Light Switch....77 Spider

Gotta love that wiring . . .
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John Donohue

Light Switch....77 Spider

Post by John Donohue »

Last weekend, I replaced all the fuses in my 77 Spider, and this weekend my battery was stone cold dead. As I charged it up, I noticed that the small rectangular light on the dash below the radio was on. I figured that I must have missed that this was on, so it killed the battery. However, when I tried to turn it off, it stays on no matter which way the toggle switch is pushed. I got it to go off by finding a spot "in between", but dont trust this. I suppose it is time to find a new light switch - ebay?
Danno

Post by Danno »

I don't know cause my light never worked, but I thought that was a "courtesy light" that came on when the doors were open. did you try shutting the doors? Someone speak up here!
Hjulen

Post by Hjulen »

I think you are right, when the doors are open the light should come on. Have never looked at my wiring diagrams to confirm this though.

The cars also had a door buzzer to tell you the door was open too...either mine all broke or were disabled in the past.
Bill Pottle

Post by Bill Pottle »

John,

Doesn't this have a switch on it? I think mine does. Electrical connections get caroded and often you take it apart swab a little dielectric grease on the connections and you should be good to go. Make sure you check the door switches too... I wriggle and check fuses and flick all buttons repeatedly each spring. Weird but never fails to do the trick. Don't forget the trunk light too.

My dads Volvo had a glove box light stick on when closed and pull the battery dead. Finally they put it on a tester which led them to go over the everything.. low an behold the damn glovebox light was stuck on!

Later,
Bill
Danno

Post by Danno »

Hjulen wrote:The cars also had a door buzzer to tell you the door was open too...either mine all broke or were disabled in the past.
but only when the key was in the ignition, right? that light would be on with an open door key or no key, right?
pertyfly

Post by pertyfly »

That's right. One position is on, and the other position is door activated. This always annoys me, as I believe there should also be an off. :)
mdrburchette
Posts: 5754
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:49 am
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 Sport
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Post by mdrburchette »

It's a simple switch. If you take it out, you can see if moving the switch back and forth will break contact. I've repaired one before, but I've also had to replace one. The newer ones are slightly larger, so I had to cut the aluminum plate to make it fit.
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