My truck hates me, help

[darush01]

I went to leave a friends house last night pulled my headlights and all that came on was my headlights my dome light dont work no dash lights no taillights no parking loghts, what could cause this i need to check all my grounds, oh if i turn my flashers on and hit my brakes it all flahes on abd off
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[asolde]

My first thought is your headlight switch. But I am no expert by far when it comes to electricty.

[darush01]

That was one of my ideas as well, i did unplug it and check the connection for corrosion along with every other plug in i could find
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[bollybib]

I had a similar problem so I removed the switch, disassembled it, and gave it a good cleaning and lubrication. Then everything worked hunkydory again.

[darush01]

I might try that if cleaning all the grounds doesnt work
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[webfoot]

Sounds like a fuse, those lamps are on a different circuit than the headlights. I had a short from an old splice with bare wire grounding to the core support.

[asolde]

You can buy the switch at napa

[darush01]

I checked every fuse and every onch of wire i can see i just pulled the headlight switch for the heck of it its just too laye here to pick one up
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[firedog]

The circut grounds thru the dimmer switch if it is loose,etc on the floor it will also create a problem.

[darush01]

I pulled the dimmer switch which is about a year old ground the rust out from Under it and bolted it back down with new bolts, i do need to replace the plug it had shorted out at some point and melted
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[darush01]

I have checked and cleaned the grounds on the block fender core support and dimmer switch, fuses are good , i checked as much of the wires as i could. If i turn my flashers on and hit the brakes any lights that are switched on will flash with flasher but when i let off brakes or turn flashers off they dont do anything, i need my truck asap any more ideas im beyond stumped
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[darush01]

Any ideas at all would help this is my only transportation and im out of ideas
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[ole dollor]

i think asolde has put you in the right direction....follow him....napa or bust....

[trac209]

You could also check to make sure there isn't any grounding happening at the bulbs themselves due to corrosion in the sockets. I had the same issue in a truck before where applying the brakes would make other stuff work. If the fuses are all good it could be a really weak short. Good luck keep us posted.
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[406 Q-ship]

My truck does that every once in awhile. Wiggle the switch and see if the lights come on, it works on mine so I am either going to rebuild or replace the switch.

[TheSeeker]

Check the headlight switch, even if it looks good, sometimes they go bad. They take a lot of current in the factory set up, and there is a Headlight Relay mod writeup on this site that is awesome, and wont burn out the switch anymore. Second, Check all the bulbs and the printed circuit on your dash cluster. The first thing I had to do when I got my truck, is replace the dimmer switch, the pigtail to the dimmer, a PCB, all the bulbs and a headlight switch. Now everything works as its supposed to. My money is on the dimmer, I went through 2 bad/cheap ones before I got one that lasted.

Good luck!

**Edit** Just saw that you stated you needed to replace the plug to the dimmer, BINGO, if it shorted out, this will cause all kinds of funky issues. Start here first.

[darush01]

I replaced the headlight switch and had no luck, the dimmer switch is newer but i have another brand new one ill try and ill check the bulbs for corrosion, i mean they worked one minute and the next time they quit, thanks for your help and ill keep you posted whether anything works
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[ole dollor]

darush01: the fuses out under the hood, one is close to the horn in the harness on the left front it does not look like a fuse its just a small connection pull it apart and see if that fuse is good, i think it goes to the charging system, another is over on the right front right around the battery. it looks just like the other just a small round black plug.. see it its blown....i think these are the only other fuses that our trucks have, or at least my 70 model....i have seen these blown ,and just fall apart from old age....might check this out before buying more parts....a little time and free advise....maybe it will help...

[darush01]

Ill definately check those i saw them just didnt pay attention, but other than that ive done all thats been suggested with no luck but thanks for all the ideas and any more you guys have
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[darush01]

Oh and just as as precaution because it looked terrible i replaced the brake light switch as well so that now gives it a new dimmer switch headlight and brakelight switch and two new flashers on the fuse box
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[jhwkns]

A bad turn signal switch will cause multiple problems. just sayin'

[RINC]

Originally Posted by asolde

You can buy the switch at napa

Got my switch at Carquest.

Cured my lighting sorrows

[terry b]

So it seem's the power sorce for the tail/ stop/turn circurt is gone. You said when you turn on the flashers they all blink. Is this the four way fiasher you are talking about? If so does it have a different powes sorce? I don't have a wireing diagram to look at but it would seem that the flasher is powering the circurt from a different sorce. If you traced the circurt back to the starting point i think you would find the problem. Also a bad ground will cause all kind's of wierd $+!t to happen. Good luck. Take it one step at a time. It sound's like you have a good start on it. I know it's a drag when it's your driver.

[old Chevy guy]

I'm thinking a ground problem too. Sounds like the E flashers are grounding back through the tail light circuit causing the dash lights to blink. Check the ground from the body to the battery and make sure the box (bed) has a good ground to the chassis as well. The whole dimmer switch thing would make the headlights not work but shouldn't affect the tail lights or dash lights,at least I don't think so, I could be wrong.Good luck.

[terry b]

So how did it work out?