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Another, very common cause for short circuits is the wrong bulb! It may go in and even fit, but there are two styles for the typical bulbs and if you put the wrong one in, it will totally smoke your whole wiring system! We've found this to be the cause in at least two cars that we had in the Shop.
Double Contact.
Single Contact.
These bulbs that you posted photos of do not apply for the Corvette being worked on in this post. GM changed the bulb design and sockets completely.
Dub, those are just for reference, single contact vs. dual contact and no intent on displaying actual GM bulbs.
And yes, you can put the wrong bulb in the wrong socket. That's what put a 1964 C2 in the pasture for 25 years, because somebody put a two contact bulb, where a single contact was supposed to go in the dome light. Ditto for the 80's Camaro RS, that we had in about a year ago, same thing. Popping fuses and smoking wires were the symptoms on both of these cars and I'm bringing this up, only to help eliminate what we've personally seen twice.
I took apart the gauge cluster today and I think the lights were out while I messed with it. Is this possible, maybe with the seat belt timer up in the left corner?
I also put the pwr dr lock switch back in the harness just to find the fuse blowing. I suspect the switch to be shortend as one pin is wobbly and somebody seems to have messed with it before. I will replace it and see what will happen.
Last edited by colonel328; Dec 7, 2015 at 02:53 PM.
In the area near the radio look for black wires intentionally connected to ground. There should NOT be any. Perhaps someone intentionally connected a black wire to ground thinking "no problem". Big problem if that black wire grounds the courtesy lights!
The only connection to ground is behind the dash panel on the driver side.
There is a black wire from the radio install going to one of the three bolts of the gear lever as thus being grounded. This wire is NOT connected to or spliced into any wire from the factory harness.
Ok, long period with no time to look into this mess until yesterday...
I disconnected the black wire from what looks like an aftermarket radio install - no change.
I replaced the power door lock switch on the passenger side together with the pigtail. I soldered those three wires in and wrapped them with tape and when I wanted to bolt the two black wires to the door metal the fuse blew!
So I tested the three wires (blue, red, black) on the pass. side pigtail that go into the harness: all of them are hot. Is this the way it should be?
When I install the pass. side pwr door lock switch the two black wires that bolt to the door are hot as well! Is this the way it´s supposed to be? I don´t think so.
On the drv side: all wires of the pwr door lock pigtail are hot as well when the switch is installed. Again, is this the way it´s supposed to be?
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
