ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Technical Discussion - Beginner / Repair => Topic started by: TinTopTom on January 20, 2012, 10:51:42 AM
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My Sami had this intermittent tail light problem. Sometimes they'd all work, other times, one tail light out, other time a different brake light was out. My 17 year boy drives it to school, so it's got to be in good shape. If there's one thing I learned from being 17 once, it's that a 17yr old doesn't need any more reasons (other than being 17) to be pulled over by the local police.
Samurai factory tail light housings don't appear to be super-high quality when they were new. 25 years later, the contacts are tarnished and corroded, like any car of that age who has lived a tough life. It came with a set of spare lights, tried those, they were worse.
I messed around with dielectric grease, which keeps things from corroding, but it didn't fix the problem. Then I remembered this copper-based electrical contact paste I'd purchased from Eastwood about 15 years ago. I fished it out of my toolbox, and dabbed a little on each bulb solder 'tit', and a little around the steel housing that grounds the bulbs to their sockets.
Problem fixed!
Just thought I'd pass it along.
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A little WD40 once a month won't hurt either >:D...and to get 25 years from a low quality lights I dunno i guess you get waht you pay for ;)
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Good Tip, thanks ;D
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A friend of mine and I have been resurrecting this 1958 VW bus, to take on the infamous Shasta Snow trip.
check out <http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1107_march_of_the_microbuses/viewall.html> for more info on that. The poor thing hasn't been registered since 1981 :o
With a mostly untouched electrical system that's more than half a century old, most of the connections have some corrosion, lights, turn sigs don't work, etc. I'm adding my roof rack off the Sami and wiring in it's 4 off road lights, a Cb radio, cig lighter adapter for GPS and cell phone charging, adding to the electrical load on an already marginal system. We've been using this copper paste to improve the connections on the some-what crude fuse panel and light sockets along the way. The lights work again, the relays and 100w lights work, blinkers, GPS... so far so good!
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What happens to the microbus's that fail to make it?
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What happens to the microbus's that fail to make it?
They are left for dead and the coyotes eat them ;)
Naw... Two years ago, we put our bus into a ditch on on it's side. No problem, with help we winched it out, and continued.
One team had a more serious mis-hap a few years ago, it was a bad deal. Super-nice guy, but he will tell you he was driving WAAAY over his head, got sideways and rolled it. A couple of other crews stayed with him until they could get him some help and a tow truck.
My only real safety concern are the pot farmers up there... those boys reportedly don't play nice. But this event is off season for that industry, there's never been an issue that I know of.