Well on my way home from a friends house and my bronco II being in the garage for over 2 weeks getting new brakes and waiting for my new hoses. Well im going along i put my foot on the brake look down theres a nice bright light and smoke so i end up taking the corner on to my road at 35, im going along trying to figure out what it is. The guy that had my b2 before me put in fog lights well they worked fine until yesterday i turned into my driveway every single light died except for my turn signals, heater, windshield wipers, radio, and dash gauges any ideas? all the fuses are fine, all the bulbs appear to be fine.

Thanks
Curtis

77_F150_4x4 aka "The BeAsT"
85 Bronco II XLT 2.8L 4x4 auto

 

Well, we have fog lights, and they're run off of a toggle switch on the dash. We've never had any problems. Good luck!!

 

I had a similar experience a while back in my '87 Jeep Wrangler. In my case it turned out the replacement halogen bulb I had put in my spotlamps had a dead short in it, and when I had switched on the spotlamps, it completely burned up the "fuseable link" that supplies power to all the lights. After correcting the shorted bulb, I replaced the fuseable link (a sacrificial piece of wire similar in concept to a very slow blowing fuse.)

Good luck with yours. I suspect something shorted and burned up a wire or something.

 

77, it sounds like you bought your BII from the same guy I bought my mustang from,(the one I mentioned in your lemon thread.) You probably did not get it from the same guy but it almost sounds like the same scenario. I think it was cristmas eve a few years ago when I had that thing, I was driving my girlfreind to her house to pick something up when we got a mile away from my house and my engine compartment started glowing. I had to race it back home and shut it off. I remember all of my lights going goofy and when I got home the car looked like Christine after it drove through the gas station. Smoke was just pouring out of the hood. The next day I checked it out and I think pretty much every harness under the hood was fried. Needless to say the car never started again and was givin a proper burial. It would have been more proper if we could have discharged firearms in the city but we got our point across. Whenever I see wood paneling for the inside your house all I can think about is that foreign guy pointing out the homemade dash bezel saying, "Look, Look, real wood, real wood, see!!" I almost bought an 88 bII from a real slimeball that turned his back when I told him that his crappy bodywork was only worth $950. I'm glad I got my 90 though. Its 3 times better than the 88 was plus I have power everything and still have a manual tranny, T-case and lockouts. Only paid $1250 for that one.

People who say it can't be done should not interrupt the person doing it.

 

Ouch that sounds like my b2 paid 1200 for it and hating it, brakes have had to be replaced wiring turned to crap my motor runs so hot you cant touch the dipstick but is almost cold on the gauge im about to blow it up. i wish i could have got a deal like that.

Thanks
Curtis

77_F150_4x4 aka "The BeAsT"
85 Bronco II XLT 2.8L 4x4 auto

 

Well guys the b2 still sits still cant figure it out nothing seems to work, new headlight switch didnt work, im all out of ideas about to give up.

Curtis

77_F150_4x4 aka "The BeAsT"
85 Bronco II XLT 2.8L 4x4 auto

 

i would not trust a temp. gauge in a bronco II put in a mechanical.. ive never seen one read higher then the middle of the C' then make sure its definetly running hot before tearing stuff apart. engines do make heat so expect the dipstick to be hot. have fun

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 22-May-02 AT 12:01 PM (EST)]I have an 88 Xlt BII and it had something sort of like that happen!
excpet that mine was the temp guag fried. Like I mean actually started smoking while going down the highway,and the truck would just all of a sudden shut off while driving down the high way! No electical systems would work when it did this! at first we thought that the battery was bad, but it came out to be that the ignition swtich was faulty! and I am talking about the actual ecletrical part not the michanical! it is only like six dollars maybe you could give it a try! It isn't hard to replace. It is just at the base of the stearing col. on the passenger side. To be honest it sounds like a main ground had broken off maybe you would want to check that out! If all the electrical items in the dash does not work think about what supplies power to all of them and it should be that! Oh and it could have been a short before the fuse box! if it shorted out before the fuse box no fuses would be blown, and you may want to check your Battery to see if it is still good! But to me your prob. sounds more like a major short than anything!

Hope it helps!

 

It sounds to me like the only lights you're missing are your hi/lo and fog lights. Are your interiors ok? Recently I had my driving lights quit along with my fog lights and I scratched my head over it awhile. First I checked the fuses and they were all fine. Then I was sure it was a ground and checked any ground I could find. After that I searched all the in-line fuses and connections under the hood and made a real mess and still nothing. The funny thing was, before my lights quit completely, for a few nights they would sort of cut out for a bit, but I could encourage them by cranking on the hi/low switch a bunch of times and then they'd be ok. Next I started to smell a bit of burning plastic, but I thought it was just my hot running Sony radio. Then one night no matter how many times I flicked the hi/low they would not come on and neither would my fog lights. The last thing I checked was the most obvious...I pulled apart the stearing cover and unscrewed the combination signal/hi/low assembly and noticed right away the plastic in the back of the connection was cooked which explained the burning smell. Mine didn't flare right up, but it was close to it. My fog lights were also not working, because they were the kind that could function as day running lights when my main switch was in #1 position, would go off with the low beams and would be a level beam when my high beams are on. Therefore when my lights burnt right out via the hi/low switch they weren't able to run either. My guess would be for you to make sure you pull the hi/low switch right out and inspect it.
Good Luck!!! -Dirk

 

The headlights get power directly from the battery through the ignition switch. You know the switch does not have to be on to power the lights. Bronco’s have had issues with faulty ignition switches. I personally removed my OEM switch and replaced with generic AC/Delco switch. You really need to have wiring diagrams to trouble shoot as one of the other guys mentioned there are fusible likes that go out like a show burning fuse, but you have to replace the link. The link is a smaller gauge wire on the wiring harness. They are not too hard to recognize if you know where you are looking. They are supposed to be soldered back in. Of course you want to determine where your initial short was that caused the issue to begin with.
You have an 85 Bronco. I bought wiring diagrams for an 86, they might be close enough.
If you have access to a fax and you want to email me at ej_the_gatorman(No Email Addresses In Posts!), maybe I can fax to you some help. I will be out until May 29th for Memorial Day.