Mineallmine
Well-Known Member
I am at the final stages of a 63 Dart restoration and ran into a small issue. I had everything working as it should but a new gremlin showed up today.
First when I was going through everything I tried to make sure I cleaned all the contacts with a brass wire brush and installed all new connectors as the originals were brittle form years in the arizona heat. When first installed I had good park and signals and headlights, but no dash lights. Replaced all the bulbs and checked the contacts on the dash and all appeared good. I found 2 issues here. First, the contact for the fuse was corroded so I cleaned it, then second I found under the screw that grounds the circuit board on the dash assembly was oxidized, so I sanded it and reinstalled and voila, dash lights. (also replaced headlight switch and dimmer during troubleshooting with standard products switches)
Today I was installing the front seat and noticed when I was going through everything again, once again, no dash lights. I checked the fuse and sone dirt got in behind the fuse when I reinstalled it causing it to make poor contact again so it was intermittent. I cleaned it again (hopefully for good this time) and my dash lights started working again. Here's where I found my issue. When I turn on the park lights, my signal lights on the dash illuminate dim. My signals seem to work but the flashing on the dash doesn't match. If I turn down the brightness to off the problem goes away. Also when I turn on the headlights and hit the high beams, my high beams turn on, but the high beam light is dull and same issue with signal indication.
I am thinking I have a bad ground somewhere but am hoping someone else had a similar issue so I know where to start looking. Turn signal switch is a new quality one as well. Should I be disconnecting a light at a time to see if the issue goes away? Would that be the best way to start? I also have jumper wires I guess I could go from each item to the ground on the battery to see if it helps.
First when I was going through everything I tried to make sure I cleaned all the contacts with a brass wire brush and installed all new connectors as the originals were brittle form years in the arizona heat. When first installed I had good park and signals and headlights, but no dash lights. Replaced all the bulbs and checked the contacts on the dash and all appeared good. I found 2 issues here. First, the contact for the fuse was corroded so I cleaned it, then second I found under the screw that grounds the circuit board on the dash assembly was oxidized, so I sanded it and reinstalled and voila, dash lights. (also replaced headlight switch and dimmer during troubleshooting with standard products switches)
Today I was installing the front seat and noticed when I was going through everything again, once again, no dash lights. I checked the fuse and sone dirt got in behind the fuse when I reinstalled it causing it to make poor contact again so it was intermittent. I cleaned it again (hopefully for good this time) and my dash lights started working again. Here's where I found my issue. When I turn on the park lights, my signal lights on the dash illuminate dim. My signals seem to work but the flashing on the dash doesn't match. If I turn down the brightness to off the problem goes away. Also when I turn on the headlights and hit the high beams, my high beams turn on, but the high beam light is dull and same issue with signal indication.
I am thinking I have a bad ground somewhere but am hoping someone else had a similar issue so I know where to start looking. Turn signal switch is a new quality one as well. Should I be disconnecting a light at a time to see if the issue goes away? Would that be the best way to start? I also have jumper wires I guess I could go from each item to the ground on the battery to see if it helps.
