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Hi everybody! I’m new here. Got an 81 C3 Corvette last year and starting doing some small maintenance jobs I incurred in some unexpected surprises regarding the electrical circuit especially about curtesy lights and power door locks.
In particular I found out an unplugged pin by the fuse box (i post some pictures iof it). Does anybody tell me what’s it about and where should I (if I…) plug it ?
Also, couple of days ago putting a new passenger door harness where the pigtail was missing (😫 my curtesy lights and dome light stopped working and … surprise…it seems the Curtsy fuse is missing (I drew a circle in the empty fuse spot). How could they work without the fuse? I tried to put a new one and it blew immediately. Maybe some previous owner stupidly bypassed the fuse?
I saw strange things there…
I bought the shop manual but I cannot recognise many things there…hope to find some good help here.🙏
[img alt="Above the empty spot of the curtesy light
Below the unplugged connector/pin"]https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.corvetteforum.com-vbulletin/1179x1381/img_5341_53ce6db88917a9e146e61dc93ea6c15 9dc5afd19.jpeg[/img] Above the empty spot of the curtesy light Below the unplugged connector/pin
Hard to tell what is what. You should probably get yourself a wiring diagram. THre are some nice colored ones that are laminated and large enough to actually follow the wires.
it’s two wires connected to it: a thicker Orange one and a thinner red (or purple) one.
I was trying to post another pic but it gives me a error during upload 😡
Might be too large of a file ? I dont see any orange wires tied to a red or purple anywhere in the wiring diagram. Take all of that ugly electrical tape off the blue connector and get a better picture.
This is a 77 wiring diagram. It shows an orange wire that that is plugged into the fuse box at the BAT location. That is for the courtesy light timer and is powered the the courtesy light fuse. You need to find the short on that circuit first. Try unplugging the center gauge console if you can't find a short in the lights, cigar lighter or the delay timer. https://www.europeancorvette.com/pho...77/Page022.jpg
Might be too large of a file ? I dont see any orange wires tied to a red or purple anywhere in the wiring diagram. Take all of that ugly electrical tape off the blue connector and get a better picture.
Finally I managed to upload two other pics that i took when i was at the garage.
Just to give you a better picture of the status of the car: the curtsy lights and doe lights were working BUT they were not tunring off after 30 / 15 seconds...they were just staying on all the time with the doors open. So i starting wondering if the delay timer box was still present in the car and I checked removing the glove box and there is but i dont know if it is working or not and if it is connected. Moreover, i found another strange thing: the red wire coming down from the passsenger kickpanel to the curtesy light was split so ig gets doubled and one of the (the one that does not go to the curtesy light) was going through the door plastic pipe and conncted to the door bolt probably to make a ground TOGATHER with two wires (light blue and black ones) of the pigtail switch (of the power door lock siwtch) that WAS REMOVED only from the passenger side (god knows why). I bought a new passenger side harness provided with the pigtail and i installed it thinking to easily overcome the problem and to make the switch work but apparently itaht witch does not work even with the new harness...what a big chaos..
curtesy light problem: I guess this stupid thing was probably created to bypass the delay timer?
passenger side power lock door problem: I'll try to understand where's the problem.
Hope to find some help here cause this thing really gets on my nerves...thanx to all of you in advance...
Just to give you a better picture of the status of the car: the curtsy lights and doe lights were working BUT they were not tunring off after 30 / 15 seconds...they were just staying on all the time with the doors open. So i starting wondering if the delay timer box was still present in the car and I checked removing the glove box and there is but i dont know if it is working or not and if it is connected. Moreover, i found another strange thing: the red wire coming down from the passsenger kickpanel to the curtesy light was split so ig gets doubled and one of the (the one that does not go to the curtesy light) was going through the door plastic pipe and conncted to the door bolt probably to make a ground TOGATHER with two wires (light blue and black ones) of the pigtail switch (of the power door lock siwtch) that WAS REMOVED only from the passenger side (god knows why). I bought a new passenger side harness provided with the pigtail and i installed it thinking to easily overcome the problem and to make the switch work but apparently itaht witch does not work even with the new harness...what a big chaos..
curtesy light problem: I guess this stupid thing was probably created to bypass the delay timer?
passenger side power lock door problem: I'll try to understand where's the problem.
Hope to find some help here cause this thing really gets on my nerves...thanx to all of you in advance...
PLUS: glove box light is not working, vanity mirror light is not working, the cigar spot i dont know cause i nver tried it but it seems all these things should be connected...one more reason to think that all of them included the delay timer were bypassed...?
I had similar issues. The circuit board in my delay module was burned exactly like yours. My car is a work in progress. It isn't on the road and needs a lot of time & money. So I'm holding off on replacing the board ($50-$60).
This guy on YT (C3 Corvette) has a simple fix that will allow trouble shooting before buying a new circuit board?
Welcome to the Corvette Forum Flinky! We are glad you have chosen to join us here at the Corvette Forum!
Your connector issue is likely to be solved by a fellow late model C3 owner because they have the same harness. It looks like one of the connectors on my 1968 C3's fuse box, I will go check the wiring on my car and look for anything similar. My 1968 C3 doesn't have any timers or anything fancy. It is simply a 7 liter engine bolted to a four speed inside a Convertible Corvette body. Not designed for comfort, just for speed and fun.
There is a tool that would save you a lot of time on the electrical system. It is called a Power Probe and it is a hand held unit that looks like a standard circuit tester. The tip at the end can be configured for (+) battery voltage or a solid battery (0 Vdc) ground simply by rolling a rocker switch. This tool allows you to test circuits and see what they do when powered up. If there are shorts in the system it will be protected by a 20 amp circuit breaker built into the tool. This tool allows you to power up circuits or just components and verify that they work as they are designed to. While testing my power windows the Power probe was very helpful as I could power the motor up by itself and then work through the electrical system. The Power Probe is so handy that it will become one of the most used tools in a Corvette toolbox. This is one tool I suggest to anyone working on an older Corvette as it will save you time and aggravation. The Power probe also has a volt ohm meter built into it which is a great help. Overall this is one tool I recommend to fellow Corvette owners because of how handy it is.
The Power Probe 4 is more than many C3's might need for service. On a C4 it is a lifesaver because of its abilities and features. The Power Probe 3 is a very good unit and works well with the C3's. I actually have one of each. The PP 3 I bought as a "kit" with lots of accessories, the PP 4 was purchased separately because I already had the extras from the PP 3 purchase.
Here is a link to the PP 3 and PP 4: https://www.powerprobe.com/na/en/PP3 https://www.powerprobe.com/na/en/PP4
They also sell these things on Amazon and even at Harbor Freight just for your convenience!
Well I fiund out there that’s wire which is probably not original is connected to a secondary small fuse box (bit original for sure) with two fuses (20 and 10). I guess one is the curtesy fuse missing in the original fuse box…God knows what they did here…I will investigate
Help! Unknown Unplugged Pin/connector
my curtesy lights and dome light stopped working and … surprise…it seems the Curtsy fuse is missing (I drew a circle in the empty fuse spot). How could they work without the fuse? I tried to put a new one and it blew immediately. Maybe some previous owner stupidly bypassed the fuse?
