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Interior Lights Gremlin

Started by jadob, February 08, 2018, 12:14:00 AM

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jadob

Hello;

Recently i lost all my interior lights on my 66 Eldorado. I checked everything out and didnt have power to lights for some reason. They were working fine prior. Fuse box fine, door switches fine, dash/radio lights fine, just the interior. So i ran a jumper line from back of fuse box to red wire of one under dash light and all lights worked. The only issue is that when i go to use the headlight switch to turn them on manually nothing happens (no interior lights). They only come on when doors are open and they go off when doors are closed. My question is, does anyone think that the headlight switch itself is bad? The dash lights dim and brighten by turning the knob, so before i buy a new switch and pull the headlight unit out i was hoping for an opinion from someone who is more knowledgeable than I with electrical issies. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

J

TMoore - NTCLC

#1
You didn't mention your year or model, so this is pretty generic info, and assumes that you have a 12V negative ground car.

Electrical is very tricky, but based on what you have described, your problem might be much easier to trace and fix. 

Since the courtesy lights always have hot (+) supply, and only operate when ground (-) is completed (either thru the door switches or headlight switch), it is most often a shorted ground that causes issues.

However, you have supplied hot (+) and got all of the lights to function, so that pretty much rules out a problem with a shorted ground.

Check your service manual to see where the (+) is supplied to the lights and work from there - it may be that the light switch is the culprit, but without looking at your wiring diagram, it is hard to be sure.

Good luck, and let us know what you find.

jadob

Hello!!!!

Thank you so much!! I own a 66 Eldorado so i am going to install the new headlight switch and see if that fixes the problem. If so then i can remove the jumper wire i installed and operate the lights as normal. What was throwing me off was that i could use the headlight switch to dim and brighten the dash lights but did not have interior lights. I will post again once i install the new headlight switch.
Thank you!!