Ign. key - lights on chime...

[LaGuardia]

Well, actually I posted about this a long time ago, but I can't find it so I'll ask again.

I know almost for sure that the Eagle is equipped with a chime alarm to remind you of your headlights and ignition key when you open the door. I would really like to have it working, because I usually forget to switch off the lights when I get off the car. When out of town, we must drive with headlights on also during the day, so it's easy to forget them on.

I looked around the EaglePedia and TSM diagrams, then I inspected my underdash fuse box and here it is: a plastic yellow thing (something like a long relay) with two (or three, don't remember exactly) prongs.

But it's dead. No sound. The strange thing is that it's too light to have something inside, just the weight of the plastic case. It seems more a "dummy" than the real thing.

The seat belt warning buzzer is a different thing, it's there and it works.

Is there any test I can perform on that yellowish box before I tear it open ?

Or do you think I could buy something to put in its place to achieve the desired results ? I want my Eagle to warn me when I'm gonna drain the battery ! 

[Whuntmore]

I don't know about yellow, mine was a blue box with like 5 or 7 connectors on it.  big blades.

I unplugged mine and threw it away, 'cause it wasn't working right.  It would just keep on chiming regardless.

[jim]

They came with the chime, at least some did.  The one in my 88 works.  The 83 doesn't have one.  I bought one for it from - Kennedy,  I think - but it doesn't work.

[wagoneerhauler]

Yup I believe the blue one is the one you want.  I removed this from our GW because I dislike all those noises and it worked randomly too.  The yellow one you found sounds to me like the cruise control box.

[ammachine390]

Not sure when they came out with the chime, but my 81 had a buzzer that sounded only when you left the key in the ignition. That buzzer was black and had 2 prongs. Since it never worked, I replaced it with a yellow buzzer I had, that has 3 prongs, and now I have a ignition and headlights on buzzer.

[carguy87]

Yellow is the one, my 85' has it, buzzes when the lights are left on and chimes when the key is in the ignition. It's tested just like a relay is, should be resistance between two of the posts where the resistor is. When voltage is sent through the resistor, it draws a switch closed which relays voltage to the third prong.

[AMCKen]

The ones I use are three-prong yellows.

[shanebo]

I know my earlier eagles did not chime, just buzzed....my 87 wagon did though as I recall.

[BenM]

Personally, I like the idea (that I have never gotten around to...) of modding the lights with a few relays. 2 each for the headlights,low beam and high; one to cut power to the headlight feed to the switch, one to cut the parking light feed with a bypass, and a final one for the interior lights.

The feed relays are triggered from the ignition switch, so when the car is off, the lights are off. You never leave them on ever again. The bypass lets you turn on the parking lights if the car off.

I'll never understand why car companies didn't adopt this.

[LaGuardia]

Thank you all for your replies... this weekend I'm gonna fiddle around with a multimeter and some jump wires to figure out what to do...

Ben, actually most late (also earlier ones in some cases) Italian cars have a setup like the one you described. In fact, we're used to forget about lights because most of the cars we drive shut down everything when the engine is off. That's why I'm prone to drain batteries with USA and Japanese vehicles (which are the ones I drive now)

I think it's something related to the law and homologation rules... I was surprised to realize that most USA built cars (also Eagles) have a warning light for the windscreen washer fluid, it's something I never thought about (and actually I never saw such a thing on Italian vehicles). I wonder if driving with your washer tank empty could be treated as an offence. I guess it's so, and I think that's quite right, too.

[IRON HORSE]

 

NOTE: I removed the diagram because I realized it will only turn the headlights off ... so you'd still have to push the LT switch in to shut park lights off .... what good is that ?  Sooooooo I'll come up with the ckt to kill all the lights with ignition off .... but it'll mean getting under the dash to the light switch..  Sorry about previously post circuit.

                                            Good luck, Iron Horse

[LaGuardia]

Thankyou so much, IH !

That's the set up to pursue...

I think that when I'll be done with major repair (I posted about my accident a couple of weeks ago) I'll point my attention to it. It's definitely the way to go.

As a side effect of the forementioned accident, though, (funny enough) my key-in / HL on came back to life. It works, now !

[Whuntmore]

I've entered this in the Eaglepedia. 

http://www.amceaglenest.com/~iowaeagl/guide/index.php?title=Ignition_Key_-_chime

[AMCKen]

With this setup, with the light switch on and the key off, there is still power to the lights, just no ground, right?

[IRON HORSE]

 

 That is correct ... suggest that if the car is going to be setting awhile push the LT switch OFF just as a safety. The bigger problem with the circuit is that it only shuts the headlights OFF ... still have to push the LT switch to turn the park lights OFF ... circuit is being re-drawn ... will post soon !!!

                                                          iron horse