Michael_

Suddenly my Clock, Domelight, Rear View Mirror Light and Cigarette Lighter stopped working.
My dad thinks the domelight went out AFTER the other items but i don't know so take with a grain of salt.

We removed every single fuse from the fusebox (on the driver side, under the dash) and they all look good.

I'm at a loss what to do.
Any ideas?

Edit:

It is a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

Vintage Chief

Each of these items have one wire in common & its color is ORANGE.

EDIT: Except the rear view mirror light which is gray.

Michael_

But still where can i find that orange wire?

Vintage Chief

Here's the 1972 color wiring diagram. Use a circuit tester to test which wire(s) should/should not or do/do not have power. You'll soon locate the issue. Good Luck!

Vintage Chief

Ooops...I guess it's a RED wire for 1972. I may be having a moment.

Vintage Chief

Wait...Nah, it is ORANGE. Just had eye surgery, a little tough reading today. Start tracing the ORANGE wire anywhere along it's path to first determine if you have 12 VDC to that ORANGE wire.

Vintage Chief

Here's a link to the 1972 wiring diagram. This should be a rather simple diagnostics. One ORANGE wire at a time. You lost 12 VDC somewhere, be methodical and patient. Did you do anything w/ the car just prior to this happening? If so, that's the first place to look.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...diagram-16035/

Vintage Chief

Follow this circuit...

oldcutlass

The orange wire is powered by the clk, courtsy, cig ltr fuse, start there.

Sugar Bear

A shorted to ground cigarette lighter is often the cause of blowing the fuse for this circuit.

Vintage Chief

OP states all fuses are good.

Sugar Bear

Details....details...oops

rocketraider

Looking good and being good are two different things.

Until you've tested the fuse using either a test light or a volt-ohm meter, it's suspect.

My money says the dome/courtesy fuse is in fact blown. You need to find what caused it to blow and the lighter socket is a good place to start, followed by the courtesy lights.

Olds64

^^^THIS^^^

Definitely check the continuity of those fuses with a meter. Probing with a test light is good advice too. You can get both cheaply at Horrible Freight.

Vintage Chief

Please circle back on this thread & indicate where you found the issue (if it was resolved). It will assist others who experience same/similar issue when searching. Thanks.

Blue442

I agree, you must verify the fuse is not blown. Also, verify voltage at the fuse bock. I had a similar issue with my ‘70 442. I found a chaffed/crushed wire behind the pillar cover that powers the rear view mirror light. It was shorting to the pillar frame.

Use the wiring diagram. If the fuse is blown, pick one powered item at a time and look for the short. My preferred method is a multimeter set to ohms.

Scott

Vintage Chief

Pursuant to what Scott (Blue442) stated (above), that rear view mirror light wire is not identified on the wiring diagram - it's more or less the oddball out (so-to-speak). That rear view mirror light wire is gray - so, it doesn't fit normal discussions regarding the wiring schematic - I'll explain in a second.

That gray wire travels from the back of the instrument dash panel. You "might" be able to see where it attaches to the driver side corner of the inside of the firewall (behind the instrument dash panel) if you lay on your back on the front floor-board under the dash. It travels up the A-Pillar alongside the driver's side across the top of the windshield then enters the rear view map light. You can remove the A-Pillar cover (3 screws?) and/or the rear view mirror mount to gain more access. Full access to this pesky wire can be achieved by removing the instrument cluster dash panel & removing one or more of the instrument gauges - that's where you'll find it - somewhat a sneaky bugger.

There's a chance you might find that gray wire listed in the accessory section of the CSM or the PIM (don't count on it). I believe issues stemming from gray wiring location arose from: (1) Basic wiring for the A-Bodies and (2) basic components for the A-Bodies included a standard mirror (w/o a light). The rear view mirror light was an option. It doesn't really matter what optional package it was (i.e. courtesy light package or a stand-alone option), but since an optional rear view mirror light was provided, it didn't get translated into the normal wiring diagram.

Michael_

Sorry for the late reply and thanks!

You guys were right it was 2 blown fuses (the second upper left 25A fuse and the small 4A fuse in the lower middle).
They looked great even after pulling them out but the continuity test with a multi meter revealed that they were actually bad.
I replaced the fuses and now everything works again as it should!
I would've never thought those fuses are bad... So again, thanks guys!

oldcutlass

An ohmmeter, outside of ohmming a fuse or perhaps an individual disconnected component is useless in lighting circuits to find a short.

You are not the first to be tricked by a fuse that looks good visually. You won't be the last either.

Vintage Chief

Thanks for circling back w/ issue resolution - happy it was simple enough. Be mindful 'why' they were blown - internal integrity of each fuse due to age, water intrusion/dampness, a short in wiring (somewhere), etc. Glad you can see clearly now.

rocketraider

IIRC the mirror map light is tied to the dash lights (4A INST fuse, gray wire) so that it operates only when the car's lights are on. Fail-safe to keep from running the battery down. Not hard to overlook it being on; that's what the little tit on the map light is for, so you can hopefully realize it's on.

Oldsmobile wired underhood, glovebox and trunk lamps thru the main light switch years ago too, for the same reason.

Fun71

Unless it’s wired differently than my ‘70, it is powered all the time. I ran the battery dead and also cracked the mirror from the heat of the lamp being on all night.

Vintage Chief

Chance you may have this back asswards? If it were tied to the dash lights, when you turn off the dash lights the mirror light would off. I'm pretty sure power to the wire is ON all the time and THAT'S the reason for the tit. If you left the mirror light ON after you turned off the dash lights, the tit would remain illuminated if the mirror switch was left in the ON position (hopefully reminding you to turn it OFF).

I believe you're correct - power all the time UNLESS you manually turn the mirror light OFF.

rocketraider

That may be the case on A body. 69 Toronado works with the lights.