regggggggg Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 (edited) While I was driving home earlier tonight, all my dash lights went out including my rear tail lights and side marker lights. I checked ALL the fuses. Nothing is blown. Rheostat was already bypassed so it can't me the source of the problem. Took a volt meter and ran it IN CIRCUIT between the battery and negative ground wire to check for AMP draw. Readings say its pulling 0.02 AMPS. I'll pull OUT the dash fuse and the reading drops to ZERO. The light switch normally used to turn ON/OFF the dash lights is not working because whether in the OFF or ON position it still draws 0.02 AMPS. Could the switch itself be the problem? OR... Could there just be a short before the switch? And if so, is there a certain way to find the source of the short? Edited September 29, 2011 by regggggggg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue72 Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Could be your switch. I had the same thing happen to me and my problem was that a little plastic nub in the light switch had worn so much that it caused the switch mechanism to short, melting the solder that held a couple of wires to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neotech84 Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Bad grounds?? Just thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regggggggg Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 Could be your switch. I had the same thing happen to me and my problem was that a little plastic nub in the light switch had worn so much that it caused the switch mechanism to short, melting the solder that held a couple of wires to it. Would I be able to take the switch apart and fix it? or would I have to buy a new one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Headlight switches on Z cars are a known problem. You can take it appart and sand the contacts. If things are melted, you need a new switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue72 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I actually took mine apart and replaced the broken/worn plastic nubby with one from a later Z switch I bought at a Pick-N-Pull type place. I then soldered the wires back on and its going strong to this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZT-R Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Mine works but i noticed the other day i hit the housing that holds the contacts (i have the cover off) with my hand and lost all the lights, wiggled it around and they came back on. so i will have to take it apart and clean it up, check there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boardkid280z Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I have had this problem and whenever I check the fuses they all look okay, but when I pull out the one for the lights, it falls apart, like it melted inside the end cap and lost connection, but still looks fine in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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