s13 light problems, brake problem

[Shnitz]

my brother has been using my car, and he came home one day and said that the headlight motors stopped working. sure enough, they were stuck (luckily in the up position!). before this, the headlights would sometimes not come up when i turned them on, i would either just press the "raise headlights" button or pull back to flash high beams, and then the lights would stay up and go down again just fine. now, i tried playing with the button, the headlight controls on the blinker, and i looked through all of the fuses i could think of that would be related to this, and i dont see anything wrong. i even looked at the large fuses under the hood. can anyone tell me from this information what is wrong? if not, it's ok, i was thinking of getting fixed headlights anyways (the eastbear or the other ones, not an s13 front end). those aren't for show only, are they? they work just as well as factory headlights?

second, my gauge cluster and a/c don't light up, as of tonight. i was driving, and they suddenly went out, after i came to a stop. the gauges work, the little "idiot" lights (seatbelt, handbrake, cruise control, engine oil, etc) all work, and the a/c works too. it just seems like there is no signal telling them to illuminate when the headlights turn on.

last, my brakes started feeling weird. it seems like there is a lot of slack, the brakes only engage basically when the pedal is pressed in all of the way. i checked brake fluid, seems ok, and i tried slamming on the brakes, and it makes me skid, so it seems like the brakes work fine, it is just that i have no control over them, they are engaged all of the way or not at all.

thanks a lot for any help guys!

[NISTECH]

as far as brakes, master cyl?? drum or discs in the rear??

[Shnitz]

drum in the rear, i talked to someone this morning, they said that they thought master cylinder too, so im going to replace that. is it hard to buy the seals and refurbish it myself? the guy i talked to this morning said that would be cheaper than just buying one.

[NISTECH]

try adjusting the rear brakes first. may they are just way out of adjustment.

[ricebike]

whoa, 89 s13 have drums in the rear? my 89 has 4 wheel disc system w/ the rear calipers hooked to the parking brake cable...fsm didn't come w/ a diagram of drum brakes in the rear.

to add: i dunno about your area, but in my area <south jerzee, not in nyc>, the local pepboys performed a free brake/suspension inspection for my sis' car. <nyc pepboys wanted $>

"second, my gauge cluster and a/c don't light up, as of tonight. i was driving, and they suddenly went out, after i came to a stop. the gauges work, the little "idiot" lights (seatbelt, handbrake, cruise control, engine oil, etc) all work, and the a/c works too. it just seems like there is no signal telling them to illuminate when the headlights turn on."

from reading past posts, i'd point u to the dimmer switch bulb, which acts like a fuse for that lighting system, &/or a burnt solder joint on the TCU <white box>located under the driver side kick panel, rite by the fusebox.

[Shnitz]

oh man, super helpful, ill try ALL of those. i'll get back to you by wednesday, thanks a lot ricebike.

[hondahunter180]

hey, i have a '90 s13 my lights still pop up but everything else is the same as yours, but my brakes are doing the same thing you described do you think the two problems could be linked some how? we have a lot of info over here http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....wpost

[Shnitz]

well, i fixed my brakes, like ricebike says, pep boys does a free brake inspection, and it ended up being the master cylinder, like NISTECH said. about my lights, the headlights not going down is unrelated to why the instruments dont light up, i dont think, since the headlight problem started before the other one. i hadnt fixed the gauge cluster because i was lazy after fixing my brakes, but a friend told me he saw me driving and my taillights dont work, the blinker and brake lights do though, so i think that is related to the others. i ordered a dimmer switch bulb, 4 dollars from nissan, since no auto parts store seems to carry them. i also ordered a nismo front strut brace on sale for 60 dollars (i love being next to courtesy nissan, they started advertising online, they carry as far as i could tell the full nismo catalog by the way) and am telling my mom to pick me up the parts on her way back from oklahoma.

[ricebike]

good to know...so now u got a raybestos rebuilt master cyl w/ a lifetime warranty; just keep that in your filing system for your car, just in case...

i gotz a minor leak & the point where they had bored out the cyl & put a plug right in front; it's just "sweating" fluid, but not enough to hinder it's operation... i'll keep an eye on that & keep a copy of the receipt in the glovebox.

ugh, u shouldn't order the bulb 1st... it'll likely be the burnt TCU/TCM circuit board... many people are having problems w/ this as their main cause < from recent posts>...

i think nistech can shed some light on doin a quick test on the bulb...i'm still a newbie when it comes to electrical <heck, i just got a really cheapo electrical tester for $2.99 from harbor freight! so now to put ohms law to use>

hunter, don't think it's the booster, unless you got a "hard pedal"/ & it'll take some force from your foot to stop...

[Shnitz]

yeah, ill definitely keep the lifetime warranty, i have used them a lot, they seem to be reliable so far for me, i used them as much as possible on my previous car too, a 91 prelude that i had for 5 years. before the brake booster, i bought a clutch slave cylinder for my 240. ricebike, you seem to be AT LEAST basically mechanically inclined, if you have a friend to help you bleed the brakes, just take that cylinder off! you put it on, you know its only like 10 mins, bleeding is the hardest part and that isnt even hard, haha. one thing i want to get is these one-way valves that you can get to help bleed the brakes, you put it on, and then you can just sit in the drivers seat and pump to your heart's content. although, as long as i have a dad and brothers around, i dont see myself wasting money on that part.

[ricebike]

ya, i'm goin to do just that in the spring/summer, along w/ replacing the front & rear calipers & all brake hoses... those original hoses have got to go!

[hondahunter180]

i fixed my brakes too, it was my booster, i am going to go to pick a part and try to come up on some TCMs if i get more than one ill hook you up