Dimmer switch

[Plymouthfan]

I'm guessing this is an ebay only item? Anyone making them?

I think mines on it's way out... last night my dash lights wouldn't work unless the dome light was on... then about after 10 minutes, they just popped on, lol :loco:

 

[69hemibeep]

If your talking about the thumb wheel dimmer on the dash those can be cleaned. If your chrome is also bad get a new one, and e-bay is the only place I've seen them. If you want to clean it I can dig up the article on what to use ,it was pretty easy.

 

[Plymouthfan]

Yes, it's the thumb wheel. It's just a ceramic rheostat back there, correct? I'd rather try cleaning it first, the original chrome is very good!!!!

 

[SomeCarGuy]

Make a jumper from the two wire connection to the tan wire.

That will give you dash lights at full power until you can take it out and clean it.

Dome light won't work then though.

 

[moparstuart]

Yes, it's the thumb wheel. It's just a ceramic rheostat back there, correct? I'd rather try cleaning it first, the original chrome is very good!!!!

I have had really good luck just thumbing it on and off alot , this knocks the crud and corrosion off it to make it work better . You must do it like 20 times to get it working welll again .

 

[69hemibeep]

You can try as said above, if it still acts up give me a good discription of what it will and wont do. The article is kind of long but it shows how to correct just about everything. I found it in Mopar Action Oct 2007 under the title "Blackout"

 

[Big John]

Yes, it's the thumb wheel. It's just a ceramic rheostat back there, correct? I'd rather try cleaning it first, the original chrome is very good!!!!

Yep, simple rheostat. A little cleaning goes a long way.

 

[thirdlink]

I lost my running lights and dash lights , i checked fuses ,running lights fuse was blowed ,replaced that ,still no dash lights ,pulled dimmer switch reistat was smoked ,found another it fried it as i pluged it in ,unpluged reistat ,i still have dome lights map light with it unpluged ,looked at book ,it feeds off light switch ,i have power to dash dimmer sw ,tan wire goes to fuse block and on to instru panel lights etc ,other plug end goes to door switches for dome light and into a bulkhead plug end ,my dome lights still work with reistat unplugged ,i,m thinking i got a dead short somewhere ,any ides

 

[Roadcuda]

No ideas thirdlink, but welcome to the birds nest. Why don't you tell us something about youself, and you car looks great.

 

[Jim S.]

I lost my running lights and dash lights , i checked fuses ,running lights fuse was blowed ,replaced that ,still no dash lights ,pulled dimmer switch reistat was smoked ,found another it fried it as i pluged it in ,unpluged reistat ,i still have dome lights map light with it unpluged ,looked at book ,it feeds off light switch ,i have power to dash dimmer sw ,tan wire goes to fuse block and on to instru panel lights etc ,other plug end goes to door switches for dome light and into a bulkhead plug end ,my dome lights still work with reistat unplugged ,i,m thinking i got a dead short somewhere ,any ides

I always suspect the bulkhead first. What you could try to aid you in finding the short is, solder two wires to a 1156 light bulb. Connect one wire to the 12 volt plug (power) going to the dimmer switch and the other to the dimmer plug that goes out to the bulkhead. It should not light up. If it does, yes you have a short. It is also possible the tan wire is shorted to ground but, I doubt it because the fuse would blow.

 

[thirdlink]

I will try a light bulb with wires tommorow ,seems like i try to get one bug fixed and 2 more pop up ,getting pretty particular in my older age ,i got a 70 RR i,m getting a itch to start restoring ,but can,t seem to get done with this car ,had a guy ask me if the radio was working over on moparts ,don,t think its tied into this circuit? i know the key delay light works ,but no buzzer ,

 

[Big John]

I will try a light bulb with wires tommorow ,seems like i try to get one bug fixed and 2 more pop up ,getting pretty particular in my older age ,i got a 70 RR i,m getting a itch to start restoring ,but can,t seem to get done with this car ,had a guy ask me if the radio was working over on moparts ,don,t think its tied into this circuit? i know the key delay light works ,but no buzzer ,

Welcome to the forum! :cheers:

No buzzer in 69 Runners. That was back when people didn't need to be reminded to take the keys out.

Sounds like a short somewhere in the dash. Look around for pinched or bare wires especially around where an accessory tape deck might have been mounted. It was pretty common to mount a cheap 8-track or gauges under the dash and cut into the wiring for power or lighting. Lots of times the 8-track came out and the wires just got tucked up under the dash just waiting to come back to haunt at a later date.

 

[69hemibeep]

Welcome to the site :cheers:

 

[ACME A12]

Welcome aboard! Nice looking bird! :cheers:

:jester:

 

[V269]

Welcome aboard! Nice looking bird! :cheers:

:jester:

X2 :cheers:

 

[droptop]

I lost my running lights and dash lights , i checked fuses ,running lights fuse was blowed ,replaced that ,still no dash lights ,pulled dimmer switch reistat was smoked ,found another it fried it as i pluged it in ,unpluged reistat ,i still have dome lights map light with it unpluged ,looked at book ,it feeds off light switch ,i have power to dash dimmer sw ,tan wire goes to fuse block and on to instru panel lights etc ,other plug end goes to door switches for dome light and into a bulkhead plug end ,my dome lights still work with reistat unplugged ,i,m thinking i got a dead short somewhere ,any ides

Welcome thirdlink..... That is a noce looking car. Is it green or black? Either way, very nice. The bulk head has always been the culpret for a lot of my electical problems on these b bodies. A good cleaning and some die electric grease has helped me on a lot of these problems.

 

[thirdlink]

Thanks guys ,its a Dark Green car ,i will try to post some better pictures ,car has original radio Am and wires have not been tampered with ,this is what car looked like a year ago

 

[Basketcase]

welcome to the site! hmmm......covered that nasty Blue with Green? Yo Da Man!! :cheers: Sweet look'n Bird

 

[thirdlink]

Well figured it out ,wire was pulled out of cigar lighter light and laying on top of radio grounding out ,it had a 30 amp in the fuse box witch just smoked the dimmer switch reistat ,i had checked fuses and never paid any attention to what was in there ,amazing how something can seem so complicated but be so simple ,i have another problem i,m trying to figure ,maybe you guys can help with ,i have 2 vacum hoses coming out of firewall ,one is short ,it goes to motor for vacum ,the other is long ,it will reach battery ,this car is A/C ,i can,t remember pulling a vacum pod off this ,shouldn,t it have a pod ,it seems you would loose your vacum when accelerated hard and your vacum doors etc on your A/C heater box would loose it vacum and open or does it have some kind of check? What you guys doing for a Radio ,AM radio doesn,t work ,want to update and put a decent radio in it , i seen a after market radio designed for a 68-69 b body through one of the mopar vendors ,can,t remember witch one now ,any ideas ,Thanks for all the input ,i like this sight

 

[Big John]

I'm going to do a Stereo conversion to mine. I talked to one of the dealers at Carlisle and its a really great setup. Converts your AM radio to a 180 watt Am-Fm Stereo.

http://www.radiosforoldcars.com/stereoF.htm

I talked to this dealer. http://www.retroradio.biz/