2000 C5 Vert
OK
A quick little back story..
I've been working to completely restore/fix up my C5, possibly to put it into car shows and what not with my 9yr old son. He's been asking to put neon lights under the car, as well in the foot wells of the interior. My original plan was to install 2 relay switches.... 1 to the interior lights, so that when the interior lights came on either by door opening or switch, the lights connected would also come on And the other on the headlights , same reason, so that when headlights came on, the lights (under car)would come on.

The Problem....

I decided to start with the interior lights..... I already had the center console pulled because of work I was doing on the audio system. I noticed the little light under the PRNDL was illuminating exactly when I wanted my interior (new led neon)lights to light. I figured it would be perfect.... Tapped into the light wires with the relay, and it was not working when I put a meter on it. It also was making a weird clicking and humming sound (the relay)I checked the voltage on the light (PRNDL) and it was still hot. So I decided to try a different route. I completely cut off the bulb housing and tied the relay directly into that wire set. Same thing happened... Relay wasn't working and making noises....I again took it down and metered the wires.... It was about 7V from what I can remember... So I figured it was a lower voltage than the 12V I expected, and abandoned the idea.... by this time it was getting dark, and late, I was at a friends and needed to get home. I plugged in the necessities, and went to leave.

The Real Problem

When I started the car, the dash lights all came on. However when I turned my headlights on, they did not "pop up", or turn on... Additionally the dash lights go off when the headlight switch is on.
I manually cranked the headlights open, and once they are open, the lights do come on..!! As well when I do this, the dash lights still do not illuminate. When I turn the headlight switch off, the headlights go off, and the dash lights come back on...!!!!

Has anyone experienced this problem? Is there anyone that would be willing to or can help in troubleshooting this problem with me???

Things To Note
The headlight switch was never touched or messed with.

When metering the PRNDL light yesterday, I am noticing that it is no longer "hot".

The neons that I have under the car are run directly to the battery for the time being, until I can find another solution. I mention this just so you know they are not tapped into any of the problem areas.

I do have floorboard 12V neons in the car, but they are just "tapped" into the original floor lights that are already there. I just took out the bulb and tapped into the wires. They have always and still do work fine....

I mentioned Audio work, I didn't touch any of the wiring to any of the audio. I was there merely cleaning and prepping for a double din install.

When in there yesterday with the meter, I also noticed the cigarette lighter in the dash was also no longer hot. I pulled that fuse, it was blown and I just haven't run out to O Reilly to grab some yet....!!

I'm definitely not an expert, but I really think I blew a relay, or some sort of "Maxi" fuse or something?? I just don't know where to start....??

OK..... This is all I can think of right at the moment...
My apologies for the length of this, I just wanted to make sure whoever might help me has ALL the info.....!!

Thank You for taking the time to look over this, any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Sec5

 

Not sure how you were planning on powering the lights and how the relay would be involved but sounds like you really didn't know what you were doing.

I would give up on the bling crap and get back to OEM.


I have had to help more than one person who had a fire because the prior owner had no clue what he was doing tying into existing circuits that were never designed for the current overload and then increase fuse size until FIRE.


Mr. Sam

 

Gonna take the high road and delete my comments.......

Now that the lecture is out of the way....

I would appreciate it if someone that really wants to "help" a fella out could post a legitimate reply to my OP....!! Thank You

 

10A #6 fuse......

Problem Solved...... I appreciate the negative comments this morning, it made me mad and determined to find the problem on my own.....

The problem had nothing to do with my "bling crap", but more so with the housing to the PRNDL light bulb was burnt / melted and the contacts inside were touching each other without a bulb in there to keep them separated......!! Also the labeling of fuse #6 was confusing as there was no mention of headlamp motors...!!

Thanks to everyone that read this post, and refrained from making me feel like a tool that shouldn't even be driving a Corvette....!.!!

SEC5

 

Sorry if I was harsh but I don't want people making serious mistakes. I try to make an impression so people don't do things they will regret. Sorry about the BC comment, that was way out of line to inject my personal thoughts.

In making amends, if you need me to help design circuit interfaces so it is done without concern for the OEM circuits integrity I would be glad to it. Would need to know about what loads these lights draw and how you want them controlled.

Relays are great for controlling things like this with the coils drawing low current to activate the contacts taking the high current light draw and that power being provided via a fuse source. Naturally the coils will need a fused source also.

Been doing this for over 50 years.


Mr. Sam P.E.