electrical snafu

[DThibault]

I swapped the cab on my 93 this weekend and with great anticipation turned the key yesterday. The high beam indicator flashed on the dash, the fourways flashed and nothing. I turned on the lights to see if juice was there and the grid heater cycled. I had connected all the connectors under the dash to what seems like an obvious situation and I rechecked the big square main connector for bent pins etc. Two things came to me in the night. I put dielectric grease on all connections which to me seems like a good thing. I painted the cab and did not scrape the paint under the ground connections, Could a bad grond make things go this weird? Any experience in this nightmare would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[TWorline]

I am not sure about this situation but, on a semi trailer a bad ground causes your lights to do all kinds of things they are not supposed to do. That would be a good place to start at, also double check your bulkhead connector. Sometimes a litte dielectric grease is better than alot, you don't want it to become a jumper wire.

 

[JLEONARD]

Most of the electrical problems on vehicles I have come across have been caused by bad grounds. (boats too)

Esp here in the rust belt. I'd re-do the grounds then see if you still have a problem.

 

[tugboatphil]

Having just solved several problems by cleaning up old grounding connections, I also recommend that. Funny how a little dirt, rust or paint will mess up all that stuff... . actually, it wasn't funny at all.



Hope it works for you!

 

[DThibault]

Thank all of you, I did clean up the grounds and took some of the dielectric grease off the big cab connector and tried the key again. Well there is nothing better than hearing a motor run. Hasn't run since July and it purred like a kitten after turning over about a half a turn. I can't believe how the electrics behaved. The windshield wipers were giong without even the switch on, I could put them on high speed but not shut them off. Four way flashers were sporadic and the grid heater cycled when I turned on the headlights. I thought I was having a nightmare. It has been one heck of a project. The cab was rusted completely and I picked up a whole gas truck in Maryland, took it apart and cleaned it up and painted it last winter. I rebuilt the transfer case and the transmission, did all the engine seals, did the brakes and some work on the front end. I got a four inch exhaust from Texas Diesel Shop. The truck looks and sounds like new, I'm going to take it for a drive tomorrow, real exciting and rewarding. Thanks again.