Hazard switch lamp

[TomoHawk]

Is the hazard switch supposed to have a lamp in it that lights up with the other dash lights? If so mine has been somehow removed, and the metal lamp socket holder plate lost. I can probably make a new plate, but I'd need a lamp socket. Can you get those?

thx

[hls30.com]

post a pic of what you have, to show what it is missing. I probably have a spare...

Will

[sblake01]

I have a working switch for a 78 (just tested it). It's your for postage if you want it. Easier than trying to fix yours. Just plug it in.

[TomoHawk]

OOps. My bad. It was the Defog switch that have the lamp inside. It's stil pretty much the same design tho. A small rectangular plate with a hole in it fits in the cavity, and a lamp socket goes in the hole.

[sblake01]

The rear defog switch has no lamp. The lamp is in front of it on the lower face of the console but I think, or at least I hope you've figured that out. Even if you modified it and put the same type of lamp in it that the hazard switch has it wouldn't do much good as the top of the defog switch is not translucent.

[TomoHawk]

What looks like a colored window is really a window, but it's just sitting on the solid switch case. I think that if you popped out that translucent piece, and drilled a hole behind it, then reinstall, you could insert a bulb and have it lit in the dark.

I still wonder why there is no light on the defog switch, and the hazard switch has one,which gets used less frequently.

[sblake01]

I rarely use either of them. There's no light on the switch because of th light just in front of it that says 'REAR DEFOGGER". Doesn't yours light up? It is supposed to.

[hls30.com]

I still wonder why there is no light on the defog switch, and the hazard switch has one,which gets used less frequently.

Probably has to do with needing to find and use the hazard lights in almost every emergency which could render your car a hazard, and needing the rear defogger as a convenience.

Will

[TomoHawk]

My blue light only goes on when you turn on the rear defogger, not when you turn the dash lights on, which is correct. On the new car, there is a light next to the defogger switch.

What is that thing in the picture under your seat belts light? Some kind of switch?

[EScanlon]

Tomohawk, you're muddling the issue. The Rear Defog switch DOES have a light..on the lower section of the center console...as evidenced by Stephen's picture.

What it didn't have was an INTERNAL light inside the switch housing, as the Hazard Light Switch does.

As to why it had one and not the other, well you could argue it either way. The Hazard Switch is normally only required when you're parked on the side of the road or in the breakdown lane. When that happens, you might flick on the hazards and remove your key ... shutting down most lights (except for Headlamps and Brake). I'd be willing to bet that the light inside the Hazard Switch is a very small light either LED or BULB, but in the 2-3 watt range...just enough to light up but not enough to really draw amperage.

The Rear Defog and the Seat Belt lamps are OPERATIONAL indicators that would be needed when the car was being operated...and as such would need to be big and bright.

E

[TomoHawk]

So what's the confusion?

The hazard switch has a light on it so you can find it in the dark. The defog switch doesn't has a light in the switch, but it does have a light to tell you the defogger is on. that is what everybody is saying and agreeing about. And when you turn off the IGN switch, all the lights stay on if they are already on. The size of the bulb in the hazard switch has no part in this topic.

That was not the issue. The issue was that the defog switch has a cavity where a light goes,and a translucent window, but the window is blocked. That explains why there's no bulb in the switch.

I might consider adding a bulb in the defog switch later, but things are fine for now.

thx Will & Stephen.

BTW, my hazard switch is working perfectly too.

[sblake01]

The switch on the right controls my amp and rear speakers. As far as the factory switches and their operation. Well I never really thought about them much. They work, as they are supposed to. What you were attempting to find out, only you know. You started this thread talking about the light in the hazzard switch then you switched to the defog switch. Then you wanted to know why it is the way it is or something like that. If you want to put a bulb in the hazzard switch, go for it. I'm happy with mine like it is. Now, what was the question?