Courtesy lamp delay dimmer location

[MacD2469]

82' Vette White on Silver

I need some help finding the module. I don't have courtesy lamps when opening the doors, but can turn them on with the headlight switch. The whole story is that I had a problem with the battery going dead and found that the dome and courtesy lamps were on all the time, but not at full brilliance. When I would turn on the courtesy lamps with the headlight switch the light would get brighter. So I went fishing under the dash for a module that would change this. Well, in my plundering I found nothing. Except that I left the headlight dimmer swicht for the courtesy lamps on... guess what... When I turned it off the dome and courtesy lamps where off. But when the doors where opened there is not lights..... HELP!1 Where is the module...???? My books show the wiring dieagram of this but no location...

:confused

Thanks for any help possible.... Mac

 

[Eric]

Hi Mac and welcome to the CAC!

You may want to get your hands on a complete GM Chassis and Body Parts Catalog. I've yet to look for a part and not see it in this book. These are the books that the parts departments at the dealerships use. I say "complete" because mine is missing section 13 which is the wiring and electrical components section. Hopefully another member will be able to help you out though.

 

[Vette/Berlina-coupe]

-Actually the notion of a timed-delay for the courtesy-lights seems rather bogus to me; --when I close the door I really want to see the lights go out (I think the timer was a showroom geewhizz gymic that has but one merit when you think about it, --gives you 30-sec. to fumble your key into the Ign.switch if in pitch-dark)! Instead, am replacing the orig. detatchable (see lil'set-screw to release from windshield/mounting-plate) interior RV-mirror with a nifty one that I bought off Ebay for $20 (believed now standard on new Vettes, as it was a $150-option) which has a pair of built-in map-lights and lil'Rocker-switches thereunder that you can easily turn-on/off as need be (these mirrors have 3-wires and can thus also be rigged to light-up when you open the door, but again I prefer to do it manually so as to avoid that possible battery-drain syndrome caused by a defective Delay-timer unit)! Anyway, maybe this picture of a '78-'82 Courtesy-light circuit TIMER-unit will help ("1-pix is a 1k -words") my friend. Let us know what you discover about the bat.-drain situation, -as that was smart of you to deduce the probable cause as you have.... -B.B.
:eek :bang

 

[Yoda]

82' Vette White on Silver

I need some help finding the module. I don't have courtesy lamps when opening the doors, but can turn them on with the headlight switch. The whole story is that I had a problem with the battery going dead and found that the dome and courtesy lamps were on all the time, but not at full brilliance. When I would turn on the courtesy lamps with the headlight switch the light would get brighter. So I went fishing under the dash for a module that would change this. Well, in my plundering I found nothing. Except that I left the headlight dimmer swicht for the courtesy lamps on... guess what... When I turned it off the dome and courtesy lamps where off. But when the doors where opened there is not lights..... HELP!1 Where is the module...???? My books show the wiring dieagram of this but no location...

:confused

Thanks for any help possible.... Mac

Mac,

The timing module is along side the glove compartment toward the back. If you remove the Glovebox compartment cardboard you should be able to see it.

You say the dome light is on very dim.. gets brighter by adjusting the light switch.. I'm sure you have but, just in case, have you checked all the door light switches and the "walk around" light up under the backend (in back of the lic plate mounting) for grounds? and another place that is a problem in our Sharks is the vanity mirror light. The little micro switch used in this application is pure junk, and cause battery drain problems too.

Good Luck chasing these gremlins down, they are an allusive bunch

BudD

 

[MacD2469]

Re: Re: Courtesy lamp delay dimmer location

Mac,

The timing module is along side the glove compartment toward the back. If you remove the Glovebox compartment cardboard you should be able to see it.

You say the dome light is on very dim.. gets brighter by adjusting the light switch.. I'm sure you have but, just in case, have you checked all the door light switches and the "walk around" light up under the backend (in back of the lic plate mounting) for grounds? and another place that is a problem in our Sharks is the vanity mirror light. The little micro switch used in this application is pure junk, and cause battery drain problems too.

Good Luck chasing these gremlins down, they are an allusive bunch

BudD

OUTSTANDING!!!! Thanx for the location of the problem. I had been smelling a faint burned electronic component scent for about two weeks but couldn't find the source (imagine that behind the gove box!) ( hind sight is 20/20) Figured when it actually went bad I would find it. LOL:eyerole The demon rared it head.... I have by-passed the module now and the courtesy lights work when the doors open and shut off as they should when closed. But I would like to put it back to original, with-out the Jerry rigg'n( yes, Jerry not Jury because Jerry did it).

Thank you for the help! I will keep supporting this forun as it helped me. I do all the work on my wonderful car and won't let anyone touch it without supervision. I don't trust anybody easily when it comes to maintenance. I rescently replaced the transmission and all the univeral joints from there back to the wheels. Learning as I went. So I am capable of learning different cars. I have an 80' El Camino that I have had since 87' and the only thing I have not done to it is the machine work in the engine. I Have begun now on a Jem of a Vette! I love it!

Mac

 

[silver 80]

If it's anything like the 80 then you can still buy them for around 50. you can also take it appart and see where it is bad and buy the replacement parts from radio shack, that's what my wife did. only cost me 1.00
tom

 

[wichitacorvette]

Speaking of the Interior dimmer module, (which ive taking the casing apart and examined a few times.......) i have no idea the diode, capacitor part of it all.. is there a way to chage the time the lights stay on by switching out parts on the dimmer circuit board? getting to the dimmer box was easy, and taking the whole dash of of a late c3 is alot easier than i thought it would be (once the center gauge and tach/speedo clusters were out)..... i also found that my wire harness that ran to the vanity mirror was burnt though....... the wires had melted! (explains why the thign didnt work huh?) while my dash is off i fixed that and now it works like it should........... and i also want to do somehtign with the timer if i can....... any ideas?

 

[Yoda]

The L81VetteRegistry has a member from FRANCE that makes timers for the lighting circuit I can't remember all the details at the moment, but if you would go to the L81VetteRegistry Forum here in the C3 Section and search I'm sure you'll find it.

I believe he even makes them to time out on a fade to dark rather than just on/off.

BudD

 

[Tom Bryant]

Welcome to the CAC

[h=2][C4 interior light[/h]

My 1988 c4 interior lights and underhood lights do not automatically go off when they are open for a time, thereby, draining my battery. Normally, the lights should go off if the doors are open for awhile. What do I need. Could it be that I need a new courtesy lamp delay dimmer or what? Please help me fix this. Thank you.]

Lonnie​

Hi Lonnie,

Welcome to the Corvette Action Center.

Even though your problem is related to this thread topic your car is a newer generation and C3 fixes may not apply. I'm going to move this post to the C4 Technical Forum so it will receive the proper attention.

Tom