No dash lights, tail lights, dome lamp, radio, or brake lights, but have headlights

[cwcarpenter98]

Ok, I'm stumped. I went out around 9 tonight to meet some friends at Sonic. I have added in a door switch harness so that I can have the dome light and two courtesy lights come on when I open the doors. They came on, but were extremely dim. The 63 started up as usual, I turned the headlights on and the headlights came on as usual (I do have a relay harness on the truck), but my dash lights didn't come on. The radio didn't either. Then I noticed that I had no brake or tail lights. Also, my glove box door light doesn't work.

What does work is reverse lights, both turn signals, hazard flashers, hi and low beam headlights, oil pressure dummy light, and alternator light (I have a cluster with a temp gauge).

I already switched around fuses and swapped a couple fuses out, but that didn't change anything. I took a jumper wire from the power at the headlight switch to the wire for the dome lights, and the lights turned on.

Did my headlight switch go out?

[cwcarpenter98]

I have noticed that one of the pins on the headlight switch is completely loose. It also sometimes blocks the piece that moves inside from going to the off position. I'll be ordering a new switch later today. Hopefully that fixes it.

I can take a jumper wire from the red wire on the switch plug and touch it to the wire for the dome lights and the dome lights turned on. Did the same for the taillight wires, and those turned on as well

[Richard2112]

I had a similar situation and found that my ground to frame was not adequate. Ran a clean ground strap under the cab. Also ran another ground from battery post to frame. Then ran a ground from dash to firewall and firewall to block. Then all my lights worked better than before.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Richard2112

I had a similar situation and found that my ground to frame was not adequate. Ran a clean ground strap under the cab. Also ran another ground from battery post to frame. Then ran a ground from dash to firewall and firewall to block. Then all my lights worked better than before.

If the new switch doesn't fix it, that'll be the next thing I try. The old switch is broken for sure now. 2 of the pins are completely loose and fall out of the switch fairly easily.

[cwcarpenter98]

Well, that's definitely broken. Ordered a new switch yesterday.

Also figured out why my radio cut out when the switch broke. I totally forgot that I ran my constant power for the radio to the constant power for the brake lights. I should probably change that up, but I'm not sure of a good place to hook it in to

[cwcarpenter98]

Got the new switch in today, and that didn't fix my problem.

Turns out the fuse block/wiring harness I purchased a couple years back had a rubber sleeve over the power wire for that circuit. I also apparently have enough of a leak for water to get inside that rubber and sit. The connector completely corroded and broke off which is why I no longer had lights. A new connector and Frankentruck is back in business!

[Andy4639]

Glad you figured it out. Those kind of electrical problems are the worst. Just a suggestion.
I added both of these to my 71 c-10 for added power. The one is under the dash to add switch power to all my add on.
The second one is behind the seat for the amps & heated seats.

I ran a fused wire from the unfused source in the factory fuse holder to both.

[cwcarpenter98]

Thanks Andy. So far, I still haven't used up all the available space on the factory fuse block. I doubt I will though, because the stuff I want on the inside is pretty much finished.

I had never expected that the power wire to those fuses would have corroded like that. I guess I need to do all the rust repair and fix my leaks