hello sl6 sages- great idea to have a new forum category on electrical. find that this is one area where there is not a big supply of general tech expertise as in other areas. probably because problems here are infrequent. brought this up generally before, but just got into taking it apart. the car is an 80 volare with a basic 6, stick, no ac or power anything. it is in very good physical condition and runs well. problem is the headlights only go on when the ignition is on. headlights should be able to switch on whether the ignition is on or off.also the horn will only work when the ignition is on. car only has 69k. took dash face off and radio out to inspect. all looks normal. fuses ok. wires look normal and headlight switch is ok ,hookups look correct and original. earlier owner had put a two way radio in under the dash but that is long gone and all the other electricals work normally. a local thought it could be a grounding problem, but i dont think thats it because the ignition switch and the headlight switch are on separate circuits. can any sage who may have experienced this anomaly tip me off to a short cut or walk me through this. thanks tons bob fisher

Does the headlight plug look melted? It sounds like the constant hot feed to the headlight switch is being interrupted between the fusebox and the headlight switch. My first guess would be that the previous own used that feed to power the radio, but that the wiring was never put right again.

I don't have a wiring diagram handy, but i suspect that the (+) feed to the headlight switch should be a big fat pink, red, yellow, or black wire.

Your fuse block is ganged into switched, and non-switch 12+v. If you take the block out, (after unhooking the battery!) turn it over and see if the feed to the headlight switch is on the proper tab. There will be two or three spade terminal tabs for each group, and you will see clearly that each gang of spade terminals is actually one large metal piece.

Like Reed, I don;t have your wiring diagram in hand, but usually the pink wires are hot always, and power the cigarette lighter among other things. Yellow wires are often hot always, and power the dome and courtesy lights. Try to trace the feed to the headlight switch and see if it is ganged with the pink and yellow wires. If the feed is hooked up correctly at the fuse box, then take a look at the connector. What has me mystified is why it comes on with the ignition switch, not why it won't come on without it. If the switch works correctly when the ignition switch is on, then the feed must be the only thing that is wrong. It sounds like it is getting the wrong source of power to me. Keep us informed.

Sam

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Sounds like someone switched the wires in the fuse block, although unlikely. As you stated, those items should always be hot. The circuits never go through the ignition switch, so that doesn't make any sense.

I think some later cars run everything through relays that are activated by the ignition switch. Maybe someone modified it?

Worst case, you will have to follow the wires back from the light switch to see where they go.

PS. No, I wasn't kidding about the penny. Thanks for the donation.

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Chuck Rivers, Webmaster

Can't think of any A-bodies that work this way.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

No, not A-Bodies. I was just thinking that someone had an idea to upgrade to that type of system. I can't imagine why the lights work with the key on but not off without having been altered.

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Chuck Rivers, Webmaster

hello sl6 dan, reed and chuck- thanks for your interest. going to get back into this on the weekend. this is an f body, not a body, an 80 volare. the two way radio installed years ago by prior owner is gone. took the cover plastic off the dash and removed the chrysler factory am radio since it stopped working and all the connections on it seem to be standard and not interfered with. hot wire to the am radio checked ok with tester, comes on with ignition on which is correct. going to take out the headlight switch next and see where the wires go. will next take off the fuse block and look for abnormalites. seems the two way radio had two hots(both with aftermarket in line fuses going into it(guessing one is for the 2way radio and the other for the hand held mike). both have male connectors and the blades are pushed into the fuse block. im guessing the hot into the headlight switch is not fused and may have been tapped. will have to check and let you know. what do you think of my thinking so far? feel free to give any fat advice. sounds simple but it isnt. also will check if the headlight sockets are melted- guess that would mean low voltage to the headlights right reed? regards bob fisher

Do you have a factory service manual?

Sam

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hello sam- yes i do have a factory service manual which has the schematic diagrams which i will get into if necessary. those diagrams are always a little tricky to follow. trying to spot obvious miswirings first. what do you think ? bob fisher

I think I might tend to focus on the fuse block first. See if the taps off the fuse block were re-arranged to make way for the two way radio, thus getting the lights hooked up to a switched source instead of a Batt source. The book will help you see what color wire is supposed to be hooked up where on the back side of the fuse block. It is a bit confusing, but becomes more clear with a bit of study.

Sam

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