instrument panal fuse

[roger01]

my 3 amp fuse keeps popping ....
                                         ok fuse in...... turn key on it doesnt blow
                                         turn head lights on..... it doesnt blow ...but no dash lights

                                         roll the thumb wheel up slowly ,  still no dash lights
                                         roll untill clicks ,dome light comes on and instrument lights fuse blows
                                         is this a sure sign that the dimmer switch is bad ?
                                        or is there a short somewhere else ?
                                           

[Nacho-RT74]

something wrong... dome light must come on at the end of dimmer once you are at max dim

[roger01]

dome light does come on ....and.stays on when fuse is popped

[roger01]

well its not the dash dimmer ....i just changed it ....same thing

[Manfred318]

I had the same problem not too long ago. I would try replacing the headlight dimmer switch.

[roger01]

i did .....same thing happening

[roger01]

ok back to this ...if i bypass the dimmer through the headlight switch will i be avoiding this fuse .....also can i run a fresh wire to the instrument fuse .....where does it come from and is it just one wire right through...?
                  i think it might be easier to string a fresh wire

[lilwendal]

Just FYI.  The dimmer switch provides a ground for your dome light not voltage.  The power for your dash lights comes from the headlight switch's taillight lead.  The head light switch recieves power from the ignition switch cicuit and is protected by the fusible link in the engine bay. Your instrument light 3 amp fuse  is  only protecting the dash lights so schematically your dome light nor the dimmer switch can be causing your problem.  Either a slight chaffe from fuse to any one of the numerous dash lights, a damaged bulb socket and I've actually seen incorrect voltage bulbs cause this as well.
Hope this helps.

[lilwendal]

ok back to this ...if i bypass the dimmer through the headlight switch will i be avoiding this fuse .....also can i run a fresh wire to the instrument fuse .....where does it come from and is it just one wire right through...?
                  i think it might be easier to string a fresh wire

A jumper wire to bypass your dimmer will not help your problem.  The fuse you are blowing is after the dimmer.

[roger01]

thats what i thought ...thanks for your input .....so what would you suggest to try and track this problem down ....ive finally got everything working this is the last thing ....no dash light ,key light or console light ...it was working at one time so its must be a minor pain in the ass thats happening

[lilwendal]

Your console light is on the dome light circuit.  There is always power there and when you open a door  the door pin provides ground or rolling the dimmer switch alll the way up will  give a ground. This should not be related to your dash light problem unless somehow some where you have a dash light wire tied into your dome light circuit. You mentioned it worked before...Was any wiring removed, replaced,  or repaired recently? Your earlier post mentioned that you could replace the fuse and it would not blow untilll you rolled your dimmer switch up to the dome light detent.  If you replace the fuse.... leave the dimmer wheel mid travel....Then open a door does your dome light come on and does the fuse blow with the door opening?   Another thing is if you have a map light option that too is connected to the dome light circuit.  It has 3 positions. Off. Map. and door. Is there a chance this map light got tied into your dash lights? Just throwing out ideas.

[roger01]

from your reply i see youve got my problem figured out ...thanks for your time my glove box was a real spegetti factory when i got the car,but i think your right ....... so if ive got the dash tied with the dome ,wouldnt there have to be 2 different colored wires tied together ?
                                                  and would anybody know what colour the wires are for each ?



i think i may have screwed this up somehow when i was figuring out the wires for the door light switches

[roger01]

by the cosole lights not working....... i meant the lights at the shifter numbers

[Nacho-RT74]

I think lilwendal makes reference to the console courtesy lights

trying to help on this even I never have been close to 2nd gen wiring ( in fact just once to a 70 Charger and was juts for 5 minutes ) I just can tell you about color codes:

Yellow wire running allond dash, feeding dome light and probably courtesy light is door jam switch ground. In fact they are conected to door jam switch and also run to dimmer switch to trun on courtesy and dome lights without open the doors. Of course drives NEGATIVE.

Orange wires are related with dimmer swicth roll function, and drives dimmed positive to dash cluster ilumination and shifter light ( console or column ).

Then we have pink wire what is direct positive from fuse box/batt. Does have positive ALLWAYS, and runs to glove box, dome light and courtesy light... also some other functions like hazzard flasher, and cigar lighter.

Being logical dimmer switch shopuld have three prongs, one input to be feeded from lights swith to feed the dimmer positive and then cluster. should it be conected to groove coil.
Next one should it be the output to cluster lights and should it be connected to tab runing throught coil.
then another prong that should drive NEGATIVE and related with somekind of tab on assembly that makes circtuit at the end of dimmer wheel with somekind of chassis tab and feed the ground to courtesy light and dome light.

[mauibarber]

Just FYI.  The dimmer switch provides a ground for your dome light not voltage.  The power for your dash lights comes from the headlight switch's taillight lead.  The head light switch recieves power from the ignition switch cicuit and is protected by the fusible link in the engine bay. Your instrument light 3 amp fuse  is  only protecting the dash lights so schematically your dome light nor the dimmer switch can be causing your problem.  Either a slight chaffe from fuse to any one of the numerous dash lights, a damaged bulb socket and I've actually seen incorrect voltage bulbs cause this as well.
Hope this helps.

My dash lights do not work when I turn on the headlights.  All my fuses are working and have power.  Would the first thing to check/replace be a new headlight switch?  My car has the original one still on it. (69 charger).

[lilwendal]

Schematically if you are showing voltage on the instrument fuse then if should not be dimmer or head light switch.   The instrument light fuse is on the far right. With a voltmeter attached to that fuse you should see the voltage change as you turn your dimmer wheel up and down varing from 12 volts to no volts.  If your using a test light then light will go from bright to dim as the dimmer wheel is rotated down. From there the wire leads up into the dash and splits to the various lights.  Orange wire.  Can you find any of the orange wires and check for voltage there?  Ash tray light work? Also if the original radio is there does that light work?  Console car does the shifter light illuminate?  All these lights are on that circuit.  Hope this helps.  Mike

[mauibarber]

No dash lights work at all except the turn signal and brights indicator.  Its a column shift as well.  Also original radio is long gone.

[John_Kunkel]

dome light does come on ....and.stays on when fuse is popped

Does the dome light have the correct dual contact bulb? If a single contact bulb is installed there all sorts of weird things can happen.

[roger01]

back to this the final thing to fix ....ive checked my dome light its ok ...the right one ..
    as i turn the dimmer slowly i can see the fuse itself getting brighter and brighter , i can accually turn it up and down in brightness....
  when i go too bright the fuse blows .
    is there anyway of testing which wire has the short at the fuse box its either the tan at one end of the fuse or the orange at the other end         
  also i have 2 orange terminals plugged in to one end of the fuse...... whats the other orange wire for ?where does it lead ?

[Nacho-RT74]

I think you could have some wire inverted on dimmer plug... just a thought... or dimmer switch is grounded somehow... just a thought

[roger01]

your right NACHO...as soon as lilwendal mentioned that the stock radio light was hooked into it ....i wondered .....where in the heck did my stock radio plug go ?   (green wire and orange wire )  well i ripped open the spaghetti factory again and  guess what? the stock plug had managed to place itself in such a position that the orange wire was shorting itself out on the dash frame ....problem solved ...thanks guys oh well at least Ive got an extra dimmer switch now
            and from now on I'm tying up all my loose ends
  one more question....is the key hole light supposed to come on when you open either door ,or just the drivers ?

[lilwendal]

What you are describing indicates that one of your dash lights or it associated wiring has a resistance higher than the 3 amp fuse protecting that cicuit.  Your short is in the orange wire from the fuse to any one of the dash lights. Please dont waste time with your headlight switch or dimmer.  They are not your problem.  Begin by isolating the various lights on that  circuit.  Heres the list.  Ashtray light.  Shifter light. All the instrument dash lights.  Orange wire on every last one of them.  If you trace the orange wire away from the fuse block you will come to a splitter that allows the orange wire to go off to its various lights. Begin by disconnecting one at a time one orange wire from the splitter.  Then try your glowing fuse method.  Keep doing this till you find which wire has the high resistance.  Once you have isolated that wire continue to trace it to find which lights it feeds.  Inspecting the wire along the way for obvious cuts, chaffes or burnt areas.  If you find no obvious damage to the wiring remove the bulbs from that stretch of wire and check the sockets for damage.  Lastly try your fuse trick again with no bulbs in those sockets.  You should find the problem with this.

[lilwendal]

Oops!  Looks like I was posting while you were.  Glad its fixed.

[roger01]

yup thanks for the input .....i never would of thought of the orange wire that goes to the radio

[Nacho-RT74]

yup thanks for the input .....i never would of thought of the orange wire that goes to the radio

yeap, to the face dial ilumination, same as rest of cluster, console shifter dial or column gear dial. also as stated, ashtray. Radio and ashtray are allways forgot when cluster lighst are mentioned LOL.

radio does have: green positive speaker ( left or mono ) black negative speaker, red power, orange dial light. Also dims with dimmer.

well I think you already noticed LOL

good you made it!!!