no lights?

[74 challenger]

Ok so I have no dash,dome,4 ways,brake,radio,map or park lights.All worked about a month ago. Jim rebuilt all switches last year. Today when I turn the headlights on park lights came on for a second then out. Should I start checking 1st headlight switch or steering column? I believe grounds are good do to replacing under dash harness last year. Headlights,wipers and turn signals work. The car also runs. Thanks Dave

 

[Adam]

Ok so I have no dash,dome,4 ways,brake,radio,map or park lights.All worked about a month ago. Jim rebuilt all switches last year. Today when I turn the headlights on park lights came on for a second then out. Should I start checking 1st headlight switch or steering column? I believe grounds are good do to replacing under dash harness last year. Headlights,wipers and turn signals work. The car also runs. Thanks Dave

Fuses?

 

[moparleo]

The first thing to always check on any electrically related problem is #1 the battery #2 the charging system #3 the fuse box #4 the grounds for each connection or switch.
Never assume that just because something worked yesterday that it doesn't need to be checked today.
Finally, 90% of the time, if you start from the beginning including the obvious, you will find the solution. This advice applies to any type of diagnostics that you are involved in. Automotive or otherwise.

 

[74 challenger]

fuses are good,thanks Leo just getting lazy. Its been a rough year!

 

[moparleo]

No rush. Take your time and do a good job. Do you have a Power Probe ? Great item to find shorts, and to power up items without the battery. Even on the bench if needed.

 

[74 challenger]

test light and volt meter and hot weather in S Carolina

 

[challenger6pak]

Trade you weather. My shop is 85 - 90 at night, 110 - 120 in the day. Heat peaks at 3 PM. Working split shifts to survive.

 

[challenger6pak]

You have a 12 G red wire that is in a flat plug near the base of the steering column. It is connected to a junction that gives power to many of the switches for your non-working accessories. See if it has power going into the column and out of the column (2 red wires). It may not be the column wiring. It is easier to check power at this point due to the real location of the junction. I suspect a problem at the bulk head. Another thing you can do is to one at a time unplug the wiring harness from the firewall. Inspect and clean all of the plug connections. Don't forget to disconnect your battery first.

 

[moparleo]

Add dielectric grease on the connections

 

[74 challenger]

Last year I cleaned and used electrical grease on everything. Fuses 2,3,4,5 and battery have no power. Gave up tonight due to anger issues.

 

[moparleo]

Start at the battery. you will not find power to the fuses if you don't have a good ground. Don't skip anything. One step at a time.

 

[74 challenger]

Does anyone know how many fusable links are in the engine bay?

 

[moparleo]

Normally just one, connected to the starter relay on the fender well.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...N.cLxxrrq99mGB7hHk9NRyNA&mode=overlay&first=1

 

[Chryco Psycho]

you need to trace from the battery , there is the fusable link but everything would be dead , the power connector through the bulkhead would be the first place I would look , the batter feed doesn't go through anything else

 

[74 challenger]

So I unplugged the 2 plugs on the steering column and moved the wires around and the dome,map light,key light came on. So i plugged the 2 together and hit the brakes and everything went dead. Think I start checking ground under the dash. Hope its not a burnt wire.

 

[74 challenger]

anyone know what powers the 2 orange wires on the ignition switch connector? Red is good powering all ,just cant trace how the orange are powered. thanks

 

[Chryco Psycho]

Orange is powered from the dash light switch , it goes into the dimmer switch & powers the dash lighting from there

 

[challenger6pak]

74 is slightly different than 73, but not enough to matter for what you are doing.

 

[challenger6pak]

I can't find my copy of the cluster diagram. I am looking.

 

[challenger6pak]

Site won't let me edit the last post. I don't have a digital copy of the cluster diagram. I can't put my old book on the bed scanner without hurting the binding. Here are some pics. Hope they will work for you. I left the pics large so that you could read them.