Dimmer Switch Mystery

[JGrefenstette]

alright yall i got the switch out, but I found something about it that i just cant figure out. ive got posted here some pictures showing what ive found.

ive notice that if you turn the knob to the left (counter-clockwise) it clicks once, then twice. there is a metal "curved surface" on the rotor that controls the dimmer, that when you turn the knob CCW, makes contact witha metal conector, which leads to the un-used blade terminal on the back of the dimmer switch??? as youll also notice in the photos, when the rotor is all the was clicked CCW, there is a small connecton that is also made? (this probly makes no sense at all, but the photos should help) i didnt know what that was for. i am now begining to thing that what ive come across it the switch for dome lights. because my overhead light wont come on unless the door is open. whats the situation with yalls trucks??? on the back of the dimmer there are two blade temrminals. on that had a harness with 2 black wires coming from it, the other has nothing on it. as youll see in the photos.



View attachment 67931

In the red is the "curved surface" on the side of the rotor. in the yellow is the connection surface under the rotor.

View attachment 67932

In the red is the connection point (flexible blade) behind the rotor.

View attachment 67933

In the red is the "flexible blade" behind the rotor, and in the yellow is the tab attached to the back of the rotor, that makes a connection with the "flexible blade".

View attachment 67934

In the red is the "curved surface" on the side of the rotor, and in the yellow is the connector that lays under the rotor. they are connected in this photo.

View attachment 67936

In the yellow is the terminal that has a harness with 2 black wires attached to it. In the red is the un-used terminal that is linked to the connector that lays under the rotor. and in the green is the button that releases the knob/stem.

 

[JGrefenstette]

oh and did i mention, these trucks are electrical NIGHTMARES!!!! I agree with you matt, ***profanities*** ***profanities*** haha, i feel your pain getting the dimmer out and the steering column and the dash, and everything inbetween.

 

[PToombs]

Ahhh, Jimmy jimmy jimmy jimmy! :-laf The first click is the dome light, the 2nd is the dome and cargo light.

I found this out on my 95. I turned the knob and a minute later I realized it clicked twice! So I played with it until I figgered it out.

As for why the dome doesn't work with the switch, Usually it's the door switch that's bad. Check the ground from the switch, ground completes the circuit for the dome light.

 

[PToombs]

Working in that Cathouse Red cab would drive me nuts!

 

[JGrefenstette]

AHHHH!!!!!! bless you PETER!!! thank you... some conformation!

 

[JGrefenstette]

the terminal that goes to the lights then has no wire or harness conected. never did. from what i can tell. it must have come off before i got the truck. i guess i need to search under the dash for it. man that will be nice. i always thought that it was a terrible design to have to way to use the overhead light! :-laf

ya no i actually like the red

 

[PToombs]

some conformation!

Actually, I'm a non-conformist! :-laf





Gently try to ground any loose wires. Light should come on. Wait! I'll check the FSM.

 

[PToombs]

Dome lite wire, yellow, should go to a splice, then to the switch. Terminal "D" on switch. The splice is where the door switches and the time delay relay are tied in.



In the 2nd pic, the right ,top terminal. I can see the "D"

 

[PToombs]

If ya wanna get really technical, I can tell you where the "M2" splice is. But you ain't gonna like it!

 

[JGrefenstette]

no please tell me. i might already have it exposed, so have at it. im all ears.



but can you answer me this: if the dome light comes from terminal "D", then why does it appear that the lights come off that flat blade in the back???

 

[PToombs]

The splice is up in the harness in the top of the dash, about above the left edge of the radio. Look in the FSM, page 8w-32. Splice M2, at the top of the page. This view is from the outside, looking in.



I don't know about the 2nd question. The courtesy lights are ground switched, and the rest are power switched. So the switch does 2 things, turns on the head lites and parking/taillites, and grounds the courtesy lites.

Tomorrow is another day, I'm gone!

 

[tugboatphil]

There is a switch upgrade kit for 94 models that is the exact same switch, only supposedly more durable. The kit was cheaper than just a switch (go figure) so I got it. It also included wire extenders which make it only slightly easier to work on the switch.

Somewhere in TDR is a post that explains the slight wire color code difference between 1st and 2nd Gen switches. There's only a couple, and they are very similar.

This kit also had a relay of sorts that I couldn't figure out.

 

[JGrefenstette]

well everythings back together, and i never could find the wire for the dome light and cargo light. oh well, how can i miss what i never had right?? no loss on my part, but it would have been nice to find it and get them accesable from the switch, but eh, no biggy.

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Thats odd, I have a push button toggle for my cargo light right next to my o/d off button on the right side of the steering wheel. I'm guessing thats an automatic specific setup, because they already have the panel there for the o/d off button? My dimmer switch only has one click, and thats the overhead.



By the way, my Ramcharger is "cat house red" interior and I kinda like it. It looks a lot brighter red in the pictures with the flash on and all. I tinted the rear windows to limo black (5% light) and changed out both dome lights with those red light bulbs. Fold up the rear seat and its a great place to entertain a lady.

 

[JGrefenstette]

yea matt i have the cargo light button too. but, i think mine may only need to click once aswell, the sencond may be and over extention. yea i like the red too. i think it was a little much tho with the seats red too, thats why i love the way the camo covers toned it down a bit. those red seays can be an eye sore, they look like the seats outa those 1980 chevy conversion vans.



"entertain a lady"... you sly dog you. hhaha, common now matt, wheres the gentlman in that??

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Hey, I may talk a lot, but I never once gave any indication that I'm a "gentleman. "

 

[JGrefenstette]

hhahha, yea i know, just dont get me started on yall yankees and your incredible gentlemanlyness (yea i think i just made that word up, incase you were wondering)

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Eh, you're a southerner and all, I know, but you'd be surprised if you came up here. If there was one state up here that belonged in the south, its Wisconsin. Once you get outside of Milwaukee or Madison, we're just a bunch of rednecks with trucks, farms, and beer.



We're just missing the twang. Instead we say "Ya der hey. " "Up der in da nort doncha know. "

 

[JGrefenstette]

hhhahaha oh man i had a buddy from michigan. mercy if i didnt have a hell of a time laughin at him, i couldnt understand half what he said. id say "wheres boutchu from?" he'd say, "up der in UP ehh... " never got what he was talkin bout with the whole "UP" thing, but oh well. ill tell ya one thing, that ole boy loved him some Kodiak dip. he always said "kooodiaak is de whip of awl dips. . !" haha



shoot i was just watchin "Gettysburg" for a history class, i started bustin up laughin when ona them yanks from up ther in Maine said "I simply can not understand anyone south of the MasonDixon! Darkies or Rebs!" hhahah, long live the Confederacy

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Nah, we really don't talk like that... cept for up in the U. P.



U. P. is the Upper Penisula. The top half of Michigan. Between most of the top part of Wisconsin and the UP is pretty much all the same kinda territory. Thats where you get the "doncha know" accents. Real red-green show kinda people. My place up north is 20 minutes south of the border to the UP. More bars in town than houses... .