sl33py

not dumb - I checked fuses, but will recheck when in there next. All lights work, just dim. Throwing on the brights, the right side shut off totally (finally not dim), and the left both go full bright. Will put the cluster back in tonight/tomorrow/this weekend, and dig into the remaining relays to see if i can fix. Thx man!

sorry, they are always on when ignition is on. They shut off when car is off. but no driving without them super dim. Then headlights on - still dim. Brights then just go the 2 left (driver side) bulbs - right side go completely off (not dim). I do have swappable h4 bulbs and conversion lenses - into stock wire/plugs (no spliced wires). Car is super stock w/ less than 30k on it. I got it w/ 12'ish a couple years ago and sold it to my neice for about a year at 20k now at 29,xxx. Up till now no major issues (except she killed/toasted the clutch learning stick). Wonky dash gauges (just temp and fuel) which hopefully will be fixed when i re-seat the cluster (changing out burnt blinker bulb and swapping to LED's in the cluster). Any of that make a difference? Thanks! Rob

Thanks Gloyale and JesZeK! I wasn't able to pull the whole clamp/relay holder down, but did get to them while in place. Swapped the Left side (driver) in place - no change. I'll make sure i swapped the right one w/ Gloyal's color connector detail (super helpful) and try again. I have 2 new relays from Napa to swap in if needed. Lights still dim and always on. Brights are only left side (but are bright!). So lame/frustrating! With your help i'll sort it out. Thanks a lot!

Thanks guys - have the cluster out now for new bulbs (it's a PITA so going LED so don't need to do again). Will scrub the contacts and put a dab of dielectric on before reassembling. Will let you know if it still persists afterwards. THX!

Thanks JesZek. I got the ND equivalents from your thread. Very helpful step by step to upgrade those relays! I'm hoping that i just missed seeing them last night and will try again today or tomorrow. I am trying an OEM equivalent relay (22A like stock) first, then if it has more problems i'm going to go to your bosch relay solution. I'm ok soldering on the new plugs, but want to only do that if they continue to have problems. If they last 10-20 years before failing again - i'm not going to reinvent the wheel. Most descriptions i've seen also mentions the A/C relay - which my DL doesn't have, so wasn't sure if that makes a difference on my base model to find the relays. Again - i'll dig in and take a look up above the fuse holder to see if i can spot them. Might pull my seat so i can get in there easier. I'm a tall guy so it's a tight fit.

Did some digging here and can't seem to find them! I'm 95% positive i have at least one relay w/ an issue. (headlights are always on - but very very dim) - dash blue high beams doesn't come one when brights on (only left side bright works)... etc. got a pair of relays last night and trying to find where to swap them to test. Pulled the panel under steering wheel. Pulled fuse box and looked behind (what i found for a Loyale thread from 08 searching). I'm kinda a big guy so need to squeeze myself under there a bit more. Trying not to drive at night until this is fixed - my blinkers seem brighter than my headlights currently. That sucks going down the road! Appreciate any help locating these!!! rob

Similar issue w/ my 88 DL. Left side gas and temp gauges are wacky. work when they feel like it. About to pull the dash and clean all contacts, see if i can find a ground to clean and make sure it's good... change some bulbs while in there and fingers crossed it fixes it. subscribed! GL!

Wondering if anyone else has seen this? The gas gauge doesn't work most of the time, and when not working - the temp shows higher than it is. (confirmed w/ the cooling/radiator fan not coming on... not very scientific i know). when gas gauge works, temp gauge works fine too. I have a bulb out (blinker), so need to dig up how to pull the cluster and replace. May upgrade to some LED's and clean all the contacts before putting it back together. Any tips or suggestions? This is a minty 88 DL w/ only 30k (just shy at 39,xxx now) on it! Not fast but a great runner and CAV (commuter assault vehicle)! appreciate any help! rob

Crap! Glad you both are OK. It's a shame to see another old gen go to the JY or be parted out, but it did it's job for sure. Been offline for a while and totally missed this. Glad you found another good ride, and those are great wagons. Old GF had one - only problem we had was some funky air ride height shocks that were $$$ to replace. Otherwise ran great everywhere we wanted to go! Good luck and will keep an eye out for you when you come back to the old gen side! rob

Not sure this is really much help... BUT i was looking at some painting videos on Eastwood's site. I think there is 4-5 DVD's w/ tips/tricks etc. It wasn't cheap, but might be worth looking online for a copy or torrent. Paintucation by Kevin Tetz. Found it again - damn! $240 for the 7 DVD set. You might only need the one on painting which are 40ish. HTH - GL! rob

NICE! that's exactly what i'm hoping to do. could you show me pics of the mounts and how you fab'd them? Looking at the other set of pics (thank you!) - i was worried i needed the panels too. Sure it wouldn't hurt, but probably easier to work on my clean panels first. The back looks pretty straight forward - just lining up with the right spot may be difficult. The front looks more difficult w/ a larger cutout to fit the mount for the roller... Appreciate the help guys! rob

I'm with you Mike normally, but i think the small amp he posted up earlier will work great (as well as the one you posted). The extra watts really should'nt even be needed for what he has. Getting the power and wiring all to the right spot really is the hard part. The rest is easy to swap down the road in pieces. If the amp dies or he wants more power (and has speakers to handle more) it should be easy to swap in more. GD - this is a great budget build. I like your flat sub idea even though it's probably going to sound like a cheap sub at volume. It's still better than no sub at all. At lower levels it should be invisible (while giving you a bit of low end). If you push it you're going to notice it and probably not like it. Just my prediction. I think you'll get the most improvement out of speakers once amp'd. Sub will be icing on the cake. can't wait for more pics! rob

Hey GD - couple thoughts!.. It looks like there's a fair bit of room there. the bracket looks the most restrictive. I think you could fit 4" maybe even some 5.25" coax's! If you have depth enough for the speaker, maybe set the speaker back a bit (make sure your bracket isn't in the way of any speaker excursion. Just thinking you may be able to get some decent sounding speakers here without too much trouble. Only you can see how much room is actually there, but that pic above really looks like an inch+ of unused room. cut out the sides of the existing bracket and fab a better one... doable? rob

Yeah, I heard the same originally. Then someone said that you just need the mounts and the existing DL panels will work fine. If that's the case it should be way easier... So i started this thread hoping someone could snap a pic or two of theirs. Preferably the DL w/ screen. OR the GL screen stock with detail on the mounting points. (are they just screwed in, molded into panel, etc?) Thanks for the info and help! rob

GD - i think this is a great "budget" build. Definitely a nice flush fit option. Upgrading even just the speakers w/ stock HU would probably be a huge improvement. Mine were completely shot as well. Amp'ing them next should get you some clean volume to hear over road noise. But it's also the more expensive part of the upgrade. If you only have one set of RCA's from the HU you will need a line level output/line output converter. You could jury rig split RCA's (simple RCA Y splitter), but will lose front/rear adjustment and typically one will be a degraded signal. Or get an amp with RCA output - to put another amp inline... OR get the PDX5 and get all 4 ch plus sub! hehehe so many options... You're an electrical guru i have no doubt you will figure something out!

I got mine at a local Fred Meyer. Had to show ID and whammo... off to the races.

someone with fiberglass skills could do THIS.

Also - i see you pulled your carpet. If you want to remove the tar boards down the road - don't use the heatgun/scraper - use dry ice instead. I did this in my landcruiser and with a couple 5lb bags of dry ice it is WAY faster. Let it sit for 1-2 min and then hit it with a rubber or plastic head hammer. Big chunks come up at one time. then a screwdriver and tap for the stubborn bits that stick. It will be a lot louder on the freeway unless you do something to dampen. My uncle builds hotrods and recommends a spray in liner called lizard skin. haven't used myself, but might be worth looking into. hth! rob

Very cool GD. If you replace the dash speakers with a nicer set, you may get better sound from the coax w/ a tweeter you can aim. Not sure if you will find them, but i've seen them on larger coax before. Aim a bit up and toward driver should help. Are you talking about one of the powered subs like a bazooka tube? Spending money on stereo is always good, but i think you have a reasonable target and expectation of what you are looking to achieve. keep up the pics! rob

Yeah, just a cargo cover. No window screen. The DL's didn't get them, the GL's did. I had a 91 GL and liked the cargo screen... now want one in my 88 DL wagon. Supposedly they just mount up to the DL - need the screen and mounts.

Thanks Ben - good point. But with a sub in the back, there will always be a "hey steal me!" item visible... With tinted windows and a screen, it will be more of an unknown. Kinda screwed either way. I'm getting an alarm next payday, so hopefully that will be enough deterrent. In the meantime I still think the screen is better than nothing.

hmm - nobody has one they can snap a pic of? I have a sub i'm going to be putting back there, and nothing screams "STEAL ME!" like a sub. You must have an amp, maybe a nice HU, and other goodies i can sell for meth... Security screen should keep it from prying eyes (hopefully). I am trying to keep everything below the panel line (one at the top of those rear storage pockets). In hopes that the screen is above those and I won't have any issue installing it. If anyone has a pic of the mounts and locations it would be helpful. thanks! rob

Even with tinted windows, i'd like to have the cargo security screen from a GL. I understand they can be hard to find, but anyone have pics of one swapped into a DL? I am curious about the placement and mounting of the mounts - for the roller, and the catches at the back. I've done some searches and a few threads talking about it, but no pics... Thanks for the help! rob

I was thinking of doing my own from some light steel. Buddy of mine is pretty crafty and has the welder. Light gauge metal - it's a pretty simple layout (says the non-welder)... But the phorum's mdf probably is even easier. I'll figure something out. thanks for the link! rob

used some spacer rings, and had to move the window channel back to clear. It's done and running - wow - sounds great. There is more bass than midbass w/ these. Can't wait for them to finish breaking in and see how they do. Should be really nice. Nothing really fancy to look at (hidden behind stock grills - low profile like), except the tweets in the top of the doors by the handles. One annoyance is the dash kit still wasn't deep enough for hte HU. Doubled up two kits and it's REALLY annoying me. I'm going to have ot figure something out, but not immediately. Little PDX amp is so small i think i could stack two under the pass seat if needed - pretty cool (both nice, and actually runs cool). These things hit hard enough to feel the bass, and and mirrors rattle. Without any buzz, or distortion. Gain set so they are only getting about 65-70w RMS ea. (amp birth sheet says 170'ish per channel) so plenty of room. Got my RE SL12D4 today as well - getting custom box built hopefully this weekend or next week and i'm done. THEN we should have some bumps. Rob