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Dome lights and trunk light stay on |
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70greenjavelin
AMC Fan Joined: Jan/23/2021 Location: 44011 Status: Offline Points: 16 |
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Posted: Apr/11/2021 at 4:33pm |
need help with a 70 Javelin please. Just got done installing an HEI and all went well, but a problem arose which I don’t think is related. When I close my doors on the car, the sail panel lights and trunk light will not turn off. I have checked some things at the fuse panel, but need to know if anyone has a quick solution. Getting under that dash is not fun! Thanks
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ramblinrev
Moderator Group Joined: Dec/28/2008 Location: Wisconsin Status: Offline Points: 11545 |
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Hmmm. Trunk light is on it's own mercury switch (if factory item), so it should go off. Dome lights and trunk light are always receiving power. I don't see how they'd be related to your HEI, but something is completing the circuit. Also, do the simple thing and make sure your headlight switch isn't rotated to turn the dome lights on! (That won't explain the trunk light, but would be any easy 'fix' for the dome lights!)
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74 Hornet Hatchback X twins (since 1977)
62 American Convertible (still worth the $50 I spent in 1973!) AMCRC #513, AMO #384 70 AMX 360 4-speed (since 1981) |
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troutwilly
AMC Addicted Joined: Sep/14/2007 Location: Carriere, MS Status: Offline Points: 994 |
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Agree with the trunk light having its own "gravity" switch (saying "mercury" these days is now environmentally incorrect, although I bet there's still mercury in there). But it might be that the car came from the factory without the trunk light and a previous owner added one and wired it to the dome light circuit. Check that headlight switch.
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Bill O.
70 AMX |
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tomj
AMC Addicted Joined: Jan/27/2010 Location: earth Status: Offline Points: 7555 |
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ALl of the Ramblers I've worked on, the door switch GROUNDS the wire attached to it -- one wire. If there's two wires, it probably switched 12V fed to the lamps.
If the switch fails, or the connection falls off and touches metal inside the pillar, or it's bent, etc this will happen. If the press-in type switch, pry it out and keep the switch body from touching the car metal. If the light goes out, that switch was "on".
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1960 Rambler Super two-door wagon, OHV auto
1961 Roadster American, 195.6 OHV, T5 http://www.ramblerLore.com |
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bigbad69
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jul/02/2007 Location: Ottawa, Ont. Status: Offline Points: 6686 |
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The interior lights and trunk light are not related other than the same power source. Neither are related to ignition, so you have more than one problem. As already mentioned, the trunk light is actuated by a mercury switch that is integral to the light assembly. It's pretty simple and unlikely to fail unless someone has been messing it. The light should go out just before the trunk lid is closed. If you pull the light assembly, leaving it electrically connected, you should be able to turn the light on and off by rotating it (simulating the movement of the lid) If that works, it's the position of the assembly as it's mounted to the lid. Is there any damage to the inner frame of the lid? The dome lights are controlled by the door switches and the headlight switch. After verifying the headlight switch is not turned fully counterclockwise, pull both door switches from the body. If the lights stay on, you have a short in the return path. The best place to start is where the harness passes through the body structure behind the kick plates. 50 years of chafing may have exposed the conductor to the body. If pulling the switches turns the lights out, the problem is in one of the switches. Plug them in one at a time to isolate the fault.
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69 Javelin SST BBO 390 T10
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Steve_P
AMC Addicted Charter Member Joined: Jun/28/2007 Status: Offline Points: 3808 |
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68-70 trunk lights did use mercury in the switch/bulb housing.
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Perrybones
AMC Nut Joined: Oct/05/2008 Location: Freehold NJ Status: Offline Points: 274 |
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There is a hokey relationship between the grounding circuit of the door switches the 1/4 lights and the trunk light. These old days wiring schemes are nuts how the grounds are thrown around. I just started having a problem with door switches too. Push in, console lights come on, out, dome lights come on! Anytime you add modern circuits to the "key on" tabs on the fuse block, weird things can happen. Mysteriously, my problem (70 javelin) started when I installed a new MSD box. Sometimes just jostling around near that fuse board is treacherous in itself, especially if you try to reach up where the headlight or wiper switch is! It pays to buy the illustrated color laminated wiring chart (11 x 17). I am not sure where I got it but I am sure someone here has one for sale. You might be able to find it online and print it out. Still crazy to follow, but it is fairly accurate. Dont feel bad, I am an industrial electrical controls engineer and this crap still drives me crazy. Thank goodness for the PLC! Need to start putting them in muscle cars!
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Perry 70 Javelin SST 390, 69 AMX 343, 73 AMX 360, 67 Rebel SST Conv and 92 Corvette Conv. (modern muscle to keep wife happy).
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george w
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jan/27/2013 Location: New Jersey Status: Offline Points: 2899 |
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The drivers door switch on most 70 models was different than the earlier models. The 70 switch was a different design with two grounding contacts. One to ground the dome light and one for the key in buzzer.
And double check that headlight switch to make sure the knob is not turned fully ccw past the detent like ramblinrev said. |
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Long time AMC fan. Ambassador 343, AMX 390, Hornet 360, Spirit 304 and Javelin 390. All but javelin bought new.
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70greenjavelin
AMC Fan Joined: Jan/23/2021 Location: 44011 Status: Offline Points: 16 |
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Update: First thank you for the replies, it narrowed my search. I replaced the driver door switch and it solved the problem. Then I noticed the battery kept draining. I did the open circuit test, which took forever, and found the glove box light switch was bad. Knowing how to use a multi-meter is a big help! Thanks again, this sight is a big help thanks to all who have the passion for keeping AMC going!
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tomj
AMC Addicted Joined: Jan/27/2010 Location: earth Status: Offline Points: 7555 |
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Congrats on keeping Gremlin only a car model.
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1960 Rambler Super two-door wagon, OHV auto
1961 Roadster American, 195.6 OHV, T5 http://www.ramblerLore.com |
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