Everyones Hero

Whenever the battery is connected on my '86 the corners & dash lights stay on. I have a hunch it's the headlight switch because if I turn the dimmer **** the corners dim but the dash light stays fully lit.

I need to order a new switch but in the mean time I want to wire a switch I have laying around into the constant for that switch so I don't have to disconnect my battery every time I go somewhere.

From the wiring diagrams I have looked through it seems the wire coming from the fuse box should be tan/white. Problem is I can't find that wire going into the switch.

These are the wires I have on the switch, going from the front of the car towards the back:
Left Side:
X
Black/Brown
X
Brown + Brown
X
Blue/Red

Center:
X
X
X
X
Red/Orange

Right:
White/Brown
X
Green/Yellow
X
Blue/Black

Thanks,
-Nick

Everyones Hero

Now I really don't know what to do.

I went out & got a new switch. It didn't fix it. The switch seems to get extremely hot.

I pulled fuse #4 & that didn't fix it either so I have no idea where the power is coming from.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be wrong?

MustangBradley

Odds are you have a ground short. These can be difficult to locate. Somewhere along either the feed wire to the switch or the out leg of the switch the wire has become compromised in that it contacts the metal body of the car. You can easily find out which wire is the bad one with a multi-tester and the wiring diagram from the shop manual. That said, the difficult part is fixing the bad wire. The easy route is to determine the bad wire and then just run a new one from the switch to wherever it is supposed to go to. That to will be shown with the wiring diagram. It is a wise investment to get a good shop manual for your car.

mturner101

hey i have had the same problem with 86 gt my problem was at the right side head light ground check them and let me know what you find

Everyones Hero

It's something connected to fuse 8. I decided to pull fuses to see if any of them were the culprit. The #4 fuse being pulled left the lights on so I pulled the #8 fuse.

When I pulled the #8 fuse all the lights turned off like they were supposed to. With the switch on all of the lights function as they're supposed to.

As far as I can tell #8 is just for the key alarm, gas tank cover, & constant for the radio. It looks like all I'll have to do is run a new constant for my radio & I'll be good to go.

I'll double check my grounds & see if there isn't a short somewhere, though.

88LXdad

On mine it turned out to be a mushroomed contact on a tail light bulb.

Everyones Hero

I haven't had time to look for the problem.

My radio only works when the headlights are on (with fuse #8 pulled.) I think I'm just going to run new constant & ignition on wires for the radio & call it a day.