1964-1974 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Congratulations! You made it 800 miles, the floor didn't drop out, you're off to a great start! Okay, a few notes:
--A little play in the front fiberglass: You didn't say WHERE you can lift it up or how much. If it's just a little creak, don't sweat it -- the stuff is plastic and it's going to flex a bit. Keep in mind that the whole nose is in one piece and it's only attached at seven points: lower front, on either side of the front crossmember; back edge, inside the two door apertures; behind the wheel arches; and at the hood latch. One thing you might check the first time you take the nose off: the nose just rests on the upper edges of the panels that run along either side of the engine compartment, and these edges are supposed to have weatherstripping along them; if it's deteriorated or has come off, your nose will be creakier than it's supposed to be.
-- Headlight that doesn't work: Here are the top 10 causes of electrical problems on a Sonett: (1) fuse; (2) fuse; (3) fuse; (4) fuse; (5) fuse; (6) bad ground; (7) bad ground; (8) bad ground; (9) bad ground; (10) something else (possibly a fuse or a bad ground.) The headlights are on a relay and that can cause problems too, but check the 'top 10' first. The headlights have their own fuses that aren't on the little fuse block inside the car; they're in the engine compartment on the driver's side, just in front of the relay rack and right next to the headlight control linkage. In this exposed position, they get crudded up even more easily than the other fuses. Take them all out, clean the ends with electrical contact cleaner, clean the clips they slide into ditto, maybe bend the clips a tiny bit to make sure they grip firmly, then put the fuses back in and see if that helps.
If that doesn't get it, another possible problem area for any of the front lights is the two multi-pin connectors on either side of the radiator. These unplug to let you remove the nose and all the electrics on the nose run through them, so any bad contact will affect them. You can reach them by getting down in front of the car and reaching up through the air intakes below the grill. Try wiggling the wires, pressing the connectors together, etc., and see if this causes the headlight to light up; if so, you've found the problem area. The connectors probably need cleaning, but it's hard to do this with the nose on the car. Another thing that happens a lot: When somebody plugs the connector together, one of the terminals inside the block slides out backward instead of connecting to the matching terminal on the other side. Once you find which one is the problem, you usually can reseat it by grabbing the wire just where it runs into the block and pushing it forward firmly. Don't be surprised if you have to do this every few weeks.
"It makes my 900 seem like a Mercedes Benz" -- yes, that's one great thing about the Sonett; mine makes my 1991 Escort seem like a Lincoln Town Car (in both the good ways and the bad ways.) On the other hand, a 900 (or a Mercedes Benz) doesn't make you tingle all over when you drive it the way a Sonett does, does it?
posted by 68.13.189...
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