I did disconnect the tach solenoid and the tach lights still came on. I know these things can be frustrating unless there is hands on and still it can be puzzling. I'm afraid it will have to go into a shop locally when possible. I wish to thank all those who lent their advise is matter, I am truly thankful to you all, God Bless, Fred

 

Don't give up yet. Lets try this,pull your Gauges fuse. I believe its the lowest one on the right side of the fuse block. This will shut off the power to the parking brake bulb. Thats about the only other power wire I can see that is close to the the tach case. If that doesnt work you could pull the other fuses one by one until the lights go out,(pull the tailight and inst light fuses last).

 

This afternoon I placed a ground to the rear of the tach housing and the lights continued light. I will follow up on your advise and pull the fuses as mentioned and give my findings.

 

Ok, I pulled the gauge fuse as you mentioned and the lights did not come on. That's a good thing I believe.

 

Yes it gives us an idea of where the power is coming from. I was thinking the pink wire going to the parking brake bulb was shorting to the tach case backfeeding through the illumination bulbs because the tach case was ungrounded but you said you had run a separate ground to the tach case AND that SHOULD have blown the gauges fuse,so I guess its back to the wiring diagram with the new info.

EDIT - I keep rereading your posts and the pulsating parking brake light keeps getting my attention. I cant remember if the parking brake light is supposed to flash. I seem to remember if the light is on long enough it will begin to flash but I think thats the C2s that do that. Can anyone confirm the flashing parking brake light ?

I also wonder if when the tach cable was pushed onto the back of the tach the pink wire was pinched between the sharp edge of the cable and back of tach.

 

Ok What ever will narrow it down. I will take the speedo and tach panel dash face down tomorrow as today I spotted a bulb or two that popped out when replacing the panel awhile back. I was wondering why the tach was not fully lit last sat evening on the drive home.

 

Regarding that pulsating brake light, It even pulsated when the brake handle was down and as far as I remember ( Prior to my replacing the tach cable ) it did not pulsate, it remained on until I released the parking brake.

 

While you have it down it might be a good time to make sure the headlight switch stem is seated good - I read above in one of your posts that the stem was an issue.
I hope while you have it down you can find something obvious.

 

Maybe its the tan wire on the park brake light thats pinched and grounding through the tach housing. If it was the pink that was grounding that should blow the gauges fuse.

 

In every case I never blew a fuse during this problem. I will look for such things as you mentioned when I take the panel down. I know it may sound foolish perhaps but I did get another headlight switch and I will replace the old one while it's down. and examine the bulbs and connections.

Thank you for your patients. Fred

 

Not foolish at all. I can't imagine how the switch could cause any of your problem but when it comes to electrical issues just about anything is possible and its old so now is a good time. If it is the original check around the connector for signs of being hot.

 

Well, today was very interesting. I took down the front panel and examined the headlight switch and didn't find anything unusual so knowing I was going to replace it, I proceeded to take it off. While keeping a reference of those vacuum hoses. After getting the switch off and trying my hardest to look for anything out of place under the dash I decided to pull the seat. The fellow I purchased the car from cut the seat belt because he couldn't get it to release so I knew it had to be replaced anyway so I figured now was a perfect time. Not having a tilt wheel it was still a circus act in order to peek under the dash as the wheel didn't give me much room to move around.

After replacing the the light switch I put the brake light bulb back into it's socket as I did one other bulb on the tach and turned the juice on. Courtesy lights went on in each corner and I pull the light switch out and all the gauges lit. This time the brake light was not pulsating but was on with the brake handle in a down position. My next test was to shut the lights off and turn the ignition to on position and to my surprise "NO LIGHTS" came on the tach. I felt somewhat pleased that finally the gremlins are jumping ship but I still wondered about that red brake light. Here's where it got weird. With the light off and the ignition on I pulled up on the brake handle so slightly and and I saw the tach light go on while simultaneously hearing a clicking sound like a relay and it did it every time I pulled up on the brake. I pulled the shifter plate off and the relay that sits in front of the brake handle was making that clicking sound. I believe the brake light ( TAN WIRE) connects to that relay. I dont' have a shop manual as of yet so I don't know what that relay is for. Is it possible that this relay Is the culprit?