A few electrical/general questions, UPDATE!! It's FIXED!!!!!

[Turbocharged400sbc]

Holy crap dude, thanks a lot for that write up. Unfortuanately I can't do all this testing until earliest, this Sunday, because I need the car to get around. What does HD stand for?? :oops:

It stands for headlamp/headlight the headlight/dimmer switch is in the same panel....no problem, life's a lesson...

So to get to all of these cables, I'll have to take apart the dash, around the fusebox??

to get to the wires you will have to remove the plastic trim around the gauge cluster/HDlight/dimmer switch.

to test the fuses just check at the fuse box and the underhood electrical center #2

And where do you get all this information, is it from your head, or do you know of a great book I don't know about??

I was born with a Hurst shifter in my mouth... j/k

Mitchell On-Demand, shop Manager/repair data software...gotta have it, or AllData in my line of work...Mitchell has integrated true scalable COLOR wiring diagrams now...but in other area's AllData is better...

 

Thanks again, at least now I got something to try, I was at a dead end with my ideas, and this stuff sounds like you know what you're talking about, and since you hooked up 2 engines in that car, I guess you're not BS-ing,

yeah been working on bikes, RC toys, small engine's and cars my whole life Gramps was a master tech at Chrysler for 38 years (when he goes I get allot more tools...just hope tha dont happen anytime soon) and my old man was a Nuclear Machinist Mate (Nuclear submariner=mekanik=he glows in the dark ) so as a Navy Brat I had acces to MWR's (morale welfare recreation) shop's where servicemen could work on their own vehicles and "borrow" the navy's tools etc. I hung out there alot!

beyond 4 yrs auto shop in HS (tested outa first year-already knew all of it) with metalurgy/welding/small engines, CAD/CAM design, electrical/electronics, and some programming, I have no other schooling. WHy pay UTI (etc.) 25+ thousand dollars for somthing I can learn on my own (public library's might as well use em!) and at age 24 (shit i'll be a 1/4 century this sept, man i'm getting old.... ) I have over $40K in snapon and other tools as my mechanical specialty is computer/electronics/emissions diagnostics (it was either that or become a PC programmer and I LOVE cars too much)

and as you know moddern/Redneck Engine(s)ering... [/end life history]

Glad you like the twin engine 442! I'll be doing my own twin engine car here soon (cant let Al have the only one in the area!)

 

good luck with the diagnosis Doctor!

regards, James

[nebojsa_o]

Well it sure took me a while to get some time, and work on the car. Now that I had some time I tried all that stuff you told me. All 3 of those fuses were hot, and 39 was when I turned on the car, so that was good. I only checked one of the light bulbs at the socket, and it was fine, and so was the bulb, and the other bulbs all work when I flip the little switches to ON, so I figure they are all fine, if it's really important to check them all, let me know. I pulled out the HD switch, and checked the PINK, RED, and BLACK wires. Pink and red both worked, and the BLACK is a good ground. So no problem there. Then to manually turn on the courtesy lights, I did like you said, and grounded the BLUE wire to the - on the battery, but the lights or the dinger didn't turn on. Then I did the same thing to the WHITE wire, and the lights didn't turn on. So I guess my HD switch is fine, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a simple HD switch problem, so I "borrowed" one from a J/Y, and tried it, it still doesn't work. Now I am right back where I started (sort of). :? I have no clue what it could be. I'm still thinking it might have something to do with the Chime Module, but I'm no expert. :oops: Any more ideas you have, or that OnDemand program has?? Where is the Chime Module located anyways, on a '96 Cutlass Supreme Sedan??? Let me know what else I can try, or if you have no clue, then at least let me know that. Thanks a lot.

[nebojsa_o]

FIXED!!!!!!!

I took a day off again, since I don't seem to be getting any weekends off, and I looked around some more. I tested the white wire on one of the light bulbs, and when I hooked it up to the HD switch white wire, it turned on when the doors were opened. So I started following the white wire from the HD switch, and unwraping the tape from all the wires, I found the problem after about 20cm of the white wire. It was cut off!!!! I got no clue who did that, and when, and for what reason, but the wire was cut. It was a perfectly flat, straight line. So I put in a little extension to reach from one end to the other, and it's working. Thanks for the help, and ideas, and I'm finally happy something just got better on the car. Not by much, but now I got lights on the inside of my car too.