electrical gremlins---need advice

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Feb 24, 2019 | 06:40 PM

delandjohn

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electrical gremlins---need advice

Electrical problem with my 1976 small block, auto trans, stock, daily driver. Driving home from the Lakeland Florida car meet on Saturday I turned the headlights on for the first time in months. Headlights came on BUT the seatbelt warning light also came on, along with the dash lights in bezel. (Seatbelt Buzzer did not come on). When I rotated the headlight **** to dim the dash lights the seatbelt warning light dimmed but the lights in the dash bezel did not dim. And the instrument lights in the speedo and tach did not come on at all. Light and buzzer on door ajar still work fine. When I rotated the headlight **** to brighten interior lights the seatbelt warning light became brighter but instrument lights in bezel did not change in brightness.

Am at a loss. Would appreciate advice, opinions, thoughts or even guesses on what the problem might be.

Feb 24, 2019 | 06:46 PM

av81

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From: wilmington Ma

If they have a common ground point and its bad stuff like that can happen , you really need to start with a wiring diagram and look at that ... hopefully mice didnt chew up wires either.

Feb 24, 2019 | 06:49 PM

delandjohn

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Good idea with diagram. Nope no mice. Car lives the good life in a controlled environment.

Feb 24, 2019 | 08:51 PM

wadenelson

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I seem to remember SOME vehicles of that era, if you had a taillight out the dash lights wouldn't illuminate to let you know.

Have you had a stereo installed or any other dash work, lately??

Last edited by wadenelson; Feb 25, 2019 at 12:22 PM.

Feb 25, 2019 | 03:48 PM

delandjohn

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Yes. Had a new stereo installed several months ago. Have probably not used the lights since then. Might that be the problem? If so, what should I look for?

Feb 25, 2019 | 05:22 PM

av81

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From: wilmington Ma

Quote:

Originally Posted by delandjohn

Yes. Had a new stereo installed several months ago. Have probably not used the lights since then. Might that be the problem? If so, what should I look for?

If the installer was a rookie he might have hooked up the dimmer wire as ground , that was a common mistake years ago as it shows ground with the lights off.

Feb 25, 2019 | 06:36 PM

wadenelson

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Quote:

Originally Posted by delandjohn

Yes. Had a new stereo installed several months ago. Have probably not used the lights since then. Might that be the problem? If so, what should I look for?

Ha! Same problem my C3 had. Stereo installer hooked an illumination line from the stereo into the dash harness going to the instrument lights. What' it's supposed to do is make the illumination of the stereo face track the bright/dim of the dash. What it did was kill all my dash lights and cause blown fuses.

Get yourself some piano wire and join my crusade. All aftermarket stereo installers are to be strangled with it.

Last edited by wadenelson; Feb 25, 2019 at 06:37 PM.

Mar 2, 2019 | 08:59 PM

delandjohn

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Disconnected radio and problem went away. Yep, it was the new radio that messed up the ground. Thanks to everyone who responded with advice. This forum is great.