Interior lights don't turn off?
February 26th, 2012, 09:41 PM
#1
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Interior lights don't turn off?
All the interior light bulbs were removed from my car... turns out because they won't turn off. I guess it has to be either a bad door switch of the headlight switch? Anyone seen this before... or know the easiest way to isolate the cause of the problem?
February 26th, 2012, 09:53 PM
#2
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I'd probably start with the easiest thing and for me that would be pulling the door jam switches first. Then unplug the headlight switch. After that I guess you start tearing the interior apart looking for a pinched wire shorted to ground. Old wiring can be full of ugly surprises.
February 26th, 2012, 10:04 PM
#3
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I'd probably start with the easiest thing and for me that would be pulling the door jam switches first. Then unplug the headlight switch. After that I guess you start tearing the interior apart looking for a pinched wire shorted to ground. Old wiring can be full of ugly surprises.
February 27th, 2012, 03:15 AM
#5
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Exactly. The white wire could be shorted to ground anywhere and it would make the lights stay on. Best places to start looking are the switches and sockets, as this is where the wires are most exposed, but you never know what could have been pinched where over forty years.
The lights in the rear panels just behind the front seat have oddball bulbs with two bottom contacts (like a tail / signal bulb) but only one filament - the contact is between the two bottom teats, with no contact to the base itself (they're #90, if memory serves). If someone put regular bulbs in there, I believe it could also cause your problem, if they're oriented just right.
- Eric
The lights in the rear panels just behind the front seat have oddball bulbs with two bottom contacts (like a tail / signal bulb) but only one filament - the contact is between the two bottom teats, with no contact to the base itself (they're #90, if memory serves). If someone put regular bulbs in there, I believe it could also cause your problem, if they're oriented just right.
- Eric
February 27th, 2012, 09:11 AM
#6
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Exactly. The white wire could be shorted to ground anywhere and it would make the lights stay on. Best places to start looking are the switches and sockets, as this is where the wires are most exposed, but you never know what could have been pinched where over forty years.
The lights in the rear panels just behind the front seat have oddball bulbs with two bottom contacts (like a tail / signal bulb) but only one filament - the contact is between the two bottom teats, with no contact to the base itself (they're #90, if memory serves). If someone put regular bulbs in there, I believe it could also cause your problem, if they're oriented just right.
- Eric
The lights in the rear panels just behind the front seat have oddball bulbs with two bottom contacts (like a tail / signal bulb) but only one filament - the contact is between the two bottom teats, with no contact to the base itself (they're #90, if memory serves). If someone put regular bulbs in there, I believe it could also cause your problem, if they're oriented just right.
- Eric
February 27th, 2012, 09:15 AM
#7
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First, be sure that the problem isn't simply the headlight switch is rotated to the "interior lights on" position. Many people who were not born when these cars were new (and who haven't read the owner's manual) don't realize that turning the headlight **** fully counterclockwise will turn on the interior lights.
February 27th, 2012, 09:25 AM
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First, be sure that the problem isn't simply the headlight switch is rotated to the "interior lights on" position. Many people who were not born when these cars were new (and who haven't read the owner's manual) don't realize that turning the headlight **** fully counterclockwise will turn on the interior lights.
February 27th, 2012, 10:55 AM
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February 27th, 2012, 11:27 AM
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February 27th, 2012, 01:30 PM
#14
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interior lights staying on
I had the same issue with my 1969 Cutlass. Don't know if it is applicable to your vehicle, but my car has a map light in the dash with a built in switch that controlled several other interior lights (separate from the head light switch). The switch mechanism went bad and the contacts never disconnected. The problem was fixed by either disconnecting the map light wiring or replacing with a functioning switch.
February 27th, 2012, 03:33 PM
#16
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I had the same issue with my 1969 Cutlass. Don't know if it is applicable to your vehicle, but my car has a map light in the dash with a built in switch that controlled several other interior lights (separate from the head light switch). The switch mechanism went bad and the contacts never disconnected. The problem was fixed by either disconnecting the map light wiring or replacing with a functioning switch.
February 28th, 2012, 11:47 AM
#17
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This is described in the factory service manual. You can find one at the Wild About Cars website.
Removing the headlight switch is easy in principle. Reach behind the dash panel and pull off the wiring connector as a unit from the headlight switch. You may have to squeeze something to release it. You might want to disconnect the battery first.
Then, pull the headlight switch out all the way like you were going to turn the headlights on. Next, reach behind the dash again to the switch and "press the spring-loaded button on the switch body and pull **** out of switch assembly" (words taken directly from the service manual).
So you need to find this button on the switch behind the dash and push on it while simultaneously continuing to pull on the headlight switch from the front. If you get the button properly pressed, the **** and the long metal rod it is attached to pull all the way out of the switch.
You then unscrew the escutcheon on the front side of the dash, which retains the switch in the dash, and then remove the switch from the rear.
The manual says to use tool BT 6504 to remove the escutcheon nut, but who the hell has this tool handy? You can usually get the nut to loosen with something like a pair of pliers or screwdriver tapping it gently.
Installation is, of course, the reverse of the removal process. Push the new switch through the hole in the dash, screw the escutcheon on and tighten it, push the **** back into the switch all the way, and then reattach the wiring connector.
New headlight switches for this car are about $15 and available at your local auto parts store. New headlight switches do not include the **** or metal rod it is attached to, so don't lose those!
Removing the headlight switch is easy in principle. Reach behind the dash panel and pull off the wiring connector as a unit from the headlight switch. You may have to squeeze something to release it. You might want to disconnect the battery first.
Then, pull the headlight switch out all the way like you were going to turn the headlights on. Next, reach behind the dash again to the switch and "press the spring-loaded button on the switch body and pull **** out of switch assembly" (words taken directly from the service manual).
So you need to find this button on the switch behind the dash and push on it while simultaneously continuing to pull on the headlight switch from the front. If you get the button properly pressed, the **** and the long metal rod it is attached to pull all the way out of the switch.
You then unscrew the escutcheon on the front side of the dash, which retains the switch in the dash, and then remove the switch from the rear.
The manual says to use tool BT 6504 to remove the escutcheon nut, but who the hell has this tool handy? You can usually get the nut to loosen with something like a pair of pliers or screwdriver tapping it gently.
Installation is, of course, the reverse of the removal process. Push the new switch through the hole in the dash, screw the escutcheon on and tighten it, push the **** back into the switch all the way, and then reattach the wiring connector.
New headlight switches for this car are about $15 and available at your local auto parts store. New headlight switches do not include the **** or metal rod it is attached to, so don't lose those!
February 28th, 2012, 12:41 PM
#18
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Excellent description, Jaunty.
I would just add one thing -
FIRST pull the headlight switch all the way out,
THEN depress and hold the tiny release button,
THEN pull the **** out of the switch.
If you try to press the button after you start pulling on the ****, it might not release.
- Eric
I would just add one thing -
FIRST pull the headlight switch all the way out,
THEN depress and hold the tiny release button,
THEN pull the **** out of the switch.
If you try to press the button after you start pulling on the ****, it might not release.
- Eric
February 28th, 2012, 01:31 PM
#19
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I speak with some experience on this. Not with my '67 Delta but with my '73 Custom Cruiser, which has essentially the identical headlight switch. In my case, the interior light dimmer would not work. The interior lights were either up all the way or off. No middle ground.
It turned out that the rheostat, the coil of wire arranged in a circle around the **** which a metal tab makes contact with and which acts as the dimmer, had a break in it. Installing the new switch fixed that problem.
The only real issue was getting at the headlight switch, which in this car is more of an annoyance than with the '67, where all you have to do is reach up behind the dash. For the '73, I had to loosen and pull forward the left side instrument area, and to get the thing to pull forward far enough, I had to disconnect the wiper switch wiring and the connections for the heater/air-conditioner control.
It turned out that the rheostat, the coil of wire arranged in a circle around the **** which a metal tab makes contact with and which acts as the dimmer, had a break in it. Installing the new switch fixed that problem.
The only real issue was getting at the headlight switch, which in this car is more of an annoyance than with the '67, where all you have to do is reach up behind the dash. For the '73, I had to loosen and pull forward the left side instrument area, and to get the thing to pull forward far enough, I had to disconnect the wiper switch wiring and the connections for the heater/air-conditioner control.
February 28th, 2012, 03:58 PM
#20
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This is described in the factory service manual. You can find one at the Wild About Cars website.
Removing the headlight switch is easy in principle. Reach behind the dash panel and pull off the wiring connector as a unit from the headlight switch. You may have to squeeze something to release it. You might want to disconnect the battery first.
Then, pull the headlight switch out all the way like you were going to turn the headlights on. Next, reach behind the dash again to the switch and "press the spring-loaded button on the switch body and pull **** out of switch assembly" (words taken directly from the service manual).
So you need to find this button on the switch behind the dash and push on it while simultaneously continuing to pull on the headlight switch from the front. If you get the button properly pressed, the **** and the long metal rod it is attached to pull all the way out of the switch.
You then unscrew the escutcheon on the front side of the dash, which retains the switch in the dash, and then remove the switch from the rear.
The manual says to use tool BT 6504 to remove the escutcheon nut, but who the hell has this tool handy? You can usually get the nut to loosen with something like a pair of pliers or screwdriver tapping it gently.
Installation is, of course, the reverse of the removal process. Push the new switch through the hole in the dash, screw the escutcheon on and tighten it, push the **** back into the switch all the way, and then reattach the wiring connector.
New headlight switches for this car are about $15 and available at your local auto parts store. New headlight switches do not include the **** or metal rod it is attached to, so don't lose those!
Removing the headlight switch is easy in principle. Reach behind the dash panel and pull off the wiring connector as a unit from the headlight switch. You may have to squeeze something to release it. You might want to disconnect the battery first.
Then, pull the headlight switch out all the way like you were going to turn the headlights on. Next, reach behind the dash again to the switch and "press the spring-loaded button on the switch body and pull **** out of switch assembly" (words taken directly from the service manual).
So you need to find this button on the switch behind the dash and push on it while simultaneously continuing to pull on the headlight switch from the front. If you get the button properly pressed, the **** and the long metal rod it is attached to pull all the way out of the switch.
You then unscrew the escutcheon on the front side of the dash, which retains the switch in the dash, and then remove the switch from the rear.
The manual says to use tool BT 6504 to remove the escutcheon nut, but who the hell has this tool handy? You can usually get the nut to loosen with something like a pair of pliers or screwdriver tapping it gently.
Installation is, of course, the reverse of the removal process. Push the new switch through the hole in the dash, screw the escutcheon on and tighten it, push the **** back into the switch all the way, and then reattach the wiring connector.
New headlight switches for this car are about $15 and available at your local auto parts store. New headlight switches do not include the **** or metal rod it is attached to, so don't lose those!
February 28th, 2012, 04:48 PM
#21
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