Going crazy trying to dial this in any and all help would be awesome! Replaced the main wiring harnesses, changed over to alternator, got everything put together and all lights worked minus the dome light. Jacked it up today to change fluids and get running. Started right up... but as soon as I pull the light switch the taillight fuse blows. It has a brand new switch in that I installed when I did the wiring. This never happened before and I tested it numerous times after I did the wiring, and also replaced the brake switch. So I replaced the fuse... and before I pulled the switch, the brake lights and blinkers work. Pull the switch and fuse is cooked and now only the blinkers work... dash and taillights are inop. Nothing on the front end of the car is effected headlights and marker lights are on. Any suggestions?
All sound good except for your running lights. I don't have a 58. But a hand full of other oldies one happens to be a 57 chevy on all of them even my f100 the parking/running light goes out in the front when the headlights come on. Maybe you've chosen to wire it this way but if not this might be the area in question. As a second note I've had brand new switches on the chevy that were bad, I got fed up with one on the chevy before and just rebuilt my old switch with some of the new parts. Good luck
You have a dead short somewhere in the circuit..... You have to find it. This means tracing wire and finding out what you did/they did wrong or what component is bad..
Maybe when you jacked the car up your jack smashed a wire and now you have a short. Start by checking the last thing you did . If it didn't do it before either you jacked it up without checking or the body has enough flex that you stretched the harness.
Put a jumper with a bulb in place of the fuse; that will keep from blowing multiple fuses while you search (the inline fuse in the jumper in the pic isn't needed).
That's a great idea. When I have to troubleshoot and repair a tripping breaker, I plug a radio into one of the plugs on the effected circuit. When I hit the right spot it comes right on..
sounds like a short to ground, in the wiring to the rear lights. All the symptoms point that way, at least.
Put a light in place of the fuse as mentioned above, unhook the original grounds for the taillights and start unhooking stuff in that circuit until the light goes out. That’ll tell you the section of wiring the short is in. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
This probably isn't your problem, but when I wired my Model A I had a similar problem. When I turned on the lights, I blew the tail light fuse. It was indeed a short to ground, but it was caused by a poorly made 1157 bulb. One of the locating lugs was in the wrong place and the bottom wasn't crimped correctly. If you moved it around, you could get it to work or blow a fuse. By the way, connecting a light across the fuse socket (57 Fargo) is a great way to troubleshoot a short.
First thing I would do is remove the tail light bulbs and see if the short goes away. If that doesn't stop the short then start following the wiring back from the tail lights, looking for chaffed insulation or broken wires to ground.
First thank you for everyone help. I did check all the bulbs and that wasn't it. I was moving some wires around and of course the lightbulb went out... So I'm like seriously... nothing fixed it. So I started messing with the headlight switch and plug and the light would flicker... But then stayed off. So I threw a new fuse in there and it was good for a long while then outta no where it pops. Put the test light back in... So I started playing with the knob and the test light dimmed as I turned the knob (the pot switch part). It dimmed and got brighter as I turned it. It is a new switch, any chance this is it?
You moved the wires and the light went out means you should look over the length of the wires you moved to find a bare spot in the plastic insulation. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
These are your correct answers. You have a short somewhere and moving wires may have moved the wire that is shorting out away from making contact with bare metal. If you change the switch you may have moved a wire or terminal that was shorting out away from where it shorted out. Check the dash light wires and the tail/park light wires that you moved to see if there is any sign of one being hot were it made contact with metal.
Ok so I got a new switch and installed it. The knob was turned all the way down (dash lights off), (pull the knob to park or headlights does not make a difference) test light bulb was bright. Started removing tail light bulbs and liscence plate bulbs and it went out. Cleaned all sockets 1 by 1 and put bulbs back in (they are led if that makes a difference) test light went to nearly off and if I turn the switch off and then back on it takes about 10 seconds and I get the center of the filament to just barely turn a dull orange. But as soon as I turn the switch (to turn dash lights on also leds) the tail lights dim and the test light lights up like a Christmas tree. The turn signals work as advertised (other than being dim once I attempt to have dash lights). I have chased all the grey wires under the dash to see if they were chaffed or cut nothing. I have disconnected my aftermarket stereo. It just makes no sense because 2 weeks ago everything was good. I am at a loss... Thank you again for all your help so far!
If you are getting "dimming" action on any lights other than the dash lights, it's likely that the dash ground is bad. Or you have the wiring wrong.
Does anyone know where the ground is for this? I thought the same so I took a jumper and just held it to the back of the dash and then to a ground terminal I put under the dash. No change in the test light I have jumping the fuse.
The dash housing itself is "ground". I don't know what you are using for light sockets...you mention gray wires, which is what they had originally. They had all metal socket housings, with an insulating disk inside that the wire with it's crimped terminal fit into. Trying to troubleshoot problems like this over the internet is really difficult, because we can't see a damn thing....pictures always help.
I don't believe you have a bad ground since you are blowing fuses. Your short is in the dash light circuit. I bought a wiring harness one time that dash light problems. The manufacturer had forgotten to insulate the contact for the bulbs from the spring that pushed the contact to the end of the bulb. Since the spring contacts the base of the socket it would short. It didn't blow fuses, but it smoked a couple of wires. The vendor replaced the harness at no charge. Also, does your dome lamp work? If it only blows fuses when you turn the dimmer full counter clockwise, the short is probably in the dome lamp circuit.
I bought a repop harness from Ecklers, so it matched my wiring harness. I did that incase I ran into any issues bahahahaha! So yes the sockets are the metal ones that ground to the harness. Yes and I appreciate everyone helping out, what would you like a pic of to help me out?
The dome light was removed from the system for me prior to me purchasing the car. So I have made sure the white wires, orange wire and ground are isolated for this circuit. What confuses me is how it gets brighter as I turn the switch further counterclockwise. I can figure out what other than dash and dome lights it is powering and why the test light gets brighter other than more power coming from the switch. It's definitely a short I just don't know where else to look.
It sounds to me; that with the test light increasing in brightness when you rotate the switch to increase voltage to the dash light circuit; that it is indicating a dead short somewhere in the dash light circuit. If you have not already done so; I would try taking out one dash light socket at a time while the switch is clockwise and the test bulb brightly lit. If that doesn't find the problem; I would look close at the section of harness for a fault; not unheard of for an aftermarket harness to have a defect. The fact that you say the turn signal indicators are somehow effected by the dash light brightness control makes me wonder.
I'm sorry I fat fingered that, I meant counterclockwise. So turning the dash lights brighter. The dash lights are on and react to the switch getting brighter and darker.
If your still questioning the switch, you could try your original one that worked before the change of you still have it. Another thought on testing a ground short, DISCONNECT the battery for safety reasons, then remove fuse and the taillight again and do an ohm test in the taillight contacts in the socket with you meter (center spot and out side housing). If there is a reading of continuity then you found a short then you got to find the spot in the wire. If this doesn't make sense don't try it, there is no reason to do something that can make things worse.
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