Road Runner Nest

I have a 71 Sebring Plus and I just put in a new standard instrument cluster. When I took my old one out, everything worked, but now the dash lights and headlights work, it starts, the park brake light works, and the high beam indicator works. But, the taillights and brake lights don't, the flasher and turn signals make the oil light blink (the lights don't on the outside), and the wipers only work when you push the wiper switch in (like to turn on the washer), this also makes the high beam indicator come on. I don't understand this wiring diagram and the wiring harness should be impossible to screw-up, right? Any suggestions would be great.

Ok Standard cluster- with the long sweep speedo.

FIRST Battery disconnected, then make sure ALL your grounds are good. Chryslers are known for satanic grounding issues. There is a ground strap from the Dash board to the column, and one from the column to the body. The instrument panel grounds to the dash through the mounting screws.

Second make sure your other connections are good. Clean and firm. also make sure the round connector is indexed properly. It will slide part way on, but not seat fully. Just line up the the tang on the connector with the slot in the panel.

Did you transfer the original headlight and wiper switches into the new cluster you installed?

If you did not use the ones that came with the car- that would be the first place I would look at. Swap the originals back in if they are not there already.

The brake and parking lights both draw power from / thru the headlight switch.

The parking lights are controlled from that switch also. So if you don't have any parking lamps- front/side or rear. that would be the No.1 suspect. Could be a bad switch ( if it is different from the original or you may have loose( spread) connector in the plug.

The wiring is pretty easy once you know how- to read the wiring diagram .....
for instance

X10A-18 blk = Circuit X10A, Wire ia 18 guage, black color

D9-18t = Circuit D9, Wire is 18 guage, tan color

J2-16 dbl = Circuit J2, Wire is 16 guage, dark blue

Now the Guage- or thickness of the wire gets smaller as the Guage NUMBER gets HIGHER.

20 guage is the smallest you will see
18 is thicker than 20
16 is thicker than 18
14 is thicker than 16
12 is thicker than 14.

I know- it is bassackwards but that is how it is.

Color code follows

BK = Black
BR= Brown
DBL = Dark Blue
DGN= Dark Green
GY= Grey
LBL = Light blue
LGN= Light Green
O= Orange
P= Pink
R= Red
T= Tan
V= Violet
W=White
Y= Yellow
*= with tracer

a tracer is a thin line of color on the main color

So if you have wire designated LBR9-16R/Y*, this is how it breaks down.

LBR9 is the circuit, 16R/Y* means it is a 16 guage RED wire with a YELLOW stripe on it.


Since you did the swap- the chances are it is either the switches, connections or ground. That is all you futzed with- so it has to be there.

Great Post Road Chicken! Really good info there.

I will add my confirmation that grounding is probably the #1 trouble spot on Mopar wiring. I've had SO many really odd issues over the years that turned out to be a bad ground. For example, I had a 73 Coronet that for a while every time you lit the left turn signal (or used the brakes) the interior dome light would come on. Talk about distracting to drive at night... heheheh... Anyway, it turned out to be the driver's side tail light housing didn't have a good ground, and was back feeding through the system. If you don't provide a good ground, electricity will find one on it's own.

With all the odd symptoms he's having, like you said, it could also be the round plug isn't indexed correctly on the back of the cluster.

Thanks
I took my gauges and circuit board and put them on the other cluster's trim piece. So now it's all of my gauges with new trim. I only needed the plastic, because mine was cut and a clock, since my car didin't have one. So now everything is working correctly, except the brake lights, turn signals and flashers, front sidemarkers, and front parking lights. I thought I should double-check that these run together through the headlight switch, therefore that is the problem, or if it could be a ground.
Thanks again

Achhh I screwed up. Sorry- let me clear that up

For reference- there are two blade connectors at the bottom of the Fuse Block.

The RIGHT side ( as your looking at the fuse block) has the "ACC" marked on it. That means that side is switched and DOES NOT have power when the KEY is off.

The LEFT side,( As you looking at the fuse block) blade is marked "BATT". That side has constant power, regardless of Key position.

Don't mean to sound like Im talking down- I just don't know how familiar you are with the wiring- so I'l cover the bases up front.

The brake lights and flashers pull power off of the fuse block.

Brake light power comes from the second fuse from the bottom on the left bank ( the bank that has constant power). It goes to the brakelight switch ( under the dash- it is a spring-loaded plunger switch with a Pink and WHITE wire that plugs into it. It is a NORMALLY OPEN switch- IE Plunger is pressed IN , and the contacts on the back are not touching).
The PINK wire is incomming power, ( when the pedal is depressed- the switch closes and...) the white wire goes through a connector into the column, then out to the Signal lamps.

Emergency flashers pull power from the fuse above that one for the brakes. Power from the fuse block comes into it on the 18ga blk wire that has a tracer,( no color given for the tracer color- but it is usually white). Power goes out of the flasher through the 18 ga PINK wire, then into the column and then back out to the signal lamps. This flasher , I think, is up above the column.

Turn signals (flasher) pull power from Right side of the bank,( the switched side), bottom fuse marked "radio". the actual circuit goes to the power plug for the radio and then over to the turn signal flasher. the incoming power wire is 18ga blk wire, out going power is the 18ga RED wire. and then into the column- then back out to the signal lights. This flasher is tucked up by the ash tray

The parking lamps/side markers go thru the headlamp switch. That connection going out to the lamps is the one with TWO black wires in one terminal.
One wire is 18ga Blk, the other is 18 blk with a yellow tracer.

The regular blk wire is the wire for the rear parking lamps/side makers

The one with the yellow tracer is the feed for the front parking lamps/side markers.

If you have rear parking and markers- you should have the fronts also. Those are both going directly from that connection on the headlamp switch out to the lights. So the problem is not the headlamp switch.

As for the rest of this issue...... Brakes,Signals, ect.

I was looking for a common point that all of those circuits have . With the exception of the parking lamps, everything else you mention runs thru one ,(of the two), connectors on the column wiring- specifically it all goes thru the turn signal switch. Specifically the one with the pointy end as an index and should be BLUE,( the other has all square corners and is white).

The column end goes to the turn signal switch and is where all the "incoming" power is directed to go back out to the lights.

In order from the pointy side- as your looking at the dash HARNESS side connector.



d4-18W = Stop lamps - power coming in from the brake switch
d7-18br = Right rear (signal/brake)-power going out to the light
d8-DGN = Left rear ( signal/brake)- power going out to the light
d2-18R = Turn signal flasher- incoming fromthe flasher
d32-18P = Emergency Flasher- power incoming from the flasher
d5-18 T= Right Front (signal)-power going out to the light
d6-18 LGN=Left front Signal- power going out to the light.
H3-20blk= Horn - ground for the horn relay.

Ok I had to say that- to tell you this- No I don't like writing books

Ok lets start the trouble shooting.

I would check that "pointy ended" Turn signal connector on the column. I don't know about you, but I would drop the column to do the instrument panel changes. It is a pretty solid connection, but maybe you bumped it. Take it apart Carefully ( there is a latch holding it together)and check the connections for good contact. Plug it in and out a few times- that will clean the connections of tarnish. If you see green- clean it out.

If it still doesn't work- then get a 12vdc test light and check the incoming power. If you have a sharp pointed light, then you can just push it through the insulation into the wire. If not then disconnect the connector and on the dash side of the wiring harness....

Check the white wire when you depress the brake pedal, it should light the light if you have power there. Make sure the switch is connected and properly adjusted. I have schmucked stuff without realizng it. Of course I am a pretty big Oaf .

The Pink ( emergency flasher)wire should have power on it. It may flash on and off, but it depends on the load the flasher "see's".

The Red wire( Turn signal flasher) you'll have to have the key in the "on" position. But it should act like the emergency flasher. One thing- Don't leave the key in the "ON" position any longer than you have to.

Hopefully it won't get that far and it is just the connector to the turnsignal switch that is out of whack. But you should be able to back track each circuit and find where the power is being lost.

As for the markers up front. It is possible one of the wires is schmucked at the headlamp connector, or a ground. That is where the test lamp comes in handy. You can attach to a good ground and check directly at the light socket for power.

Hopefully I didn't make that too befuddeling. It seems like alchemy- but it isn;t that hard once you get is it like a series of power generators in a power dam. The battery "+" is the supply side of the dam. The switches turn each "flow" on or off to each generator (circuit). The generators ( electrical components) are the resistance to the "flow". and do the work.

Let me know what you find.

ADDED: I made a correction on the fuse block- specifically the sides where the power is drawn from. The wiring diagram shows it from the back side where the wires are connected- sorry for any confusion. I should have remembered that when posting the first time.

Thanks.
After reading through what you wrote, I checked the brake switch. It's sticking, so I'll probably ahve to get a new one. When I have the brake pedal down and pull the switch out, the lights do come on. Also, I remembered something about the steering column wiring for the turn signals. My friend did some "not by the book" wiring just to make them work. I probably disconnected it when I removed the steering wheel. I'm really glad it wasn't worse, because wiring isn't something I do too much. I have to get the rest of the cluster (heater control, light switch, speedo) back together so I can take it to the muffler shop to hook up the sidepipes.
Thanks again.

Cool,

If the spring is still good inthe brake light switch- try lubing it with some WD-40. Saves you a few bucks to fget it moving.

Post if it gives you any more

:

Dave wrote:Great Post Road Chicken! Really good info there.

I will add my confirmation that grounding is probably the #1 trouble spot on Mopar wiring. I've had SO many really odd issues over the years that turned out to be a bad ground. For example, I had a 73 Coronet that for a while every time you lit the left turn signal (or used the brakes) the interior dome light would come on. Talk about distracting to drive at night... heheheh... Anyway, it turned out to be the driver's side tail light housing didn't have a good ground, and was back feeding through the system. If you don't provide a good ground, electricity will find one on it's own.

.

YUP CAN NOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH!!!! Good grounds are second only to good insulation for proper funtion of the system. After all theese years of working on them- I know what you mean.

When I was first learning about the DC systems I had a car that - well- the only thing it didn't do was spin the road runner head a full 360 and then puke pea soup on me. DC is very funky that way. It doesn't care how it find the way back to the battery. So if you car is doing really wild things, and you haven't donr anything-"odd". Check the grounds. If the started starts "clicking" check the battery posts- corrosion and the cable clamp connectors are #1 cause of that. IN fact the Clamp style connectors are an emergency use only item. Right next the the beer can and bailing wire for exhaust fixes