Lights OUT!

[65'RustBucket]

Hey all! The Rusty's been runnin' good, but the dash lights and dome lights have been intermittently working and the running lights in the tail are OUT.

The strange thing is that the dome and panel lights work when I leave em' for a while (a couple minutes everything off), but as soon as I pull the knob all the way out and turn on everything (headlights, dash lights, dome light) the dash and dome lights flicker and die.

I was wondering where I should start? I've already changed the headlight switch. I don't see any alarming looking wiring underneath (ratty, melty, chewed up looking wires). Fuse box then? Or a bad ground? I was wondering if anyone else has come across this problem and what their fix was so I can get an idea of where to begin the search. Plus wiring sucks really bad so anything to alleviate some of the headache would be very helpful.
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-Side-
Rusty runs pretty good! Could use a valve job, but all in all runs fine. Put those FJ cruiser steelies on her and boy do the big tires help for easier freeway cruising speeds. Still kinda slow top speed (guessing I have a really short gear in the rear) but still better. Best of all, however, is they really fill out the wheel wells while still maintaining the steelie look! I would definitely recommend purchasing a set if you get the chance!

[donthekawguy]

I had the same problem. Replace the pigtails at the headlight dimmer switch and the headlight switch. Worked for me.

[65'RustBucket]

Originally Posted by donthekawguy

I had the same problem. Replace the pigtails at the headlight dimmer switch and the headlight switch. Worked for me.

Replace the connectors huh? Okay, I'll give it a shot. Not like they're expensive anyways. Thanks for the reply!
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[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.

[tincan1966]

How's the ground from the battery to the radiator support? Should be about a 10ga wire. Also, I'd make sure you have a ground from the engine or frame to the cab firewall. These trucks have horrible ground characteristics.

What causes lights to flicker or dim, can be poor grounding, as well as poor voltage issues.

[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.

[65'RustBucket]

Finally found and fixed the problem! Tail light harness was shorting on the frame. Thanks for all the help/suggestions guys!
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