Quick Electrical Question.

Black331Stang · Apr 27, 2004

Ok heres my problem. I got 2 autometer gauges in the vents and a tach and wired them up about a 2 months ago. I tapped into the AC controls to get them to go on with the interior lights, then i grounded the gauges to a screw coming out of a support bar behind the dash, i just slipped a round connector over the screw (held pretty good). the car wasnt driven until like 3 weeks ago, all lights worked fine for about 5-7 days of driving. I went to drive it one night and NONE of the Interior lights went on. Running lights and headlights all work fine. My question is -- if that ground going from the gauges sprung free, would it knock out the whole interior system (dash, ac, gauges, tach) or just those 2 vents gauges???

some background on y im not just going in to look to see if it popped loose--- i had a major wiring failure last year and all my headlight wires cooked up and everything didnt work and i got it all redone. Im just hoping its not the start of another crap out. thanks for any help. sorry its kinda long

jrichker · Apr 27, 2004

Check the fuses. A loose ground wire shouldn't affect anything but the items that use that particular ground.

Black331Stang · Apr 30, 2004

yeah checked fuses all look good. i beleive there are 2 for instrument illumination. both look ok. any other ideas?

Black331Stang · May 4, 2004

please?

powershift351 · May 4, 2004

best bet is to go back and retrace all of your steps, check everything. If all else fails, put things back the way they were and start over, or use a different path. Good Luck

Black331Stang · May 4, 2004

ok thanks for the help....heres my question littel shorter.....

If u have a closed circuit with 3 light bulbs, which are all grounded -- and u tap into it and add a 4th bulb and DO NOT ground it, will the whole system fail or just that new light bulb wont light? and answer to that will help me out alot. thanks

HISSIN50 · May 5, 2004

Black331Stang said:
ok thanks for the help....heres my question littel shorter.....

If u have a closed circuit with 3 light bulbs, which are all grounded -- and u tap into it and add a 4th bulb and DO NOT ground it, will the whole system fail or just that new light bulb wont light? and answer to that will help me out alot. thanks

you are right- the 4 bulb wont light, but no harm will find the 3 bulbs that are good. even the 4th would be fine sans a ground; it just would not work.

as touched upon, you might want to disconnect where you tapped into the a/c lighting and see what happens. is the dimmer working - some have run the rheostat up and down and had the lights come back to life.

good luck.

Black331Stang · May 5, 2004

no my dimmer switch has been shot since the day i got the car...it wont dim the lights but it will turn then off/on (or used to anyway) and it will turn on teh overhead inside light....i think i just got what u are saying....if the dimmer switch had the Ints off and then it went dead now i cant get them back on with a dead switch....hmm hopefully...ill grab another switch....oh and whats a rheostat? lol thanks for the hlp hissin

HISSIN50 · May 5, 2004

well, now im more confused than before. LOL. a rheostat is the dimmer switch. or the light switch you might have on a dining room chandelier - round knob that controls the light output. or a volume knob on a radio.

since stuff sounds kinda rigged, im not sure i have any good ideas. i was thinking someone bypassed the dimmer at some point, but i think you said you can turn the instrument lights on and off with the dimmer....?
the switch has another position for the dome light.

hhhmmmm, i gotta try to get the gerbil to run on the wheel upstairs, on this one.

Black331Stang · May 6, 2004

yeah, ok heres how it works. If i turn the dimmer all the way to the right to that second click the overhead light will pop on....and if i go to the left the Instrument lights will go off. They never dim tho. i just always thought my dimmer was fried.

HISSIN50 · May 6, 2004

well, i try to be honest. i dont know what to say, other than:
i would undo the lighting to your new gauges and run like that for a bit. or just change the source to something in the lighting that is not part of the ISO circuit (you cant dim your lights anyways, which is why most use the ISO fuse/circuit).

and play with the dimmer and check the values you get from the connector. on other cars, i have bridged the dimmer so that it does not work. i think one could try to switch the feed wire for the cluster lights to the main parking light circuit, by passing the ISO circuit......that would get your dimmer out of the picture. i dont know for sure - it is something i might play with though.

that said, im a caveman compared to Jrichker, TMoss and some others in here when it comes to wiring. i have some ideas of what i would test, but they are the ones that really know this stuff. so bump for someone smarter than i, and good luck, Bud.

tmoss · May 8, 2004

Put that new dimmer in - sounds like you need it.

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