308 GT4 Electrical Problem?? | FerrariChat

308 GT4 Electrical Problem??

Discussion in '308/328' started by dyerhaus, Oct 13, 2022.

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  1. dyerhaus

    dyerhaus Formula Junior
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    Nov 4, 2012
    663
    Santa Rosa, California
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    Christopher Dyer
    #1 dyerhaus, Oct 13, 2022
    I know, I know… it's highly unusual to have an electrical problem on an almost 50 year old Italian car, but nevertheless, that seems to be what's happening! :D

    In all seriousness, I was hoping someone might have some guidance for me. Here's what's going on:

    The red emergency lights in the doors seem to stay on whether they're opened or closed. Pressing the button manually will sometimes turn them on and off, but I can't press that button when the doors are shut.

    Any thoughts on how I can remedy this?

    Here's a shot looking down into the door through the window opening while the door is closed. You can see the illuminated red light.

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  2. Portofino

    Portofino Formula Junior

    Sep 17, 2011
    578
    Yorkshire UK / Switzerland/ Liguria ( Italy )
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    Portofino
    #2 Portofino, Oct 13, 2022
    Clean up , adjust or replace the door jam buttons .
     
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  3. Rifledriver

    Rifledriver Three Time F1 World Champ

    Apr 29, 2004
    34,137
    Austin TX
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    Brian Crall
    #3 Rifledriver, Oct 13, 2022
    Remove the buttons in the door jams. They are bone head simple and it should be kind of obvious what the problem is.
     
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  4. morcal

    morcal Formula Junior
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    Mar 7, 2003
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    Turin,Italy
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    Cal
    #4 morcal, Oct 13, 2022
    Would check also the buttons connection to ground
     
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  5. dyerhaus

    dyerhaus Formula Junior
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    Nov 4, 2012
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    Santa Rosa, California
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    Christopher Dyer
    #5 dyerhaus, Oct 13, 2022
    Good suggestions, unfortunately, that didn't seem to do the trick. Even with the buttons removed, the lights stayed on. In fact, they're now staying on all the time. I took this shot of my passenger door while at a red light:
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    And this shot after I got home from driving:
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    Electrical gremlins are always loads of fun! Where would one check the ground?
     
  6. bitsobrits

    bitsobrits Formula Junior
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    Nov 12, 2011
    442
    Omaha, NE area
    #6 bitsobrits, Oct 14, 2022
    Those interior lights typically operate by having the negative (ground wire) switched via the door jam buttons (as opposed to the more normal switching of the positive wire). So one of the ground wires 'upstream' of the jam switches must be grounded. As your car was recently disassembled for painting, I would be looking in the areas impacted by that work for pinched or abraded grounds.
     
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  7. kiwiokie

    kiwiokie Formula 3

    Aug 19, 2013
    1,464
    Tulsa, OK
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    John McDermott
    #7 kiwiokie, Oct 14, 2022
    The interior lights are rockers and have two settings - one from the door switches and one always on. From memory this is done by switching the ground wire not the +12v. If the wires were installed wrong you could have this symptom. These lights are all linked so just one ground source would turn them on. A small flat blade screw driver should pop them out so you can check the wiring.


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  8. morcal

    morcal Formula Junior
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    Mar 7, 2003
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    Cal
    #8 morcal, Oct 14, 2022
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2022
    View attachment 3410706 The grounding of the door button is tricky as it goes via the small trim panel on the door hanging (# 5 table 109) . If it does not contact firmly with the car body metal it does not allow grounding, as soon as I remember

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