olelucky

I’m reassembling my dash and console after a interior redo. I seem to have a short in the instrument lights. It blows the small fuse. I do have high beam indicator, seat belt light, door ajar lights, headlight and tail lights. I’ve checked the hot side of the small fuse while rotating to headlight switch, and it turns up and down. Which leads me to believe the switch is good. I think the problem is in the grey wire circuit. I’ve had the drivers dash and console out several times, but find nothing wrong. I’m wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks to trace this down? Thanks

DUB

You are correct....The light gray wire is what you need to be looking for.

I hope you have a wiring diagram for your Corvette....because what you will need to do is follow that circuit from the fuse panel. It may require you to take out what you just put back in. The radio and the cigarette lighter light are both on this circuit also. And not knowing what year you are dealing with...the light for your wiper switch. I can say...that IF you have every bulb socket OUT of teh gauges...so they are not grounded...and the bulb is out of the socket for the automatic shifter light.

IF you take your ohmmeter......and the small fuse is also OUT...the gray wire now should NOT be grounded when you take the leads of your ohmmeter to the gray wire and a KNOWN ground source.

This circuit can be a bit tricky to find the exact area where you are grounding out that gray wire. I have the 'Power Probe' tool that can aid me in finding a short by the Power Probe sends a signal on that circuit and I have the receiver that directs me to where it is basically located.

Without having the Power Probe tool..you might have to unwrap your harness...find teh gray wire and cut it so you take many of the circuits out of the equation.

ALSO...do not be fooled....if you are thinking that you can plug one of the light sockets in the backside of a gauge...and check to see if the gray wire is grounded....well...it WILL be grounded at that time. And this is because it is getting its ground THROUGH the filament in the light bulb. Because a light bulb is basically a controlled short circuit....where positive voltage and negative voltage ground) meet. Much like a MIG welder. A controlled short circuit that builds up heat.

DUB

olelucky

thanks Dub, I was able to locate it last night. And as I suspected, it was something I had done. I had everything back out a couple of times, but not seeing it. I had installed a custom audio HU and used the original 3 wire plug from the radio. I had my radio ground plugged into the gray plug which instead should have been the white. I was so focused on it being one of the light sockets that I "couldn't see the forest for the trees". I will check in to the Power Probe tool.

DUB

Glad that you found it!

DUB