No headlight issue

[Magnes]

I've been working on this 72 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus 80K mile survivor car. It was in a dry storage building since '97. Just got it out a couple weeks ago and have been getting it back into shape. Everything is there. I have it running now but there is a few electrical gremlins and I am looking for possible fixes.

Here's my problem:

Headlights do not work. High or low beam.
Gauge lights do not work. (Rallye gauges)
Radio does not work.
Horn doesn't work (but I think that's a bad relay... not 100% positive but I can hear the relay click when I hit the horn buttons) and the key buzzer isn't working on that relay.

Tail lights do work.
Brake lights work.
Parking lights work.
Blinkers were working somewhat, they'd blink weakly... Kinda weird but you'd see the blinkers on the opposite side trying to blink at the same time. So if I hit the blinkers for a left turn, they'd blink (but not brightly) and if you looked closely you could see the right side blinkers either dimming down or trying to blink as well. - But now, no blinkers at all. No flashers either.

The headlight switch feels kind of worn when you turn it side to side for, what would be, dimmer adjustment.

I've checked and cleaned wiring. Checked fuses. Checked hi beam switch (pulled it, cleaned it, wasn't dirty).

The only thing weird thing that I am seeing is the only wiring hack on the whole car. Apparently been done by a previous owner... They have a wire running from the brake pedal switch under the dash to the trunk area and it's tapped into the wiring back there. But it's just tapped into that wiring and nothing is disconnected back there. The brake lights work, so it may not be related to the issues I am having, I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Maybe I'm missing something and just wanted to run it by you guys. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to try and help.

 

[PlumcrazyRR]

One of the first things that I do at work when I am troubleshooting electronics on equipment or if I am at home troubleshooting them on my cars is print out a copy of the schematics or wiring diagram. I will find what is working right, highlight it on the schematics in one color and then find what is not working right and hightlight that in another color. This gives you a good starting point of where to start looking, if you trace back the circuits and see the big picture of what is and what isn't working. Sometimes you can get lucky and trace it back to one point from looking at the schematics. Most of the time though, you have to break out the meter and start eliminating things one at a time, highlighting them on the schematics as you verify they are good. This can be done in various ways, depending on what you are checking; check for continuity, resistance, etc... As you start to learn the equipment or vehicle better, sometimes you just know what the problem is. But if you are having multiple problems, this is usually the best method for me to go. Sorry, this probably doesn't answer your question, but hopefully it gives you one more tool for finding answers. And here is a link to your schematics.

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=28

If no one else answers by the time I get back to the house later, I will try to take a quick look at the diagram and see if I see anything obvious standing out at me from what you described. On my way out the door in just a bit though.

 

[Xp29h]

I know I had some of same issues. Not all though, the dim lights, working a little etc, I checked all the ground connections and cleaned up a few and ran ground straps from engine to chassis and all fixed! Might help. After getting schematic and go over it as plumcrazy suggested, find all those grounds and clean up. After sitting they may be a little dirty.. Good luck!

 

[Magnes]

Alright, I've been trying to trace down these issues... Checking all grounds. Checking all electrical connections.

Right before I had to quit tonight, I found my way to the bulkhead connector and saw a strange orange wire with aftermarket connectors that attached to a black wire that looks to run to the alternator(?). It was dark and I didn't have time to trace that wire by the diagram so as yet, I don't know what it's running to. Is this the notorious ammeter connection? I just unclipped the bulkhead connectors and then unbolted the bulkhead. Here is what I have found:

I am unsure as to what is the proper way to move forward with this...

This may sound dumb but other than that one nasty looking wire, the broken clip on the wiring harness where it clips to the bulkhead, and the funky brake light set up they have going on here - all the wiring on the car is still very nice. Not toasted or discolored. I hate to think I'd have to buy new harnesses or what have you because of this.

I have a parts car I can get a good unbroken bulkhead connector from but the rest of that harness is trash so I couldn't just swap em out but I could solder in that good bulkhead connector if you think it wouldn't add too much resistance.

As for the bulkhead itself, I think the parts car has a good one of those as well.

I would like to repair whatever caused this to happen as well. I definitely want to avoid this happening again.

 

[Magnes]

Ok yeah... Pin 18. That is definitely the ammeter lead. YIKES!

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

The terminals used at the bulkhead connector for the charging circuit have been the main source of problems with this electrical system design. Nothing about the design of these cars was ever intended to last this long. The individual terminals were not weatherproofed as is the standard now. The charging circuit contains the highest current load of all the bulkhead connector terminals, corrosion formed, resistance builds, heat damage results which in turn equates to more resistance and more heat damage. The simplest way the repair is to by-pass the bulkhead connector charging circuit terminals, run replacement wires, 10ga or larger, directly from the alternator to the ammeter and from the ammeter to the fusible link at the starter relay. Some folks drill out the terminal cavities in the bulkhead connector to run wire straight through. Or you can drill a separate hole in the firewall for a grommet as the factory did on their high amp factory alternators.
It also appears that someone installed a circuit breaker to by-pass the heat damaged “Heater-A/C” fuse holder. The terminals in the bulkhead connectors can be easily removed to replace the broken engine harness bulkhead connector if you have donor parts, not necessary to splice in a complete connecter. While the terminals are removed, clean them up and apply some dielectric grease.