No Dash Lights in VH

[budgieVH]

okay so you have the piece of interior that holds the glove box and goes through to the steering wheel.. i took that out ect ect any way when i put it all togeather the only dash lights put back in was the cigarette lighter one and it is fine i have diconected it and put new fuse in.. turn on the lights and bang goes the fuse.. i have head lights but no dash lights..

driving at night i have to turn my interior light on and off to check my speed haha..
its very anoying

where would i start looking for the problem?

thank you very much

[mrvdv85]

be careful with that because some times when you dont have dash lights, you dont have tail lights either

[ari666]

short circuit somewhere, need to go back and check everything you have done. i would bet its a piece of wire caught behind a screw or nut that has squished through the insulation when you tightened it back up.

[budgieVH]

im careful i wire laser machines for a living.. but i just dont know s**t about car wiring..

yeah well ima start looking now... ahh joys of testing electrical!

[ari666]

lol, my favorite part is laying with your legs around the headrest and your head up under the dash... i am 32 years old and that crap is starting to really hurt. i can lay there for couple of hours, but when i try to get out... man, those little stars buzzing around your eyes, blacking out etc etc

god i hate dash wiring. good luck :P

[budgieVH]

haha yeah man!! im only 18.. umm can anyone send me a pic of a ciggi liter plug so i know witch way the black and brown wires go... cause yeah negative and positive where shorting out some where there.. cause the globe had blown..

cheers!

[ari666]

black is always earth, unless someone has changed it. the brown plug goes to the middle.

[budgieVH]

yeah well thats what i thought... so i was correct....

but if the globe had blown and i replaced the fuse it should not have blown another one..

[vh sle !!!!!]

correct, still got a short circuit somewhere trace the wiring and check it all

[budgieVH]

well its got to be that cigg liter thingo.. because ever since i disconnected it from the light and chassis thing that it sits in it has not blown a fuse.. i might plug er back in and give it another shot.

thanks for ya help guys

[monsteroz]

I hope your loom has not been butchered too much . But I would buy a gregories manual or holden manual for a wiring diagram and start troubleshooting a bit at a time

Sean

[budgieVH]

yeah i got the book.. wiring diagram is shocking.. but yeah when i get it painted i am planning on rewiring it or if i can buy a loom or buy a loom board!

[ari666]

i got a gregorys too. been working on cars and wiring diagrams for years. cant make heads nor tails of the crappy gregorys one tho.

if you have the time mate, dont bother with a new loom. you will appreciate it much more if you put the time and effort in with a pair of side cutters and a soldering iron much more fun and you get to hide things here and there.

[budgieVH]

eyy dude i wire up laser and water jet cutting machines.. i could make a loom for it.. but some of the wiring is so dodogy i mean soldering joints that havent been tinted and are just taped to geather... i have replaced as much terminals as i can with professional crimpers (mainly in engine area) but yeah when u buzz negative and positive with a multimeter it buzzes with the battery disconnected and i dont know if it is ment to do that haha...

[ari666]

ummm well, no...

of course there is the clock and radio which will be connected to battery + (constant) but they should have very little resistance.

i would be looking at your tailights too, i think they may be connected to instrument lights as someone has mentioned already. mine had a big prob with my brand new taillights (which i sikaflexed to the body of the car) were filling up with water and shorting the globes, so when i braked the volts would drop down to below 6.. the fix was drilling a 1/8th hole in the very bottom of each assembly (brake, position and indicator) so the water just trickled out once it was in there. also get rid of the old 32W standard globes and replace with 21W which use a lot less and could have something to do with blowing globes.

[budgieVH]

oh and with the buzzing i think it has something to do with the alternator or starter motor....

tail lights dont run on that fuse...