The immediate problem I have is that the seat belt warning light doesn't illuminate following my repair of the map/courtesy light. Clearly something is disconnected so I have to dive in again to sort it. This is also a voyage of discovery and I found a few things that I will add to the list for a future fix!
This is the problem, the radio console has warning lights at the base. The handbrake light (rhs) works fine and the seatbelt light (lhs) doesnt!
To remove the radio console you need to remove the centre console first. Open the armrest and remove the single screw towards the back
Then remove the 4 chromed screws holding the gear gaiter retaining ring. Note the shortest screw fits towards the front. The ring can then be wriggled out leaving the flexible gaiter which will fold and pass through the console allowing the console to be lifted away.
Similarly the state of the wiring to the overdrive switch is shocking- I have already repaired breaks at the top end under the overdrive switch itself but it seems there are several more splicings down here all bound up in bulky and sticky insulating tape. The whole lot needs to be renewed- probably with more flexible silicone covered wiring. Its another job I will earmark for later.
To remove the two heater control knobs press the small button (indicated below) on their sides inwards with a blunt probe of some sort.
The knobs then just pull forwards
Each heater valve control is held on by a ring nut and two washers, one plain, one spring. Use a box spanner to remove the ring nut and then remove the fittings
You can then remove the console and to do this you need to remove the two screws each side at the rear.
The console then pulls forward.
The clock connections can be undone to provide some movement
Clock connections, bulb holder removed, live connection to top of clock, black earth at the bottom. |
There should be enough slack in the radio connections to permit the console to come forward far enough to attend to the various bulbs behind. If not then it should be a simple matter to disconnect the multiplugs to release it. Sadly in my case there was not only insufficient room but also no multiplugs! A quick investigation revealed a spaghetti nightmare of re-jigged wiring that had been used to install the radio. Further it was only poorly mounted and the mounting sleeve pulled out as well. I had no choice but to remove it all and try to sort it out. In fact I would like to install an age-appropriate radio cassette anyway, so this is a good opportunity to sort out the wiring in preparation for that.
Nightmare wiring behind the radio |
Blue white remote control or antenna control wire is not connected. |
During the process of removing the console and radio I found the seat belt warning light bulb holder was simply disconnected from its socket and should be an easy fix- at least that accomplishes my original mission so I was able to reinstall the consoles (without the radio) and wait for the new connectors to wire in. In the meantime here is the standard wiring connections and colours for the ISO connectors.
Picture courtesy of james Beckett (By James Beckett - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18437466)
Note that the connectors are different and are distinguished by the position of the lhs clip: in type A the clip is at the bottom and type B (for speakers) have it centrally located.
Picture courtesy Estimamike http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/estimamike/EPC%20stuff/ISOWiringEd.jpg |
- Power Wires
- Constant 12V / Memory Keep Alive — yellow
- Accessory (switched) — red
- Dimmer/illumination — orange w/white stripe
- Ground Wires
- Ground — black
- Speakers
- Right front speaker(+) — gray
- Right front speaker(-) — gray w/black stripe
- Left front speaker(+) — white
- Left front speaker(-) — white w/black stripe
- Right rear speaker(+) — purple
- Right rear speaker(-) — purple w/black stripe
- Left rear speaker(+) — green
- Left rear speaker(-) — green w/black stripe
- Amplifier and Antenna Wires
- Antenna — blue
- Amplifier remote turn on — blue w/white strip
- New ISO connectors male and female are v cheap on Ebay so I bought both. I have now acquired a National radio cassette player from 1984 (new and unused) and this came with its wiring diagram and its pleasing that so many of the colours were already established in 1984. The only differences that I found were that yellow and red wires have swapped places and the striped speaker cables identifying the negative feed in later cars signify the positive in earlier models. I attached a pair of male ISO terminals (they are not interchangeable so make sure you use the one with the centre clip for the speakers) to the radio wires with soldered junctions and covered each in heat shrink.
Wires attached to ISO connectors at rear of radio. |
Car wires behind consol attached to ISO female connectors- note spool of blue wire added for later connection to fully automatic aerial. |
Speaker wires spliced in to new connector |
Power connections/earth spliced into second connector |
In the meantime and whilst the radio is out is easy to get at the courtesy/map light. I took advantage of this to replace the bulb
The bulb is a mini Edison screw (MES) fitting, I ordered an LED with the same fitting. They are harder to come by as most are push fit 2 pin. LEDs are quite expensive in the UK but much cheaper ones are available from overseas if you can wait- although a word of warning, the Chinese do not understand bulb sizes and the bulbs illustrated in the ad aren't always the ones you will get!
Simple screw in
... and refit the bulb holder. The LED gives a bluer light but much brighter and I now know it wont overheat or drain the battery if left on for too long.
The antenna signal wire is intended to feed the solenoid in an automatic aerial and not the motor. As such its a low current feed and limited to 0.5a. I will be installing an automatic aerial later (see post on splash-guards) and so to guard against idiocy, installing of the wrong aerial or wiring it up wrongly, I installed an in-line 0.5a fuse. Its a shame these fuse holders come pre-wired so you can't avoid a change in flex colour!
0.5a in line fuse installed in blue antenna signal wire. |
The selection of which radio to fit was however made for me. The car had been fitted with a modern Pioneer CD radio unit which fitted into a sleeve mount. This had necessitated enlarging the opening in the console with the result that the National unit, which predates sleeve mounting, would no longer fit! The Phillips unit made a year later does use a sleeve mounting and so it was the only one that can be fitted without modifying or replacing the console.
The sleeve fitted into the modified opening of the console quite nicely and I fed the wiring connections through to the front. The instructions say to fit the sleeve by bending the tabs with a screwdriver so that they grip the material of the console. Its not really obvious in this sleeve because the tabs can be bent in a longitudinal direction parallel to the console material not perpendicular to it as the old sleeve had been. However they are designed to fold up at the front as they bend down behind the console so that the wings can then grip the material. In the pic below the tabs have been bent down along the sleeve's long dimension but the fronts have folded upward forming wings to grip the console itself.
Make sure the raised wings are bent down out of the way of the radio before inserting it.
Finally the radio just slides in using all the new connections I have made. During this process I seem to have lost the left hand plastic trim strip but I think this will turn up somewhere in the near future.
All tested and it works perfectly (including the new aerial) although being a used unit it does have a bit of a crackle on the volume control- however its an original and contemporary with the car.
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