Headlight Dash Light…?

[Bilbohicks]

Hello,

I’ve just bought my first Puma, a 1999 1.4ltr with a mere 28k miles on the clock. It is absolutely like a new car and I love it, but I already have a question.

When I have the headlights on there is no dashboard symbol to say they are on. The headlights work, dash board lights up but I would expect to see a green headlight symbol. Do they not have one for some reason?

I will have more questions down the line, probably regarding rustproofing, but for now…

Cheers

 

[John Woodward]

Hello,

I’ve just bought my first Puma, a 1999 1.4ltr with a mere 28k miles on the clock. It is absolutely like a new car and I love it, but I already have a question.

When I have the headlights on there is no dashboard symbol to say they are on. The headlights work, dash board lights up but I would expect to see a green headlight symbol. Do they not have one for some reason?

I will have more questions down the line, probably regarding rustproofing, but for now…

Cheers

Welcome to Puma ownership.
The only light I know of is the blue headlight main beam one, which was usual on Fords of the era of the Puma.
If you have a owners handbook for the car, it should show what warning lights there are, if you haven't got a owners handbook, let me know, because I have a PDF copy.

 

[yippeekiay]

As John said, there is no low beam indication, but just the full/main/flash beam one. At least that's backed up by what I had stored away in my computer

 

[Bilbohicks]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I’ve only had the car for a couple of weeks and know that they were notorious for rust, so had the arch liners out and used Lanogaurd into every bit I could see. I’m thinking of putting plugs into the sills and getting in with a lance to try and protect in there, but I will search the forum for rustproofing tips before I ask questions on it.

 

[John Woodward]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I’ve only had the car for a couple of weeks and know that they were notorious for rust, so had the arch liners out and used Lanogaurd into every bit I could see. I’m thinking of putting plugs into the sills and getting in with a lance to try and protect in there, but I will search the forum for rustproofing tips before I ask questions on it.

If you remove the bottom seat belt fixing bolt from the sill, you can get a lance all the way along to the front of the car and the cavity wax should run out of the drain holes of the sill, but to go towards the rear there is usually a black plastic bag full of bits of foam strips (to reduce noise), you'll need to remove the rear seats to get the inner panels off and the black bag is near the seat belt lower fixing.
I've used Bilt Hamber S50 cavity wax on both my Puma's and extended the lance to 120 cm, so that it'll reach right along the sill
If the sills have had any dodgy welding the black plastic bag could well be melted if it wasn't removed, I always remove the black bags and throw them away.

 

[caprixpack]

Here's my dash lit up just to confirm there's no dash light for side and dipped beam.

 

[Bilbohicks]

Thanks for that, that’s great info. I was thinking of making a couple of holes on the sill where the door opens, finish it off with some flush fitting grommets, but would that get access enough to both front and back? I know they were really bad for corrosion so just trying to do what I can as the car is so clean but about to become a daily driver.

 

[John Woodward]

Thanks for that, that’s great info. I was thinking of making a couple of holes on the sill where the door opens, finish it off with some flush fitting grommets, but would that get access enough to both front and back? I know they were really bad for corrosion so just trying to do what I can as the car is so clean but about to become a daily driver.

Once the plastic bag things are removed, then it's possible to use a lance in both directions. If you take the rear cards off you can do all round the inside where the rear arches join the rear quarter panel, also when doing under the rear arches it's worth in my opinion using a wire brush to get any rust off the inner arch area, then rust converter etc. but after the converter, I use zinc primer, then normal primer, then gloss followed by under body wax.

 

[YOG]

http://www.pumapeople.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=97645&st=0

 

[Bilbohicks]

Once the plastic bag things are removed, then it's possible to use a lance in both directions. If you take the rear cards off you can do all round the inside where the rear arches join the rear quarter panel, also when doing under the rear arches it's worth in my opinion using a wire brush to get any rust off the inner arch area, then rust converter etc. but after the converter, I use zinc primer, then normal primer, then gloss followed by under body wax.

Brilliant info, thanks. The car is one of these rare time warp examples where it is like brand new, only covered 28k miles, and underneath is in really good shape. I’ve done the underneath with Lanogaurd and I’ve also been into the inner wings inside the boot after removing the boot liners, which was an easy job, so I will get to the other bits you have detailed. Is there any bits worth getting to under the bonnet, as in access to inner wings at the front end?

 

[John Woodward]

The front wings can rust from the inside at the bottom where all the mud gathers, on my Red puma the front wing was rusted through, I found about 6" of lovely Lincolnshire (where the car came from) soil on the passenger side, I have since replaced the wing.
Also worth doing is the A posts, access through the alarm switch (looks like a light switch) and all the chassis sections underneath the car. I did have a high mileage Thunder which had rust in places where there is no sign of rust on my 2 current Puma's.

If you use Facebook, the Ford Puma Owners Group has loads of files which are too large to post on here, one is the Thatcham Methods file, which details rustproofing.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/fordpuma/files/files