crazy wiring problem

[vwaxdaus]

My lincoln mark vii is acting the fool. This light problem has me all confused. When i turn on, the left blinker the center rear brake light blinks; and when i hit the breaks they both ( the left blinker and the rear center brake light) go solid, no blinking. Then when i turn the headlights on, if they come on, the rpm gage drops to zerow and the gas gage goes to full. If the lights don't come on the gages are good but i have to smack the dash board to get the interior lights to come on, then the gages go bad again. I know this sounds like a short and my interior light dimmer switch is busted which is attached to the headlamp switch so im gonna buy the switch tomorrow. Does anyone have any idea what i can do? This driving me crazy and i much rather drive my lincoln with the dash board all together again.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

It sounds like one of two things. It could be a bad multi-function switch. This is the "headlight" switch assembly. It could also be a bad ground. There is an orange wire in the driver kick-panel that often does not ground properly. I would check these two things and see what happens.

 

[Pepsi2185]

Ill second josh. After doing those, come back here and let us know what happens.

 

[vwaxdaus]

i went today and got the "headlight" switch from a junk yard for 25 bucks alond with some exterior trim they thru in. i made a new ground for the orange wire, pin 15 on the back of the connector. i haven't got a chance to throw power on the car yet i had to go to work and fix airplanes but i'll check when i get home tonight. i dont think it fixed the blinker problem however cause i threw the hazards on and hit the brakes and and the brake lights still blinked. This car is driving me crazy cause i can't get the rest of the dash off yet. I got it for free, all i had to do was fix the infamous blown air bag suspension besides all the litte querks wasn't a bad car. Recently, after about 2 1/2 years bought a new car was able to tear into this beast to fixer up. im lookin foward to havin a good runnin sleeper, hot rod lincoln i just hope i can make it through the powersteering, brakes, blinker, headlight, radio, and slow coolant and oil leaks. thanks for your help guys. ill let you know what happens.

 

[vwaxdaus]

by the way, the guy at the junk yard said he'd gimmie a used tranny for $250. is that worth all the trouble for a used one of should i just leave my @ssblowing tranny the way it is?

 

[vwaxdaus]

i changed the ground wire and the headlight switch and the short in the dashboard went away.. thanks for the help guys, now i have to find the other half to the problem which is the brake light and left turn signal problem. time to break out the multi-meter. thanks again for your help guys

 

[Pepsi2185]

The brake light issue, is going to be a bit hard to track down. Depending on what year it was made, some people added on the rear brake light. Since there is no assinged brake light the person may have just tapped the a blinker. If worse comes to worse you may just have to run the high mount to the brake switch or diode isolate. You are going to have to pull some trunk panels down to trace that one down.

 

[96 mark viii]

Check the bulbs first. Sometimes backyard mechanics put single filament bulbs in duai filament sockets (or vise-versa). That always screws things up!!!