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Dimly lit SES light all the time

djsroknrol

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
247
Location
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Corvette
1984 L83/MD8 red coupe
I just noticed the other day that the SES light is on, but it's not on "brightly" as it normally would look, but it's dim and on all the time. Does anyone have any ideas on which way to point me to?

The FSM only shows an SES light on all the time flowchart but nothing like I'm experiencing. :confused
 
I'd guess some cross current from somewhere in a plug or the harness. I dim lite means there is some voltage getting to the lamps...probably a false signal from somewhere. Does the SES lite shine as it should during start up and key On?

If its dim even at Key ON when it should be lit normally as the dash lites run thru the normal ck, then its shorted somewhere.
 
Boomdriver;

It's normally lit at key on and then goes dim and stays on once the car is started. If I come to a sudden stop and the idle drops, it will come on for about 30 seconds (not long enough to store a code) and then go dim again.

BTW, there are no codes stored.
 
Boomdriver;

It's normally lit at key on and then goes dim and stays on once the car is started. If I come to a sudden stop and the idle drops, it will come on for about 30 seconds (not long enough to store a code) and then go dim again.

BTW, there are no codes stored.


Sure sounds like its shorted with a 5v reference wire somewhere...
Classic C4 wire harness issue. You can be brave and start the search yourself....or do it the smart, easy, right way, and give it to an auto-electric shop that has cool little tools that will tell the tech where and how far away the short is....They diagnose for around $85 an hr and then you can do the repair.

I've done that a couple times and saved myself a LOT of aggrevation ( and time) by letting someone with the specialized tools do the hard part. I never spent more than 1 hr of diagnostic time at an auto-elec shop. They use meters and slick little instruments that will actually indicate which direction the short is, and approx how far away by measured resistance. What takes me a weekend of tearing things apart, they can do in 20 minutes.
 

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