Just Bought a 92 Celica GT with Electrical Issues - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

roadman5 · 09-15-2008, 08:17 PM

I recently traded for a 1992 Toyota Celica GT (First Toyota). The car has a manual tranny and the 2.2 L motor. Mechanically, it seems to be running great but I think something is wrong in the electrical system. I am no mechanic, but I can handle the basics. This car has me stumped though. The issues are as follows: The fuel gauge does not work at all. The guy I bought it off of said he had replaced the fuel pump approx. July of 2008. The Cruise Control green light illuminates on the gauge cluster but no part of the CC will work at all. None of the courtesy lights on the doors or on the headliner illuminate when you open a door. I have went through every single fuse in the car and all appear good. There are no warning lights lit up on the dash (other than when you start it). I have also replaced all of the small bulbs in the dome light and the door courtesy lights. I have consulted the Haynes Manual for this car but I do not know how to decipher the electrical schematics. So what I am asking is if anyone out there has had similar situations with this car and how they fixed them. Or, is there a "relay" or a "switch" of some sort that can be linked to the circuits that are malfunctioning. Is there some part of the electrical system that is "a common circuit" that might be responsible for the symptoms this car is showing. Any help somebody could give would be greatly appreciated.

TwiztidxxNinja · 09-16-2008, 01:24 AM

I have the same problem with the dome lights on my 90 celica that I just picked up. My dome light doesn't turn on, when I open the door with the lights on I don't get the beeper. If I leave my keys in I don't get the beeper. I think that problem is the switch in the door jam by the latch. My girlfriends car doesn't do it on the passenger side either. Mine doesn't work for the driver or the passenger. As for the rest I don't know. I hope this helps. You can try to just the circuit together to get them to work, I haven't gotten that far yet, I still need to smog mine.

93celicaconv · 09-16-2008, 07:19 AM

I have 3 5th Gen Celicas, and regarding your issue with no courtesy lights, it is highly likely that the black rubber covered switches in your door jambj (as TwiztidxxNinja suggested) are the problem. After they get old, the less the door is used, the more likely they don't work well. You could try moving the top of the switches around with your fingers and try to see if the lights come on, but if they do, it doesn't mean they will work from that time forward. If you are mechanically included, remove the bolt holding one of the door switches in place, remove the wire connected to the switch, and ground that wire to the body of the car. If the courtesy lights all come on, then you know you have door switch problems.

As for your fuel gauge, when the guy replaced the fuel pump, he had to remove an assembly from the fuel tank that also had the fuel sending unit on it. It is possible he damaged the fuel sending unit when he replaced the fuel pump, or he may have damaged the wiring at the top of the fuel tank, or he may not have connected the fuel sender wiring properly. If you take your rear seat out, there is an access hatch that can be removed that allows you access to the top of the tank where the fuel pump/fuel level sending unit is located. You can check the wiring connections there. You can even remove the entire assembly from the tank and see if the sending unit is damaged. It's a big job though, and with an open tank, one needs to be very careful not to ignite the fuel vapors.

Regarding your cruise control, I really don't know what the problem is there. Your steering wheel cruise control switch, or the wiring leading to it, may be defective causing this problem.

My opinion is that your electrical problems are not related - they each have their separate causes.

roadman5 · 09-16-2008, 04:37 PM

Thanks for the replys so far. I will check the door switches with the method described and report back. The problems probably are "independent" of each other but I posted here to get some other opinions because the haynes Manual Electrical Schematics look like "Hyrogliphics" to me. Does anyone know of a website that explains in laymen's terms how to decipher these electrical diagrams with out going to tech school?

TwiztidxxNinja · 09-20-2008, 09:40 AM

Diagrams are the hardest thing to red. Even knowing what your looking for you still have to search a little. is there any way you can scan the pictures onto the computer?

PittsburghCeli · 09-23-2008, 10:42 AM

Those door switches are a pain in my ass. I try to fix mine all the time but the bottom line is that the contact gets dirty and corroded. I cleaned them last time with contact cleaner and that worked for a while. The next time I clean them, I will try to sand or scrape the little surface area of the contact.

roadman5 · 09-23-2008, 09:55 PM

On a side note, does anybody know how to find / locate replacement fog lights for a 1992 Celica GT Coupe on the web? I think the previous owner of this car hit a deer at some point in this thing. One of the "fog lights" is completely gone on the driver's side (all that remains is a wire and a rectangular bracket behind the bumper), and the one on the passenger side is cracked and does not work. My Haynes manual does not identify any part numbers for either the fog light bracket or the number of the replacement lights. Most of the web sites like JC Whitney, etc. only show after market "Non - OEM" replacement lights when I put in my vehicle's information. Also, I checked the door switches, they were a little dirty but otherwise looked fine. I blew them off with some compressed air but it did not make any difference (Courtesy Lights still don't work !!). Later.

PittsburghCeli · 09-24-2008, 11:22 PM

You might be able to pickup factory fog lights on ebay and you might be able to find wires better after consulting the12volt.com. Just have to check voltages and the doors use a negative trigger so if you touch the wire to ground it activates the interior lights that is if voltage is being applied to the wire. You should be able to measure 12v between the wire and ground, if not bottom line is to trace the wire back to the fuse checking for voltage. Also, all of the interior lights are on the same circuit and the headliner has a extra switch.

I think your problem is under the drivers side kick panel where the door trigger wire and fuse are located, trace the red/white wire to the fuse. You should be able to measure 12v anywhere along the wire then to any ground point. If not, hell, run a 12v constant wire behind the fuse. That will get your lights working.

roadman5 · 09-25-2008, 08:01 PM

Just an update, today on my way home from work, the car started cutting out and loosing power. After a mile or so, it died completely. At first, I hoped that I had simply ran out of gas. NO SUCH LUCK !! I think the "Fuel Pump" quit working. None of the idiot lights came on during the entire dying episode. The car just quit getting fuel. So, I guess it's another case of "buyer beware". After a $100.00 Tow bill to get it hauled 20 miles, all I can figure is that the ^*&?Off that sold me this thing and said he replaced the fuel pump either A. did not replace the fuel pump at all. or B. Attempted to jimmy-rig some aspect of the fuel pump/ sending unit into working and did not know what he was doing. Thus, the lack of a "working" fuel gauge from day one. Anyway, it is now awaiting service at a local respected shop. I will update with what they discover. Later.