AkrHack

While investigating some of the non-functional electrical items on my newly acquired ’71, I discovered some things that don’t look right under the dash. I’ve made annotations on the picture I’ve attached to this post. I suspect that some or all of the 4 things listed below are related to what is shown in the picture.

1) None of the under dash or luggage area courtesy lights work when the doors are open or with the headlight **** is turned.
2) The door ajar light does not function
3) The ignition key warning buzzer does not sound when I open the driver’s door with the keys still in the ignition
4) The turn signals function when the ignition switch is in the Locked position and the keys are not in the ignition

Some other notes: a) the fuse for the courtesy lights is not blown (it tested good with an ohm meter). b) there is power on both sides of the courtesy light fuse. c) as you can see from the attached picture, the under dash courtesy light is missing and it appears that the white and orange wires that power that missing light are spliced together. d) there is a yellow wire under the dash that is cut. The other end of the yellow wire is routed behind the kick panel and is connected to the door pillar switch. I verified that the switch works by connecting one lead of my ohm meter to ground and the other to the end of the yellow wire that was cut. When I push the door pillar switch in, the circuit is open. When it is out (ie when the door is open), the circuit is closed. e) The 4 way flashers work, brake lights work, horn works and low beam headlights work. f) The high beam floor switch is not present.

I’m currently trying to decipher the wiring diagrams, but have still not figured out what has to be done to fix my problems. I’m reaching out to the other forum members who happen to be intimately familiar with the under dash wiring on a ’71 with hopes that they can point me in the right direction. The obvious thing to do is to install a new courtesy light socket and reconnect the white and orange wires that are now spiced together. What is not obvious to me is where I should connect the dangling yellow wire. Can one of you help me with information about the yellow wire? Thanks to all who read and reply to my posing.

doorgunner

Be sure to click on this shortcut> http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...or-anyone.html

Provide him with the info that he needs....he will provide you with the complete wiring diagram for your car at no charge...He's a great Member.

AkrHack

Thank you doorgunner. I already have the '71 wiring diagrams from forum member papawana. I have to admit that I am having trouble seeing where a yellow wire enters the equation. The right hand door switch shows only black and orange wires. I'll keep looking though. I think I'm going to remove the kick panel this evening so I can see what the other end of the yellow wire is connected to.

AzMotorhead

Going off of memory so be sure to double check this.
Orange wires were Batt hot all the time. orange and white paired wires were for door switch courtesy lights. White is switched ground ,meaning itll be grounded when switch is closed.
Yellow is for Ign/accy hot, hot when ign is on. generally found for radio circuit.
Orange & white should not be spliced together.
After finding a print.
For courtesy lights: Orange is hot and should run from Fuse block to courtesy light(S), White runs from the light to the door switch(s).
Door switch grounds directly to the frame-no wire- Switch is located on the hinge end of the door jamb
Door ajar circuit is a different circuit with a different switch. that switch is at the rear of the door jamb down by the sill IIRC

Easy Mike

Door Ajar uses the switches on the body at the rear corners of the door openings. They have their own wiring circuit.

Alan 71

Hi AR,
I don't know if you're aware of the manual called the 'Assembly Instruction Manual'.
It contains about 800 sheets of engineering type drawings and was used on the production line in St.Louis.
There's an interior electrical section that relays very different information (more graphic) than the wiring diagram does.
I think you may find it very useful for these problems and others you may face with your new 71.
Most people find it the most useful piece of information we have!
Regards,
Alan

StingrayLust

As you said, you've got to remove the kick panel as the only yellow wire I see that should be coming from that area is from the rear wiring harness and is tied to your left rear bulb. That's assuming that the yellow wire is original and wasn't added by Bubba.

As for the white and orange wires *appearing* to be wired together, I somehow doubt that as I would think that would cause a short. Have you verified they're not just electrically taped together but not *wired* together?

AkrHack

Thank you to all that have taken the time to read and reply to my post. Here is what I found this evening (both a written explanation and a couple of pictures).

I removed the kick panel this evening and found that the mysterious yellow wire was a splice that runs to the switch on the door pillar. Also tucked under the kick panel was the missing left courtesy light socket. It is mangled/melted. I also found a couple of blown 20 amp fuses under the carpet. I attached a volt meter to the orange wire in the mangled socket and it is always hot. However, when I measured the voltage across both the orange and white wires that run to the socket, it read 0 volts both when the drivers door is open (no surprise because one wire to the switch is not connected) or when I turned the headlight switch all the way to the left. Note that I traced both the orange and white wires from the mangled socket and saw that they ran back to the wiring harness.

At this point, I have to digest what I discovered thus far and try to figure out what to check next.

F22

What bothers me, is the red wire on the right, being spliced to the white wire! The white wire off've the wiring harness, should go straight to the white wire on the door pillar switch.

AkrHack

Thanks F22, I think you figured it out. I know it is difficult to see in the picture, but the wire you identified as red is actually a dark orange. After thinking about what you wrote, I agree that it looks like one of the prior owners cut the white wire that originally went to the switch on the door pillar and spliced it to the dark orange wire in order to power something else. Perhaps if I remove the splice with the dark orange wire and reconnect it to the wire that leads to the pillar switch, I’ll get my courtesy lights working. I did verify last evening that the white and dark orange wire splice supplies 12 volts all the time. That dark orange wire (that is currently sliced to the white wire from the harness) appears to lead toward the gauge cluster or radio, but I have not traced it yet to know specifically what it is connected to. The car does have an aftermarket radio in it, so I’ll check there first. Can anyone familiar with the ’71 wiring tell me if the dark orange wire shown in the pictures is something that should be there from the factory or does it look to be a something that was added by a prior owner?

F22

Ak, thanks for the update. Dark Orange, looks red, but I stand corrected, based on your response!


I've gotta ask, is this the only wire repair that you see? Is it the only electrical problem that you have? You should get your head underneath the dash with a flashlight and take a really good look at what the wiring harness looks like underneath there.

Does it have numerous patches and segments of black electrical tape? Does it have a lot of colored crimp connectors? Does it look like it's worn and abused, with the copper wire hanging out the back of the light sockets? If not, then you're good. If it matches this, then you should consider installing a new harness. That's what I'm in the process of doing to mine right now, after fighting with electrical for two years now.

Alan 71

Hi AH,
In 71 I believe an 18 gauge orange wire comes out of the fuse block in the dash harness. With-in the harness it splits and powers four 20 gauge orange wires….the clock, the cigarette lighter, and the left and right courtesy lamps.
The lamps show the orange and a white wire at the socket.
Regards,
Alan

You can just see the orange and white wires on their way to the courtesy lamp socket.

ignatz

I'll put in a plug for the DocRebuild wiring diagrams. They were taped to my garage wall during the rebuild. They are color-coded, organized by harness, mylar coated to wipe off the grease and show actual pictures of each connector and lamp.

929nitro

There has been other Bubba wiring done. Look at the house twist lug just to the left of the brake pedal!

AkrHack

I tried to trace the dark orange wire this evening and could only see where it runs behind the center of the dash. I'm going to have to pull the gauge housing to look further. Or I could alternatively cut the spliced dark orange and white wires and see what stops working. At any rate, I won't be able to try either until the weekend. Thanks to all who have offered their help with this problem up to this point as it helped me understand what was done and hopefully move closer to getting my courtesy lights working again.

flyeri

Looks like my 68. I took the entire dash out to repair/replace bubba's work.

Alan 71

Hi AH,
The AIM that I mentioned earlier would help you in situations like this.
It shows that the 20 gauge orange and white wires for the left side courtesy lamp exiting the dash harness at the same location that the wires for the all the speedometer lamps and the tail for the headlamp switch.
The original wire for the courtesy lamp wouldn't travel as far as the center gauge cluster.
Does the dash harness still have it's black vinyl wrap on it?
Regards,
Alan

AkrHack

Alan,
The dark orange wire that runs to the center of the dash is a heavier gauge wire than those that come out of the courtesy light sockets - probably it is 18 gauge.

The vinyl wrap is still on the wiring harness near the fuse box. It doesn't look like any other wires were cut, but I am not 100% sure. I am a bit suspicious of the empty connector coming out of the accessories plug on the fuse block however. I will worry about that issue after I get my courtesy lights working.

After seeing the pic you posted from the AIM, I now see how much more helpful it would be than a wiring diagram. I am going to a swap meet this afternoon and will be on the lookout for this along with the 50 or so other 1971 related items the car needs. Thanks again for your post.