Well, I will begin this tomorrow, I guess. Still not finished with the Taurus, but brake lights are more important.

I had a problem a while ago where putting the transmission into Reverse blew a fuse instantly ***when a U-Haul trailer was hooked up*** but it's been several years since I've needed to do that.

Thank you again, Karl, this is good stuff.

 

OK, I think I'll go get one of those HF things when they open, looks like half an hour from now.

Right now, everything is working fine, I can't create a failure on demand. I first checked the rear bulbs (broken filaments crossing to ground can cause all kinds of weirdness) but the bulbs are fine. Haven't touched the hazard flasher yet.

Next up was the trailer plug and its ground; it's riveted to the bumper and seems to be an OK connection BUT it's one of those crimp-on terminals, not entirely weatherproof by any means. I jiggled the wire a bit at its terminal connection and it kinda felt like I released some tension someplace, or maybe some corrosion had been busted off, don't know.

But I next installed a fuse and turned stuff on, everything is working.

The hazard switch was a problem in the past when the switch was rubbed wrong by the steering wheel as it turned round & round. Opened that up about a week ago and everything looks fine, so I reassembled it and moved on.

As an aside, I have a replacement column (my tilt-wheel stuff is broken) in my basement that I got from a JY ~10 years ago, but that's a project I never planned on....




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The Taurus is still a problem, too, I don't like disabling 2 cars at the same time, but what can ya do....

 

I know the feeling so keep 3 vehicles for when that happens lol..

 

LOL since you mention it....

I've got another Taurus SHO parked in the street in front of my house, the spade connector the red/lightblue signal wire connects to got busted off, so there is no way to start it save for trying to maybe push-start it. That's another project on my to-do list, but one thing at a time.

And then there's my mom's Altima that was stolen from me last Christmas shopping season, the State Patrol found it in Evergreen ~2 months ago and I got it back, but it has ~$4k in damage so it's at the body shop right now.

 

I used to be a multi vehicle guy. But now just Big Blue. I finally realized that it's smarter to charter. So on those rare occasions where I need another vehicle I simply rent one. Much cheaper than paying registration and insurance on a fleet of vehicles. I've only needed a rental car once in the past 15 years too. Not counting airport rentals...of course.

 

Yeah... but like everything else car-related, one thing leads to another... get one SHO (have I told you guys about the black one I blew up the engine in? My very first time on a real racetrack) and I ended up with 3 + multiple parts over the years.

No pictures readily available, but here is some interior work I did on it ~5 years ago (the pictures still work!):

https://www.taurusclub.com/threads/i.../#post-1703156

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I already had 2 jumpers to bypass the flashers, proceeding on from there.

 

eeek, remove all bulbs from plastic housings, how many times have I done that and then put everything back......

 

Fling Dung bulbs? Hey, that could be offensive, people do that!!!!!





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Bulbs removed, all look fine so far but need to unplug & replug, just for the halibut.

 

my volvo rear lights get that way. They just randomly stop working and I have to remove and refit and they work great again.
right now they like to be finicky when I use the turn signals. They randomly don't want to work unless I tap my break and than they blink.
contacts looks good, snug fit. I'm at a lost besides they are china made.

 

Well, getting to a dark location isn't going to happen for ~6 hours (the Taurus is in the garage) so I'm proceeding on.

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It's funny how there are specialty brushes for this job, just like for plumbing.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-1-2-...-111/204258908

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SEVERAL years ago, I replaced the *entire* cab harness in this thing with one from a 1982 I got in a local JY. At that time, I cleaned ALL connections and verified integrity; it's kind of rare to find an un-butchered harness in the yards, so this one was a gold mine.

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OK, grounds...

 

I wouldn't have a problem with a parts or donor vehicle though. You're not paying tabs, maintenance nor insurance on them and you have your own personal JY. All you need is the space to park them...

 

My neighbors already really like me because of all the cars....

 

I understand, vehicles can become like good friends, you hate to see them go. If the Neighbors like your friends then that's a bonus...