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Electrical gremlins

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Old Nov 7, 2001 | 07:43 PM
  #1  
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Default Electrical gremlins

I rarely have the car out after dark, but with daylight saving time and all.....
I really do not know how long I have had this problem.

When I put it in reverse, the back up lights do not come on, but all the dash lights (tach,speed, oil,etc)
come on!!!!!!!
I also noticed that the brake lights come on also in reverse.

Any ideas??? I haven't done any electrical work, so I can't trace it back to something I might have done.
:crazy:
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Old Nov 7, 2001 | 08:25 PM
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Default Re: Electrical gremlins (shoptek)

so u dont know if it did that when u bought the car or not???

only thing i can say is break out the electrical diagrams and start doing continuity checks...

but it sounds like you might have to have a possible "dash yanking" ceremony sometime in the near future :jester

not fun!
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Old Nov 7, 2001 | 08:35 PM
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Default Re: Electrical gremlins (daily_driver)

it sounds to me like somehow the reverse backup switch is activating the "lights on" wire on the headlights switch..

according to my wiring diagrams... the backup light switch has an 18 guage pink and an 18 guage light green going to it...

thew 18 guage pink goes to a junction were it merges with a 12 guage pink... this 12 guage pink goes to the fuse box but has no fuse in it...

the lights that activate the dash lights and such has a 16 guage dark grey and a 20 guage grey that connect through a fuse int he fuse box..

it sounds to me like someone has done some custom work on your fuse box and screwed it up...

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Old Nov 7, 2001 | 08:50 PM
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Default Re: Electrical gremlins (shoptek)

Everything "looks" factory. I don't see any rigging, and when I had the dash apart a few years ago, everything up there appeared like the General installed it.
I have checked the wiring diagrams too and don't see a common link. It seems like I'll have ANOTHER project to work on.
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Old Nov 7, 2001 | 09:33 PM
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Default Re: Electrical gremlins (shoptek)

well this isnt as bad as it looks...!!!

just use a DVM with a continuity function on it that beeps.....

1st thing i would do is verify the wires going from the reverse switch....

then id do continuity with those wires with the headlight switch wires (u can even just unplug the harness and do it there...)

so this really aint so bad, however it does seem that if you dont want to squeez under there to pry at the fuse box that youll have to get at the headlighgt switch harness one way or another (cough cough pull dash)
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Old Nov 7, 2001 | 09:35 PM
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Default Re: Electrical gremlins (daily_driver)

if you locate on your wiring diagram the fuse locations that i talk about above, you can do a quick and dirty check of that juntion with the pink wire of the reverse switch at the fuse terminal.....

should take yah 5 min
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Old Nov 8, 2001 | 09:08 AM
  #7  
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Default Re: Electrical gremlins (shoptek)

IF everythng looks factory under there, no major screw ups...and the headlights seem to work normally,.....I"d be looking for a bad ground...there is a heavy black wire with ground tab on it tied to the birdcage frame up under there somewhere, I tore my whole harness apart, and discovered it.....it goes to two puch on connectors, one on the tach body, the other on the speedo body....and it also goes to a black wire on the center gauge cluster, grounding it also....
frequently these screwey operational things are a bad ground.....so check it out first.....easy way is to just take a long wire ffrom the engine frame/intake somethere to the negative lead of meter, and then induce symptoms there, and check for any voltage on say speedo/tack/gauge cluster frame....I bet that's the troubles.....

GENE
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Old Nov 8, 2001 | 09:22 AM
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Default Re: Electrical gremlins (daily_driver)

I am having to break out the diagrams as well..... I feel your Pain
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