70 Convertible Courtesy Light Issues
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 114
Likes: 16
From: Parrish Florida
70 Convertible Courtesy Light Issues
My courtesy lights in my 70 Convertible Vette never worked. I figured I could fix this issue be changing out the harness. I installed a new engine, forward lamp and dash harness, but they still didn't work. During the harness install, I noticed the courtesy light switches were bad, so I replaced them too. This still didn't get them working, but I did manage to get the door buzzer working again, so the courtesy light switches are doing there job. I pulled out the test light and started checking and I'm getting voltage to the courtesy light bulb socket (orange wire) and also a good ground (white wire) on both lights. On thing that I also noticed is that when I try to turn on the courtesy lights with the head light switch, they don't work either. Can anyone point me in the right direction to get these things working? Thanks.
C.J.
C.J.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 3,557
Likes: 0
From: Ridgeway VA
I have a '70 also and had the same problem. I haven't fixed it yet but
my solution is to get a new socket for light under left hand dash - because when I first got the car that socket blinked on/off - just took
it out and have no courtesy lights. My point is that once that socket was in and grounded all courtesy lights worked. So they worked in a series - check each one for proper ground. Just a thought.
my solution is to get a new socket for light under left hand dash - because when I first got the car that socket blinked on/off - just took
it out and have no courtesy lights. My point is that once that socket was in and grounded all courtesy lights worked. So they worked in a series - check each one for proper ground. Just a thought.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 7,720
Likes: 12
From: Chattanooga TN
Orange wire is hot all the time. Door switches (or the rheostat on the headlight switch) give them ground. There are door switches at the jamb and lower rear on the body. I forget which do what. Sounds like you need a good year specific wiring diagram.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 114
Likes: 16
From: Parrish Florida
Thanks for the info guys. The harness that the courtesy lights are on is brand new, so hopefully they are good.
I decided to do some more testing. Since I'm getting good ground and power, I decided to test the light bulb. Looking at how the courtesy light socket is setup, power comes from the piece of metal on the bottom of the socket, while the ground comes from the side, where the bulb actually clips into the socket. I ran two jumpers from my battery (1 from negitive and 1 from positive) to the bulb. Then I touched the positive side to the bottom of the light and the negitive to the side and the light didn't turn on. I then noticed the bottom of the light had 2 nipples, instead of one. I decided to run the negitive jumper to one nipple and the positive jumper to the other, then the light worked. With this in mind, I believe I have the wrong bulb for this socket. Can anyone tell me if their courtesy light bulb has one or two nipples on it. If it has two, can you tell me if the sockett has two metal pieces on the bottom. Thanks for the help guys.
C.J.
I decided to do some more testing. Since I'm getting good ground and power, I decided to test the light bulb. Looking at how the courtesy light socket is setup, power comes from the piece of metal on the bottom of the socket, while the ground comes from the side, where the bulb actually clips into the socket. I ran two jumpers from my battery (1 from negitive and 1 from positive) to the bulb. Then I touched the positive side to the bottom of the light and the negitive to the side and the light didn't turn on. I then noticed the bottom of the light had 2 nipples, instead of one. I decided to run the negitive jumper to one nipple and the positive jumper to the other, then the light worked. With this in mind, I believe I have the wrong bulb for this socket. Can anyone tell me if their courtesy light bulb has one or two nipples on it. If it has two, can you tell me if the sockett has two metal pieces on the bottom. Thanks for the help guys.
C.J.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 114
Likes: 16
From: Parrish Florida
I Figured it Out
It ended up being the wrong bulb. I looked it up at the Auto Parts store again and it said I had the right bulb(#90 Sylvania Bulb) , but I decided to get the #89 Sylvania bulb and try it out. This bulb only had one nipple on the buttom and still fit in my socketts. Put them in and presto, lights. Thanks for all the inputs guys.
C.J.
C.J.
Last edited by BrooksCJ; Feb 4, 2008 at 09:29 PM.
