Light switch question

[rjewkes]

Ok -- here's the latest... I picked up a circuit tester from AutoZone on my way home tonight. I have the panel removed, so I grounded the tester and touched it to the various pins in the harness plug for the dash panel. I got lights on some, not on all. One of the ones I DID NOT get a light on was the blue wire with the red stripe... for the dash lights.

Going down a little further, I checked it against the socket for the cigar lighter bulb. Nothing there...

Moving along to the light switch, I stuck my tester up along the blue wire on the switch. Nothing there. I DID get a light on the others, but not that one.

Moving on to the fuse panel... I turned on the key, and got a light on every fuse BUT the one for the dash panel lights. Tested both sides of the fuse holder. Nothing.

So what gives? I just replaced the fuse. I currently have a 4amp fuse in the panel. The diagram on this site calls for a 2amp, but my owner's manual calls for a 4amp. This is the only fuse on the panel which does not list an amperage. I think that little edge piece is broken off, but not in any way that seems to impact the panel itself.

at the risk of sounding idiotic here did you have the lights on and the switch turned to where thw dash lights would be on if they worked?

I have a67-69 Dash assembly here if i pull all the wires and send just the wires for you to have a set to check against your current ones i bet it would be 6.00 atmost to ship/mail.

then you'd have a set to try out also sometimes the wires need to be gently pushed into the plug i had the taillight wire in the switch not fully seating on my old truck.

[ToughOldFord]

at the risk of sounding idiotic here did you have the lights on and the switch turned to where thw dash lights would be on if they worked

That's right, that's not a constant or keyed hot, it's only going to be hot under the circumstances Robert said above.

FWIW, the fuse amperage isn't relevant to the problem your having.

[Supermike]

at the risk of sounding idiotic here did you have the lights on and the switch turned to where thw dash lights would be on if they worked?

I did... in fact, I've tried every combination I can think of. Switch on, switch off, switch with cab light on, switch turned just so headlights and dash lights are on. I've also tried a second (brand new) light switch.

BTW, when I tested the fuse block, switch, and dash plug last night with the voltmeter, I did so with the ignition ON and off. My lights work with the ignition off, as does my cabin lights, so I'm assuming the dash lights should as well. Regardless, I tried it both ways.

As noted, these lights were working... and something made them just suddenly stop. I really don't think it is corrosion, as the entire block works excepting at this one fuse -- and with the fuse removed, it doesn't appear any more or less corroded than any of the others.

Kid... check out this diagram: http://www.fordification.com/images/sch ... lights.jpg

This diagram shows the blue wire with the red stripe that I'm talking about. The other diagrams seem to focus on the dummy lights for gauges, whereas this one focuses more on the three lights I'm having a problem with -- the two on the back of the dash panel, and the cigar lighter light. I did find the black/yellow wire going into my switch, and it has heat.

Additionally... no diagrams show a 4amp fuse for my truck. They all show it as a 2amp fuse. Only my owners manual (image above) shows a 4amp fuse. Are you guys saying that if it really DID need a 2amp fuse that there would be no problem using a 4amp fuse... that I should still have juice at the fuse block?

rjewkes, thanks for the offer on the dash assembly, but at this point I'm pretty sure the problem is not there. I believe it's lower... somewhere around the fuse block or the switch -- or even under the hood?

I started wondering last night if there might be an in-line fuse somewhere that's blown and I haven't found it yet. I'm going to check for that tonight. I did check the seating of the wire on the switch and the plug to make sure it appeared solid. I get no heat from it.

[71 LONG BED]

Are you sure there is no dirt or corrosion in the socket? A little sand paper, or emery, will make a much better connection. You'd be surprised how little it takes to block a conection. I had it happen to my battery cables. The truck wouldn't do anything. Just like the battery was dead. The cables didn't look bad at all. I took them off and sand papered them and they worked better than ever.
Hopefully I'm not repeating anyone on this.

[Supermike]

I can't imagine it went from working great to too corroded in the span of 3 hours. I could be wrong, of course, and usually am... so I'll run a little piece of sand paper up in there tonight and see what happens.

[kid]

Kid... check out this diagram: http://www.fordification.com/images/sch ... lights.jpg

Thanks I missed that one. That does explain it I have drilled out the rivet and used a very short self tapping screw this morning and fixed a dead fuse clip.

[Supermike]

How hard is it to replace the entire fuse panel from a parts truck? And what rivet are you talking about?

[kid]

The rivet is the steel one at the bottom of the fuse clip that holds the clip on my 250 to the bus bar.

Taking one out is not hard leave at least 8 inches of wire. When you splice it in then space the splices so they don't overlap.

[Supermike]

Gentlemen... I'm happy to announce that, as of 11pm when I left the garage, I HAVE DASH LIGHTS!!

Now you're going to ask me... what did you do? Well... truth is, not much. I stared at the dash for a few minutes while I sipped a beer, and hit all the fuses with my tester again. Still nothing on the dash fuse.

Then I popped open my hood and stared some more. I traced some wires back to my solenoid and two of them had in-line fuses. I popped one open, and it looked fine. I put it back. I popped the 2nd one open, and it was a little white. So I replaced it with another 20A fuse.

Then I went back to the fuse panel and had... nothing? Crap! What'd I do? Oh... tester isn't grounded very well. Re-ground tester. Test fuse panel... I'VE GOT JUICE! Move to the light switch... got it there, too! Move on down the line to the cigar lighter light and panel plug... still gettin' it!

SO... I plug in my dash, and as suspected, I have dash lights! Plug in the flasher for the blinkers, wait... no blinkers? On that one, I'm not sure what the heck happened. Went back through the process of testing everything, then unplug and replug everything and they started working. Good enough for me!

So there you have it... end of a long saga (at least for now). Here's hoping the next time I drive the truck my dash lights don't go out again, or I might just go David Banner and turn green and rip out every wire in the thing.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and information!! I know it may seem simple to some, but I couldn't have done it without your help!

[kid]

What color was the two wires with fuses?

[Supermike]

One was black but crimped into a white. The other was white all the way.

Keep in mind, my truck has some crazy-@ssed wiring going on. The core of the harness is still there and in good shape, but over the years someone installed and removed a CB and also jury-rigged the stereo. That's stuff I'm going to have to clean up later. It also appears at some time they replaced the original Camper Special brakes, so there are some crazy wires running for that, too.

[ToughOldFord]

[kid]

That is my trucks too but the 250 is the worse, Trailer brakes missing hazard flasher hot wired stereo ah the list goes on.

[Jake11]

Heres something I used to do on "old" vehicals. This is when I ran a
auto/truck electrical shop in Berdoo.

Ok, you got those round glass fuses. Take them all out. Take a piece
of emery cloth and clean up the fuse holders in the fuse box. Look at
the fuses. Are they clean? You get the idea.

Now locate all ground's and take apart and clean. Might surprize you.