Items needing identification

[tvrmk363]

So the weather was nice over here in Ohio and this happemed....

and I found this...and opened it


and found this...


So what is the component inside the black cap, what does it do and where should the ground lug be attached? What is the silver thing behind the switch panel on the lower left side?
Also, can you take the black bezels off the VDO gauges? How?

Thanks,
Charlie
Ohio

[mrzigazaga]

Hi Charlie


That looks like a diode of some description although I'm not sure where it would go??...The silver thing is the fibre optic housing for the centre console switch illumination..It twists apart and there is a low wattage bulb..5W I think...You can upgrade to an LED disc...

[adam quantrill]

Nah the blue thing is an electrolytic capacitor. They too have a + and - so if you replace it make sure you get the + and - on the same wires as the one you removed. Maybe snip the old one off with the - leg long and the + leg short.

[tvrmk363]

Thanks Ziga, just might do that.

Adam,
do you have any idea what it does? Don't know if it's bad or not but I'm guessing if the ground was unattached from its mount, it's probably not doing anything currently.

Any ideas on removing the VDO bezels anyone?

[RCK974X]

I can just see a resistor, a diode, and an electrolytic capacitor on the photo (tip to Zig).

I would therefore guess that it's either a spark/surge suppressor, or perhaps a smoothing filter.

Both of these would 'chop off' the top of any sparks, or flatten out any sudden voltage changes.

If the diode is a zener type (you can't tell without reading its number, in tiny, tiny letters on its body),
then it could be a smoother plus limiter to limit max voltage change.

This kind of thing is normally an integral part of a tacho circuit for example, but it's normally inside the tach !

It might be a radio power supply spark suppressor, or a gauge one, or a ....

[RCK974X]

From your second photo ( a bit dark so hard to see ) that looks like the illumination for the switches - it's simply a bulb holder which goes into a short tube with the fibre optics coming out other side, one to each switch....But I could have that wrong...

[mrzigazaga]

Oh sorry...gauge bezels...I think they are crimped on....

[wedged up]

What are those seats from ?

[adam quantrill]

Just reattach the busted wire it will probably work fine. A cap like that is essentially a small battery, holding charge for a few milliseconds to seconds depending on the current you draw out.

Might it be something to do with an alarm fitted, or maybe a radio, to keep a setting for a few tens of seconds in case you need to change the car battery?

[Wedg1e]

tvrmk363 said:

...where should the ground lug be attached?

Ground.






Happy to help.

And yes, the silver thing is the lamp holder for the fibre optics.

[tvrmk363]

Thanks Wedg1e sounds so simple when you say it that way, LOL.

The seats are Pontiac Fiero by the way.

[Grady]

Like the seat, better the than the ones I normally see which are puffy and not bolstered.

Probably wrong but is your resister thingie an attempt to try to smooth out the mad volt gauge swings when the turn signals are on?

ETA - Looking again at the seats and pics, I guess you said the thingy with the red wire is part of the instrument lighting source. Still, as long as the dash is apart, if yours swings like mine..., a stabilizer/smoother fix might be good. Grady

Edited by Grady on Wednesday 22 February 05:18