no lights, not even a blink

[canajien]

as the title reads no lights, nothing to be had from the head, turn, brake, etc.... on my 71 duster

I've been finding all kinds of wierdness this weekend as I endeavor to install some new autometer gauges

after getting home from the transmission shop on Wednesday my friend, who was on point duty on the way back, told me that the brake lights weren't working, but the turn signals were fine

i figured i would look into this after getting the new gauges in

well the new gauges are in, they seem to work

i get in the car this morning to start working on the brake lights and decide to check all the other lights and nothing... not a thing

all the unusual wiring is back in its place, the only thing not connected right now is the nss, and I don't seem to be having any power going to any of the lights

the only things working are the non factory items, gauges, stereo, fuel pump, ignition, any ideas where to start?

items using the factory wiring, lights, wipers, horn are all dead, I've checked the fuse block - even though I can't find a reference to headlights on the diagram for it, those are all good, even got a new light switch

there are some wires leftover from the original wiring connector on the gauge cluster, which are no longer conencted to anything, but I'm not sure why or how they would affect what remains:

Fuel gauge - original tank is missing, using a fuel cell with a sending unit now

Oil warning lamp (feed), Oil warning light (send) - using the oil pressure gauge from the autometer kit now

Temp. Gauge (send) - using the autometer gauge/sender

12 Volt limiter (feed)

the only things that worked on the old cluster were the parking brake light and the ammeter, I've double checked the factory harness and it all seems to be fine

 

[Demonracer]

Get out the volt meter and the power probe and dive in.

 

[canajien]

Get out the volt meter and the power probe and dive in.

yup I can send power down the wire from inside the dash and it works, I am starting to suspect I should just check the connection from the battery in the trunk to the factory harness

but having someone reinforce the obvious helps with triggering these other ideas, thanks

 

[barbee6043]

Check everything incl. grounds, and the dimmer switch on the floor is usually bad if not replaced. Brake lite switch under dash that works off the pedal check it.
I hate wiring!!!! Especially when a yahoo had his hands on the car, aka "boy racer".

 

[Cuda Al]

A. Unplug power going to all non factory items.
B. Check power to the fuse block.
C. Check (at the bulkhead connector) the primary power going to the interior (large red wire). This is often the problem.


Alan

 

[canajien]

a hahahhahahahaha

found this "The ammeter connects the battery feed to the main splice."

the ammeter wires are currently not connected to anything, when I put the volt meter on it I get 2v

I suspect connecting those to eachother will solve the problem, gonna read some more

would have been nice if autometer had included stuff like this with their kit specifically made for dusters

 

[canajien]

and the disconnect ammeter was the problem

i ran a wire from the batter to the black ammeter wire which is supposed to feed the fuse block etc....

all good now, even have the brake lights back, really would have been helpful if autometer was bothered to add these kind of things to the instructions

thanks everyone!!!

 

[67Dart273]

Don't feel bad, it has happened to a LOT of guys. I have done some things that silly, just not the ammeter one. I am 76

 

[canajien]

Don't feel bad, it has happened to a LOT of guys. I have done some things that silly, just not the ammeter one. I am 76

I don't feel bad at all. I learned something new, ammeter, and learned more about how the car was wired up when it was stripped down and turned into a drag racer long before I bought it

fortunately I had already figured out enough to not try and hook up those ammeter wires to the cluster to begin with

more importantly I removed a few wires that were doing nothing and lightened the car along the way ;) porsche and ferrari charge thousands for that

thanks again everyone