Lights OUT!

[donthekawguy]

They fely like they fit snug when I put new switches in but when I checked them with my friends tester they were not getting a good connection.

[65'RustBucket]

Originally Posted by donthekawguy

They fely like they fit snug when I put new switches in but when I checked them with my friends tester they were not getting a good connection.

Interesting. Okay I'll give it a try. I should really get a touch tester...
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[65'RustBucket]

Replacing pigtails didn't fix it I couldn't acquire a harness near me so I just made my own for the headlight switch, dimmer, and the connector running to the dome light (at least that's where I think it runs... [it's the orange and white connector directly to the left of the dimmer.]) It's really frustrating, but to be expected with an old vehicle. Any other suggestions? I've been slowly going through all the junky wires and connections and replacing them, still no fix. I also ran an additional ground strap to the back of the cluster, again no luck... Any other suggestions? What else should I look for? Any suggestions? Maybe a short in the rear by the tail lights? Also headlights started flickering off and on yesterday... (my understanding is that runs directly off the battery) so maybe the main harness from the battery is just boned?

Oh I also forgot to mention in the original post that when I draw power from the headlight switch (pull it out) the battery gauge drops and clicks (obviously something is causing a large amp drop). Maybe an important piece of info for someone to recognize...

I would like to avoid having to rewire the whole truck, but I'm starting to think that at this point it might just be easier. Another problem with re-wiring the truck for me is that I wanted to build a rusty rod (keep it junky and rusty looking, but decently reliable and slam it to the ground), not a restoration. If I start with the wiring I will feel inclined to start putting more and more money into it. Not really what I want to do. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

:Side:
I could be super ghetto about it and run switches for certain functions, but the amp drop thing makes me leery of doing so [don't want an "open" wire floating around underneath and catch me on fire...]

Thanks again fellas!

[65'RustBucket]

Sorry if the last post was scatter-brained and redundant- laying upside down looking at wiring for hours makes my head all screwy!
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[donpurvis]

You might start by unplug the tail light wiring harness at the fire wall to see if anything changes. If not reconnect and do the same to the headlight harness, front blinker harness, unplug voltage regulator all one at a time to see if the problem goes away at any point. If so, you have narrowed down where the problem is. You can also purchase a wiring diagram manual really inexpensively from some suppliers also. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[65'RustBucket]

I re-grounded the cab to frame and the radiator support to negative terminal- both wires were non-existent, but still surprisingly no change. It must be in the rear of the truck.

Originally Posted by donpurvis

You might start by unplug the tail light wiring harness at the fire wall to see if anything changes. If not reconnect and do the same to the headlight harness, front blinker harness, unplug voltage regulator all one at a time to see if the problem goes away at any point. If so, you have narrowed down where the problem is. You can also purchase a wiring diagram manual really inexpensively from some suppliers also. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Ya, this is what I should do next. Start with one harness and just work my way from there.