WTF did I do?

[Blue Meanie]

I just replaced my battery and cables, put everything together and now I have no dash lights, or running lights. Everything else seems fine. Checked fuses and they all looked good as well. Please help!

Eric

[ALConfederate]

When you say you checked your fuses did you do a continuity/voltage check or did you just eyeball them?

[Blue Meanie]

replaced a couple and eyeballed the rest.

[ALConfederate]

Okay. One thing I've learned about fuses is that they can be tricky little devils, and you can't always tell by looking if they're bad or not. Get your meter out and check them, just to be sure.

[Blue Meanie]

Will do.

[Blue Meanie]

Fuses are fine. WTF???

[ALConfederate]

Okay, now that the simple stuff is out of the way, let's get to the fun part.

The references for the following come from the '72 wiring diagram found here: http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/wiringdiagrams/72_240z_wiring.pdf

1) Have you checked for voltage at the fuse?

2) Power for both circuits routes through the combination switch (I believe it's a green wire with a blue stripe in and green/white out). With the switch off, check from green/blue to ground and verify voltage. Turn the switch on and check for voltage at green/white to ground. If no voltage, do a continuity check between the green/blue and the green/white with the fuse pulled and the switch on.

3) According to the wiring diagram, the dashlight circuit comes off the front/side/rear markers through a rheostat (dimmer switch) Look for voltage here. Disconnect the wires from the switch and see if your sidemarkers work. That might help you isolate exactly which circuit it is.

Something may have shorted out at either location, it could be a bad switch, or it could be a bad ground. If none of the above checks helps, you're going to have to trace the wires, looking for a dead short or a loose/bad ground. Refer to that wiring diagram on the AtlanticZ site.

I hope this helps you. I also hope someone with more practical experience on the 240s chimes in with some suggestions. Most of what I know about electrical testing comes from chasing faults around in 220/440 VAC pump control panels.

[Zs-ondabrain]

Being as how I'm pretty sure you bought one of my PLH parking light upgrade harness's, you might want to check the fuseholder that sits near the firewall, it may have fallen between the battery and firewall. just find the power wire coming out of the firewall from the PLH relay and trace it to the battery area.

If you did'nt purchase a PLH from me, double check the 3rd fuse down on the right in the fusebox. it can look fine and still be bad. Throw another fuse in there just for shits and giggles.

Report back,

Dave.

[skunkteeth]

I had this same problem, and what seemed to correct it was just moving the dash light dimmer down a little bit then back up.

[sblake01]

I had this same problem, and what seemed to correct it was just moving the dash light dimmer down a little bit then back up.

Not the same problem at all. The dash light dimmer has no control over the running lights.

[skunkteeth]

Not the same problem at all. The dash light dimmer has no control over the running lights.

My mistake! Thanks for the correction.