LIGHTS OUT

[Nobody Cares]

Yesterday was working on putting a new pigtail and bulb in the spare tire light on the 80. Both wires at the socket were hot. Did find that unusual. But all my lights were working correctly , except the spare tire light. Anyway i got done and now i have no kick panel lights or the dome light. Checked all the fuses in the fuse panel, none blown. Any ideas where else to look for the problem ???? Thnx Dave :confused :confused :confused

 

[Nobody Cares]

By the way, can anyone tell me where the courtesy lamp delay timer is located ?? Wonder if i might have damaged that when messing with the spare tire lamp ?? Dave

 

[bmotojoe]

Courtesy Lamp Delay Timer

I think on the 1980 the delay timer is orange in color and its to the right of your glove box liner. Remove the liner and you should see it to the right.
Found this on the, it may help:http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41618
Brian

 

[Nobody Cares]

Ok Brian . Thnx I'll check it out . Any idea if this could be the problem i'm having ?? Thnx Dave

 

[Nobody Cares]

What i have found this morning is . I do have power at all the lights that are out (dome and kick panel lights ). The orange wire is a bright light with tester. The white also has power to it , but real low. Is the white a ground and shorted out ??? I get power on both sides of the plug with tester , but when i put the bulbs back in , no light. bulbs are good . Any ideas ???????? Dave :W:W:W

 

[KANE]

What i have found this morning is . I do have power at all the lights that are out (dome and kick panel lights ). The orange wire is a bright light with tester. The white also has power to it , but real low. Is the white a ground and shorted out ??? I get power on both sides of the plug with tester , but when i put the bulbs back in , no light. bulbs are good . Any ideas ???????? Dave :W:W:W

I'm going to take a stab at this Dave based on your post about the spare tire light...

The fact both leads to the pigtail had power seems odd- unless it of course there is a ground wire somewhere too that wasn't mentioned- but I don't think that is the case.

So here is my thought- you may have a off-spec repair that led to a double positive in the circuit you repaired. You may have fixed the issue downstream, but now it is causing a problem upstream. Could be the delay timer, but I'm thinking your problem is coming from the last common feed for both of the systems. It is obvious they are interdependent.

It appears that someone crossed them in the past and left the spare tire light inoperative since they felt the interior lights were more important.

Sometimes, I think our cars develop personalities all their own. Your '80 seems to be a bit stubborn. Almost as if it says "we'll do things under my terms- not yours". Mine had a history of not being driven and just likes the attention. I don't think they could be any more opposites of each other!
:L

 

[Nobody Cares]

Thnx Darkshark. I;ll explain a little more. The only reason i had put a lew pigtail on the spare tire light was , the wire was corroded apart. the dome light used to work only when i would open the door, but did not come on when i would turn it on from the head light switch. Being that the spare tire light and dome light worked from the headlight switch, think maybe it is in the headlight switch?? Not sure what or where to check all this out . Dave

 

[bmotojoe]

Let’s not think of the white wires of the courtesy lamp system as a ground, let’s think of them more like a common neutral wire between devices, headlamp switch, door pin switches etc. If you found the timer relay try this. Disconnect it and make a jumper wire of the same gauge as the white wires and connect jumper at the plug connector to the two white wires of the harness. See if lights work normal now, door open lights on, door closed lights off, no time delay.
Brian

 

[Nobody Cares]

Hi Brian. Well where i'm at now is. Got kick panel, dome and spare tire light working from the headlight switch. That malfunction is in the headlight switch. i played with the switch for about a half hour and waala lights are working. Now when i open the doors the interior light will not come on , even though they worked before i started thid project. ?????? Dave

 

[bmotojoe]

Do you have an Electrical trouble shooting manual for the 80? My 77 has the convenience group package that includes the courtesy light time delay relay, but it is not transistorized like the newer cars. On my schematic if you turn the headlight switch knob turning on the courtesy lights your bypassing the timer part of the timer relay, but the circuit is still going through part of the same path. So, the interior lights will come on by turning the headlight switch knob to full left. The door pin switches are not involved energizing the timer relay using this method.
Did you make a jumper wire?
Sounds like the headlight switch is a separate problem here not related to the timer relay, but I would have to see the courtesy light section of the electrical diagram from a 80 to make sure.
Brian

 

[Nobody Cares]

Ok , i unplugged the time delay for the interior lights. Got a jumper wire and attached the jumper wire to both white wires on the harness. The test light came on but No interior lights. At the harness i put the jumper wire to the white wire and the black wire and the interior lights came on but stayed on when both doors where closed. ???? Does the interior lights go through the headlamp switch and to the door jamb swtches or only the door jamb switches when you open the door. This has me really confused ???? :W:W
Dave. HELP !!!!!

 

[bmotojoe]

Did you find an electrical diagram for your year car that has the courtesy light drawing on it? If so post a picture or IM me.

 

[Nobody Cares]

No , I need to get the wiring diagram. I'm sure that would help a bunch . Dave