Markwz11

Anyone have any ideas here? I have a 74 Cutlass Supreme and out of nowhere, my night time lights on the Speedo and Fuel Gauge stopped working. Turn on the Parkers/Headlights and everything lights up but those gauges... turn signals work, idiot lights come on at start-up, dome/courtesy lights come on when you turn the "headlight switch" counterclockwise... all fuses in the fuse panel are good and replaced just to make sure. Put a new bulb in the Fuel Gauge just because it was easy to get to... and still NOTHING! Could it be the switch? I've never encountered this in ANY vehicle, so I'm baffled. Thanks in advance for any suggestions that I haven't tried.
Mark

2blu442

I'd check the ground straps first. You may need to use a piece of sand paper to clean up the contact points.


John

Markwz11

Without sounding clueless... is this the braided ground strap that clips to the underside of the hood, that you are referring to?

starfire

No, there should be ground straps on the back of the gage pods.

Markwz11

Thanks Alan. I'll check it out tomorrow morning.
Also understand from other posts that it could be as simple as replacing my headlight switch since the Rheostat commonly goes bad. After all, it's 40 yrs old and original.

Markwz11

OK... to those who tried to help me out last night, I apologize. My symptoms were incorrect as, I was going by what my son had spelled out for me (he drove it last). So I went into the garage this morning (with new light switch in hand) and started testing things to see what "was and was not" working. He missed one important detail.
The Parking AND Tail Lights do not light up as was first mentioned. All other things are operable as previously mentioned, turn signals, brake lights, etc... but I have no Speedo/Fuel Gauge lights, Parking or Tail Lights.
FYI... I installed the new Light Switch and it did Nothing. Any thoughts based on the new info?

mrolds69

Fuse...typically the tail lights and dash lights are on the same fuse. This lets you know when there is a problem. Check your fuse box.

Markwz11

Thanks Mr. Olds 69... I'll pull and replace all under dash fuses because I've actually replaced a couple that "looked" OK, but weren't. Cigarrette lighter was blowing fuses when my son plugged in the GPS... I replaced the lighter and it seems to be OK. Will double-check tomorrow tho.

Markwz11

Just a quick question to make sure I'm not missing something... Are there any other fuses/fuse boxes, other than the one under the dash above the High Beam Foot Button?

mrolds69

No...maybe one other fuse under the hood, but it wouldn't affect the lights. If fuse is blown, there would be a reason for it. If you or somebody was replacing fuses, you could have the wrong amp fuse in the wrong place. The lighter is a seperate fuse than the lights, I think. But the lighter fuse shouldn't be blowing from the GPS either. IT would help if you have the Owner's manual, it will tell you what things are on which fuses and the size.

Markwz11

Thanks, I've been going by what's printed on the Fuse Panel itself... where it labels what it operates & the size fuse to install. The lighter was loose and I don't think it was getting a good connection, so I simply replaced it with a new one. I'll plug the GPS into it tomorrow and see what happens. Before, you could actually see the "spark" when the GPS plug got about half way out of the lighter socket, as you were removing it... and of course I had to replace the fuse. The new lighter seems nice and tight now. I'll know tomorrow. TTYL & thankx.

Tedd Thompson

On my 55 the lighter works fine but I can't use any new accessories in the lighter socket, seems it has a different type socket than all the new accessories and they won't make contact. I thought that was true for all the mid 50's Oldsmobiles (could be wrong on this ) have you had luck with the GPS in the past or is this a new occurrence....Tedd

Markwz11

Tedd... yes it works fine, until you unplug the accessory. When you pull out the plug, it somehow made a funky connection and caused a spark/fuse blow.
Replaced the lighter with a new one and it seems OK now.

To everyone else that was trying to help my "parking light/dash light" problem... put this one in your notebooks. Under the hood (mounted on the driver side ON the underside of the hood) there is a small dome light so you can see the engine compartment in the dark. Well, right where it mounts to the hood, there was a small bit of BARE WIRE touching the metal and causing a short in the system. I removed the light, stripped the wire so that NO bare wire showed, remounted it, put in a New 20A Fuse and PRESTO!!! Everything is back to working order!!
Thank you again to everyone who threw in their thoughts and put me on the right track of a short in the system wires.

starfire

I love it when a plan comes together. - Hannibal Smith