I changed out my ignition lock cylinder today. After I did that, i drove my car and all of the lights were properly lit (headlights, taillights, dash lights)...everything that's supposed to be on when i turn on the headlights.

I parked, did some shopping, then headed home. Everything was fine for the first few minutes, then I noticed my headlights flicker, so I was going to check them when I got home. I noticed about a minute later that my dash lights weren't working, so I fiddled with the switch like I normally do to get them to turn on...nothing happened. When i got home, I noticed that none of the side marker lights were on, as well as the taillights.

The only lights that were still working were the headlights.
None of the other running lights work, but the brake and reverse lights do

The brights work (speedo "bright" indicator works), the blinkers work (dash indicators work), the hazards work, tach "brake" indicator works, radio works, wipers work.

I'm thinking maybe I accidentally touched some contacts while I was changing out the ignition lock cylinder and it caused a short? or a blown fuse? Don't know which one(s) to check that would control all of the lights. (plus, I'm still pretty new to my '77)

Wondering if this is an easy fix because I really would like to have taillights when driving at night.

Any ideas?

(on the plus side, you can no longer start my car without a key!)

 

TL and dash lights are on the same fuse. Check the fuse.

 

ah, good call! as soon as I found the fuse box, it was pretty obvious which fuse was blown. Sure enough it was the tail light fuse. Swapped it out for a good fuse, and all was right in the world. I guess the 35 year old fuse had just had enough. Thanks for the help wombvette!