I have been having problems with my lights in the dash not working right. So i finally broke down and bought a new printed curcuit. I thought i was having ground problems so i ran a wire from ground on printed curcuit to dash carrier. A week later the dash is on the bench and i ordered another printed curcuit. Do you guy's think i screwed up with that ground wire. The new curcuit board was trash. I also looked the harness over and all looks good.

Could it be the headlight switch or did you check or replace it...? Just a thought.

What do you mean by "not working right?" Typically it's the connections or a ground if it's not the switch.

Hey Tony. I tried a new switch with no help. (Actually tried 2)
Mark Not working= everything is fine till i turn on the lights. then both directionals come on in the dash. (not outside) But with a tester in the front sockets, it appears to be bleeding into the directional side of the socket as the test light has a faint glow. I tested the grounds on the front light sockets and they are good. If i remove the front marker lights, the Directional lights in the dash go out. i My high beam indicator comes on and my tach drops to 0. I have got many hours looking for this problem with 0 results. I installed a new printer curcuit board last week and put a ground from back of dash to carrier and i think that may have smoked the printed curcuit. It melted out a couple inches in the copper on the ground. My wiring harness looks like brand new. not 1 cut or broken cover anyplace. I was surprized to see how nice of shape it was in. My seatbelt or ignition buzzer pops on for a split second also when i hit a bump. 1 of the guys on here thought it was on the coloumn but the only thing i see is the ignition and neutral saftey switch, unless its part of one of them. I will have another printed curcuit here tuesday so im going to make another run at it. Someone else told me ? the dimmer switch. I guess its a cheap test. One thing i can say is i'm getting a butload of experience on dash removal and installation.

How long have you owned the car? Did everything work fine at one time? Have you changed/checked all of your bulbs and your flashers? Make sure they are the right bulbs and not just one that fits. Do your blinker lights work? I had a similar problem with an older chevy truck. changed them and and it worked.. not sure what that would have to do with your tach (aftermarket or factory?).

I have had the car for 11 years. Everthing was fine until last fall. the blinkers on the outside of the car work right. when i turn on the lights outside is still ok but inside flashes on wrong side. As i dial the reostat back to dim the dash lights the arrow in the dash begins to fade and then goes to the proper side when the dash lights are turned all the way off. I have changed the bulbs a couple times and checked the flasher units. They checked out OK. Im not sure if the tach is factory or not as i bought it on Ebay. Supposed to be original. This is really getting on my nerves. I have checked and tested and checked agin. I'm sure its just some stupid little problem that when i finally figure it out I'm going to be POed because i have spent more than 20 hours on this glich already.
But come hell or high water i will get to the bottom of it. Even if i have to take it to somebody else........
Thank you for your comments guys.
Buck

check for bad body grounds. did the last circuit work at all, before you smoked the copper?

Yes. I thought i had the problem solved as everything was working fine when i went for my test drive. But when i got home and shut it down, it sat for 3 days. when i tried to fire up my battery was completely dead. I really dont know if the wire i installed was what caused the meltdown but i never had this issue before i put the ground wire in. I hooked the ground wire on the back of the dash where the copper was srewed to the steel on back of clock and hooked the other end to a solid ground.

WOW, I feel for ya! As you know I have roughly the same issue but for now I have no time to research. I'll keep you posted on mine.

I'm going to put it back together this week -that ground wire i installed. Hopefully that was the culprit in my meltdown.

I'm leaning to the guy that said to check your body grounds. Maybe the only ground you ended up with was the one you added, and everything tried to ground through it. Hate to fry more circuit boards...

zacly. Even a bad block ground. Sounds like the juice is looking for a place to go and it was given a new place to travel. Don't put in the new stuff till you check clean and even add some new grounds. Mark

I'm going to start the install tomorrow eve. I have 2 test lights set up hooked to the battery. 1 on positve and 1 on negitive. I'm going to be doing some heavy research on both grounds and positive feeds. I did notice already that with the parking lights turned on it seems to be backfeeding into the directionals somewhere as my test light is bright on the parking light side and i have a very dim light on the directional side in the front light sockets. The front sockets have 2 hot wires, one for parking lights, 1 for directionals + a ground wire in the socket witch when i tested the grounds they checked out OK. Believe me at 90.00 a pop the 2nd ciurcut board is the last one i want to buy. You guys have been very helpful so far. Sooner or later we will get to the bottom of this. I just hope it's done before the summer is over.
Thanks for your input guys.

I got the dash all assembled tonight and put the power to it for a second. My hi beam indicator is still on and i have no turn signals as of now. I unhooked the battery and im going to pick up some ground straps tomorrow. I think i will run grounds from the core support to the frame, From motor to the frame, Motor to car body and car body to the frame. I will post back with results. And i think i will throw in a new dimmer switch while i'm at it.

Could you have a bulb like a 1157 <has the 2 tips on the bottom> put in cocked a little and getting back-feed..? Just a thought.

My 70 has a factory direct from the batt neg post to the RF fender. has a starlock between the terminal and the fender. This wire comes off the neg batt post.

Hey tony. I took both front bulbs out when i tested it. the backfeed was coming throught the directional side. I ordered 4 ground straps & new dimmer switch today, I'm going to put 2 staps from motor to body, 1 from core support to frame, and last one from car body to frame.

Tom
i have the same setup on the negative to the fender. It also has the star washer. I already checked & cleaned this connection.

I got everything back together tonight Except the ground straps.( the ones they sent were to short) So far everything is working right. I will pick up some longer ground straps tomorrow and get them in before the long weekend.

sounds good. any idea what actually fixed it? My right turn indicator comes on dim when I turn on the headlights.

sounds good. any idea what actually fixed it? My right turn indicator comes on dim when I turn on the headlights.

Check your right side marker lamps.

Tom, and (1971SS454 Elco) Marc........The only thing im am sure of. When i tested the small srew in style lights for the back of the gauge cluster, One of them was dead. Im wondering if when it died it broke a curcuit in the dash and sent power through a different way on the curcuit board. That is really the only thing i found wrong when i pulled the dash out. I did replace the printed curcuit on back of the cluster but i dont think anything was wrong with the old one. But i figured as long as i was that deep into it, it was worth doing. I still haven't put the ground straps on the motor and frame yet, But everything is working perfectly. Thanks for all the tips guys.
Hopefully this will be the end of this issue...
Thanks agin guys

Week number 2. Everything is still working GREAT. I think it's finally done with the exception of music. I really want that radio from vintage radios but its going to take some time to convince myself to pay $595.00 for a radio. But im sure sooner or later it will be in the dash. Thanks agin to all the guys that offered up sugestions. I got alot of good advice.