65 courtesy light short curcuit

[ericwolf]

My battery on my 65 is being drained when parked, I have narrowed it down to the curcuit for courtesy lights in the console, the light above the glove box and the clock.

Has anyone had this problem before?

Is there a relay for this that might have short in it??

Thanks, Eric.

[RivNut]

Eric,

There are three separate circuits that control the interior lights in a 1st gen. Riviera. One controls the sail panel lights, one controls the console side lights and the glove box light, and the third controls the light at the rear of the console. All three circuits are "switched to ground" which means that the switches that control these lights work by grounding the circuit to complete it. A hot wire runs to the lights, then when the ground wire is closed, the circuit is complete.

All three are switched at the door jamb. The door jamb switch has three prongs on it that turn on the light when that switch is closed; the switch grounds to the door jamb. One of those for the glove box or console rear light could be making contact with the body creating a closed circuit.

The sail panel lights are switched with the light switch. The glove box light and side consloe lights use the accessory switch on the bottom of the dash. The rear console light has an intergal switch. The first thing to check is to make sure each of these switches is in the off position. (It's very easy for someone's foot to turn on the rear console light without meaning to.) Once you've confirmed that these switches are off and that the door jamb switch isn't grounding out (they're notorius for going bad), then you can start to look for your drain on the circuit. One of the wires to the door jamb switch could even be hanging loose in the door jamb and making contact.

If it's your door jamb switch, an ROA member can rebuild them - check the classifieds in the Riview for him. Or, Clark's Corvair sells new ones.

Ed

PS - There's no light above the clock unless someone has added it. If you're refering to the clock power circuit, it shouldn't have much affect on the battery, it's designed to be on all the time to keep the clock working even when the car is parked. The clock uses a momentary 12V charge to wind a main spring in the clock. Once the main spring is wound (less than one second) the clock will run for about 15 minutes using the main spring and not draw any current. When the main spring winds down, it makes 12V contact and rewinds.

[ericwolf]

Hi Ed,

Thanks very much for the info, it seems like mine works slightly different, my door switches (these are rebuilt) control the console, sail panels lights and the one above the glove box , my courtesy switch under the dash controls the console lights and the light above the glove box, I will check the rear console light, this may be the problem.

I was asking about the clock since I thought that it may have shorted out but this is not the case.

Thanks again, Eric.

[RivNut]

Eric,

Did you have the switches rebuilt? Check to see that they're three prong switches and that nothing is touching the body. Hopefull it will be something as simple as the rear console light switch in the "on" position.

Here's a link to a previous thread on the same subject; perhaps there's something in it that will help.

http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/512403/Searchpage/3/Main/116158/Words/courtesy+lights/Search/true/Re_courtesy_light#Post512403

It's a long link but easy to highlight, copy, and paste into your URL window.

Ed

[Jim Cannon]

Check your trunk light also.

An old trick is to put a volt meter between battery cable and post and keep pulling fuses until the voltage drops to zero. that's you circuit with a leak of current to ground.

The headlight switch will also turn the sail panel lights on by turning the knob. Check it.

[Guest simplyconnected]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jim_Cannon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Check your trunk light also.

An old trick is to put a volt meter between battery cable and post and keep pulling fuses until the voltage drops to zero...</div></div> Or, a dash light bulb (something you can see - small and 12-volts).

If you find your lights are all ok, you may have a shorted diode in your alternator. Using that light bulb, disconnect the wires on your alternator. If the light goes out, replace the alternator.

[ericwolf]

Thanks for all your replies, I found it, as Ed mentioned, someone hit the switch on the rear console light to on when they got out of the car and it drained the battery, so simple when you know what to look for.

Thanks for the help, Eric.