Interior warning lights

[SteinOnkel]

Hey Guys,

so my '78 has three warning lights in the center of the dash.

- Hazard (working as intended)
- Brake (level indicator works)
- Fasten Seatbelts

When you turn on the ignition, the Brake and Fasten Seatbelts light both light up for a bout ten seconds, then extinguish. Is this normal behavior?

The Brake light does not come on if you engage the parking brake. This is one thing I would like to fix.

The fasten Seatbelts also has a chime that has been disconnected by the dpo. I hooked 12v to it from a spare battery and decided that, yes, this ear piercing, osha mandated ringing is something I need in my life.

What is normal operation here? Is it supposed to come on with the illumination of the light and then extinguish after a delay? Or is it supposed to be on until the car senses that the belts have in fact been fastened? I see no wires under my seat.

On my brother's '74 914 the seatbelt thingy even has a sort of control module that will prevent cranking if the seatbelt isn't fastened. A fantastic piece of over-engineering.

Thanks
Steiny

[PaulC]

Both light up as a bulb/ system check.
Seatbelt buzzer buzzes if driver seat belt is not fastened. There's a switch in the buckle end and there should be a.wire coming from it going under the seat. Guess they didn't care if passenger was belted or not

[rodo]

Mind if I chime in (see what I did there) with my warning lamps/chimes question? I have an '81 that I've never driven or seen whole. I have plugged the seatbelt wire into itself, if that makes sense, so I don't have to worry about the seatbelt warning issue. That is how one does it, correct?

Second issue: Both my door switches are plugged in. With the key in the ignition, if I open the passenger door I get a lovely bell ringing alarm to let me know the key is in the ignition. But nothing for the driver's door. It ought to do it when the driver's opens...er...right?

[GeorgeT]

On my brother's '74 914 the seatbelt thingy even has a sort of control module that will prevent cranking if the seatbelt isn't fastened. A fantastic piece of over-engineering.

The infamous "seat belt interlock" as mandated by the Govt. There should be a button under the hood that can be pressed to start the car without the belt fastened (so you can start the car to work on it). After much public outcry this overreach by the safety police was abandoned.

[SteinOnkel]

Sweetness. So most of my stuff is working correctly.

But the handbrake doesn't have anything to do with the indicator? Seems a bit odd?

[PaulC]

There's a switch in the upper portion of the handbrake opening that a tab on the lever is supposed to push on when the lever is down to turn off the light. When the lever is pulled up the light is supposed to be on.

[dinghyguy]

On my 79's the following happens:

If key is in ignition in any orientation and door open the buzzer sounds - but that may only be true for SIPEA ignition switches which have the 2 wire connector separate from the 6 wire connector (with only 5 wires in it)

When the ignition is on the fasten seat belt and handbrake light come on for a few seconds as reminders, then the fasten seat belt light goes out. The handbrake light only goes out when the handle is down and opens the switch mentioned above.

So far i have not yet got either of my cars to work with the seatbelt switch even though there is a wire going to the latching part. I can only assume the intent is that if you buckle up first, the seatbelt light does not come on when the ignition is switched on.

cheers
dinghyguy

[PaulC]

Actually, I chopped off that wire when I had the seatbelts redone.
Figured after all these years fastening the seat belt is automatic and that buzzer was.just horrid.

[dinghyguy]

yes the buzzer is horrid, but in 1880 i think they changed to an anemic chime which is much more acceptable. So a major upgrade is to remove the buzzer and install the chime.

cheers
dinghyguy

[rodo]

The chime is quite sweet and clearly old school. I like it. Not an electronic buzzing or beeping but an actual bell sound.

[SteinOnkel]

https://www.midwest-bayless.com/Fiat-12 ... 50-oe.aspx

From the description:

"Easily retrofit to 1978 and earlier cars to replace the impossible to tolerate screeching relay-style buzzer. "

lmao...sold!