Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

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Pabloek
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Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Pabloek »

Hi guys, finally got the old girl on the road and I'm now just looking at the small stuff.. I've got an issue with the dash lights not working when headlights on but they do whith the parkers on.. Anyone had this? Need a whole new headlight switch or is it something I could tinker with? (I'm a youtube mechanic / auto elec 😂) no qualifications but fairly capable with the help of this forum and YouTube. Ha..
Cheers guys.
Pablo
ardiesse
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by ardiesse »

At a rough guess, the grey wire is connected to the wrong terminal on the headlight switch. Do the instrument lamps dim when you turn the headlight knob? The correct terminal for the instrument lights is the one which comes from the rheostat.

Somebody will (hopefully) post a diagram showing the connections to the headlight switch.

Rob
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Harv
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Harv »

The dashlights run through a dimmer. You dim them by twisting the headlight knob. A metal slider runs along a long spring which is a variable resistor. The spring gets manky, and will only work in some knob positions. You can excercise the assembly a bit and sometimes they come good. Otherwise you can pull the assembly out and clean it properly.

headlight switch.jpg
headlight switch.jpg (926.79 KiB) Viewed 365 times

Cheers,
Harv
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
Blacky
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Blacky »

My guess is the dash lights wiring is on the park lights circuit - they go off once the headlights are on and so do your dash lights so it stands to reason thats the problem. Harvs pic above out of the service manual shows where they should be connected - and new light switches are available either through Rare Spares for $150 or EKMart for $100 :thumbsup:
I started with nothing and still have most of it left.


Foundation member #61 of FB/EK Holden club of W.A.
Pabloek
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Pabloek »

Thanks heaps guys. Gonna attack it this week hopefully. Cheers 👍
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avm
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by avm »

Hi,

The comments and information supplied above are good and correct. About the dimmer function, when I took delivery of my EK last year the dimmer seemed unsteady. Following advice, I repeatedly swept the dimmer switch across its full range, left and right, thus cleaning up the dimmer switch and thereafter it has operated flawlessly.
Project ICKPA.
Pabloek
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Pabloek »

Ok so it stopped working all together and I've found the grey wire has come off the dash light terminal.. But, how to I get access to this / how do you take the whole mechanism out or at least be able to pull it through the back a little so I can hopefully reattach the wire?
Cheers guys
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Harv
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Harv »

The easiest way to reconnect the wire is to lie on your back, half in and half out the door, with your head up under the dash. You can then access most of the terminals, and can reconnect it.

The alternative is to pull the switch out. Disconnect the battery first, as a lot of that switch is LIVE. Pull the dash knob out all the way (two clicks). Now reach up under the dash, and push in the little magic button on the underside of the switch:

Light switch magic button.jpg
Light switch magic button.jpg (86.97 KiB) Viewed 192 times

With the button in, keep pulling the dash knob out until the assembly comes all the way out (looks like a knob on a piece of wire). Now that the knob is out of the way, you can unscrew the dash bezel, and remove the switch out of the dash. Drop it down and reconnect the wire.

That process is painful... easier to stick your head under the dash.

Cheers,
Harv
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
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Errol62
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Errol62 »

Pull the dash panel out while you’re at it. All shall be revealed…..


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Brett027
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Brett027 »

Just in case: disconnect your battery before you do anything. None of the powered wires on the switch are covered. 😀😀
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Pabloek
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Pabloek »

OK so it hadn't come off from the switch terminal its come off from wherever it should go after that.. 😂 Any ideas?
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Blacky
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Blacky »

Check out the picture above out of the workshop manual, its the terminal nearest the end of the switch that bolts up against the dash. Labelled in the picture as instrument lights. What you may find is the dimmer has open circuited, that will stop it working at all which is why the previous owner would have moved it.

If thats the case you can either buy a new switch from Rare Spares or just connect it to the terminal that is labelled tail lamps - that will be on when either the parkers or headlights are activated.
I started with nothing and still have most of it left.


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Pabloek
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Pabloek »

Cheers Blacky, just making sure we're on the same page.. The wire actually is attached to the correct terminal for the dash lights us the end terminal closest to the end ie "instrument lights" but it's the other end that's not attached to anything.. Where does it go from that terminal? I couldn't find another broken grey wire leading away... Etc.
Thanks again guys
👍
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Harv
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Re: Dash lights work with parkers but not headlights.

Post by Harv »

OK... if I understand it right, your lighting switch is OK. It has a little stub of wire correctly screwed to the INSTRUMENTS terminal. Unfortunately, the little stub of wire is connected to nothing else, and hence no instrument lights.

The wiring diagram is here:
viewtopic.php?t=3418

... and the bit you're interested in looks like this:

broken wiring.jpg
broken wiring.jpg (39.81 KiB) Viewed 60 times

I've coloured it in red to make it easier to see. The little stub of wire should join a bunch of other wires in a taped harness, and snake its way up behind the instrument panel. It comes out of the harness and splits into four little grey wires. The little grey wires have bub holders on the end, that plug into the instrument panel.

Cheers,
Harv
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
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