the wrong thing?

Thanks!

 

[GRNCH]

Hi Folks,

Okay, from the wiring diagram, the brown wire from the light switch sends power to the hazard switch, front and rear side markers, turbo/tach lights and to the dimmer switch (I don't have theft deterrent, digital dash, digital clock or opera lights). I unplugged the dimmer switch so that power doesn't go to the chime or dash lights (through the INST Fuse). When I press the brake pedal, there is +5v in the brown wire as tested at the hazard connector and the dimmer switch and the parking lights come on.

Okay, so what does the brake switch have to do with the brown wire from the light switch? In other words, how is power going from the brake switch to the brown wire circuit?

The brake switch is only a few months old and worked fine before. I plugged in the old switch (I bought a new one because the plastic threads were stripped), and the same thing happens.

Any ideas what's going on?

Thanks for your help.

 

[pontiacgp]

Does your car have cruise control? There is a tan wire coming from the brake light switch that powers the resume solenoid after releasing the brake.

I had a problem with my light chime going off continuously so I cut the gray wire that feed the chime and that shut it off. I'm going to wire a relay in the headlight system to shut the lights off when the ignition is off. I might add a capacitor to leave the headlights on for 20 or 30 seconds after the ignition is off.