Dashboard light gremlins

[wu6fiend]

Having a weird problem with my 1986 GN...

When you put the parking lights on, the high beam indicator light comes on, as does the right turn signal light (stays on solid, doesn't blink, and makes no noise).

When you put the headlights on, the right turn signal light comes on, again no noise, and stays on solid.

With the high beam activated via the stalk, the lights themselves are not on. With the high beams switched off (again, via the stalk), the highbeams are actually on.

(so its reversed, the high beam indicator is on, but the lights themselves are not)

I searched the forums for previous posts, and one owner complained about a similar problem with his right turn signal; the advice was that it was a bulb problem. That is not the case for me (unfortunately), I've checked.

Is it possibly a ground issue? Any suggestions would be appreciated. All has been returned to factory specs wiring-wise under the dash.

 

[GN HEAD]

I had a similar issue with my GN, it turned out to be a bad ground on the parking lights in the front bumper. See if the turn signals work the same with the head lights on and with them off, seems like mine would work OK if the headlights were off, but once I put the park lights on, I would have one that worked correctly and one that didn't. My ground problem was right on the back of the plug. The headlight high/low issue sounds more like the high/low beam switch, not sure there...it sounds like you could have more than one problem. The turn signal cam could be involved in this too, do the switches feel good, the turn and high/low.

 

[quick85]

something like that happened to me years ago......it was a ground wire from the head light harness very near the p/s head lights.

 

[Blown&Injected]

something like that happened to me years ago......it was a ground wire from the head light harness very near the p/s head lights.

same here - I also had a bad bulb socket on the left side and that was confusing since I used a new bulb so that side has to be OK...not when the socket is failing...

 

[wu6fiend]

Thanks guys. We will check the ground issue tomorrow. The strange thing is, this all started happening when I removed an old (and unknown to me when I bought the car nearly 2 years ago) alarm system. The wiring harness was a mess, and a friend returned it to stock. The only wire we actually needed to reconnect was involving the starter. This problem with the dash lights and the headlights started at the same time. I think it is somehow connected to the alarm installation, but nothing seems to be loose, or mis-connected wiring wise. The strangest thing is, how the high beams are reversed (when the blue indicator is on, the low beams are on. When the blue indicator is off, the high beams are actually on.)

 

[GN HEAD]

I suppose that could have something to do with your problem, I think a lot of alarms will flash the lights when it's going off. Don't know, it's going to take some checking.

 

[wu6fiend]

Ok, we've checked all the light bulbs, and grounds in the engine bay, all appear factory, and in good shape. So the problem must be under the dash. And it would appear it is a ground issue.

How are the headlights and parking lamps grounded, under the dash? We can't find any obvious loose wires. What color should the ground be (we suspect it should be black). Can anyone tell us exactly where the ground wire is located? Any photos would be hugely appreciated.

(all the problems started after an old aftermarket security system was removed from the car).