Door light switches not grounding?
Thread Starter
CF JASOC Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 8,040
Likes: 34
From: Downtown Annapolis, MD. The Future is where we all have to live. Let's not screw it up.
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11
Door light switches not grounding?
Interior lights not working on the '71, so I got new door switches.
Removed Fuse (which was blown), and installed new switch on driver side. Put fuse back in and lights came on, but wires began to get hot to the touch. Fuse (20A) did not blow.
Pushed in plunger and removed fuse right away before anything worse happened.
Any ideas? Maybe there's a bad groung somewhere on the pillar?
Removed Fuse (which was blown), and installed new switch on driver side. Put fuse back in and lights came on, but wires began to get hot to the touch. Fuse (20A) did not blow.
Pushed in plunger and removed fuse right away before anything worse happened.
Any ideas? Maybe there's a bad groung somewhere on the pillar?
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
Something is wrong in the wiring. The lights turn on by grounding out thru the switches....that shouldn't cause a "power short", by itself. Somehow, 12v. is getting a direct ground when the switch is made. My bet is that someone spliced a 12v. line into the "ground line" circuit by mistake....or a power wire in the door jamb [behind the jamb switch] has rubbed through the insulation and is contacting the switch when it shouldn't be. With the fuse out of the circuit, the short then wouldn't go to ground, so there would be no problem. Take the switch out of the door jamb and look into the area behind the hole with a penlight. See if there is a "ragged" wire with a red, orange, or yellow jacket on it that could be the problem. If so, you might be able to move it out of the way or even put some silicone glue/caulk over any bare area of a wire.
Also, the jamb wiring goes to both door jambs, so check both sides for a problem.
Also, the jamb wiring goes to both door jambs, so check both sides for a problem.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,192
Likes: 27
From: Boca Raton Florida
There is a LOT of stuff running on that circuit. Look it up in the shop manual. There are the interior lights, timer, cig lighter (they short under the console a lot), Vanity mirror light.
