I have an 89 Camaro.

When headlight/dimmer switch was being used to turn on dome light while driving, power was lost to the following:

Headlights
Instrument panel lights
Interior Dome Light
Electric Seat adjusters

The car kept running fine. All gauges are working fine.

My first thought was the headlight switch but is there a resettable circuit breaker or fusible link farther upstream that all these would have in common?

Thanks for any help.

 

I believe each headlamp side is run off a fusible link for your year Camaro, so you may have two to deal with. The interior light and power seats are probably run off the Accessory fuse so check that puppy too.

I would remove the headlight / dash light dimmer switch before you replace anything, it sounds like it is causing trouble! There may be a circuit breaker in there too.

 

i would check the ASSY. fuse. That happened to me and it was the fuse.

 

Forgot to mention -
I checked all fuses and they are fine. I got a Haynes manual for this car but it seems very brief regarding electrical troubleshooting and schematics. The manual said the headlights may have a circuit breaker but the schematics don't show one. The schematics also don't indicate where the electric seats are wired in. I'm thinking more and more a fusible link. Can anybody verify if there is one and where it might be located?

 

My Haynes manual seemed a little sparse so I got a Chilton manual which shows that there IS a fusible link leading from the battery to the headlight switch. Does anyone know where this link is located?

 

Don't know if you're '89 is the same but on my '86 the fusible links all connect to the (+) post on the starter and reside down there. I think I have two fuses on the passenger side close to the front for headlights, but this is a Firebird with the headlight door motor mess.

 

Well, just spent the weekend exploring and here's what I found. BTW, my camaro is the kind where the headlights are on the front (no motors).

The old headlight switch was fine. I bought two new ones and they didn't fix the problem. I used a voltmeter to determine that I don't have 12 volts going into the switch.

There are three fusible links off the starter motor's +12 post which lead to four wires (one link has two output wires). I stripped off a little insulation after the links and found them all to be good. (drat). There is a 20amp fuse near the front passenger side headlight (also good).

I think that there might be another fusible link in a wire that goes to the bulkhead connector. This wire would supply power to the headlights, tail lights, dome light, instrument panel and electric seats. I still don't know where this link is though. The Chilton manual shows a link leading into the headlight switch but it dousn't give the location.

As an experiment, I used a wire to run 12 volts from the battery directly to the 'power-in' of my headlight switch (red wire on the headlight switch connector). Result: headlights, tail lights, dome light all came on, even the electric seats are working.

Thanks Rusty et. all. for your suggestions thus far.

Still need a little more help please...

 

Okay, I'll have another stab at it...

I still suspect a fusible link. Perhaps if you penetrated the insulation of each of the heavy wires fed by a fusible link with a pin and checked for 12V on each you could verify that they are solid.

The lights, cigarette lighter, dome light, and power seats (I assume 'cause I don't have them) are all fed with unswitched power that doesn't require the key to be in the IGN or ACCY position. They have to be getting unswitched power straight from the battery, through fuses and other safety devices of course.

On one of the other recent electrical troubles a fellow suggested that you tug on each fusible link to test them, a fried one will pull apart with a good tug. If they are still electrically sound they will feel solid still.

If I think of anything else I'll post it.

 

As a matter of fact, I went to WalMart last night to get a 12 Volt test probe ($4, whattadeal). And I agree, stabbing wires is the best way to check for 12 Volts.

I think that the 'power' wire in question, the red wire from the headlight switch, is the same red wire in the lower left corner of the connector block that goes from the driver side floor through (the firewall) to the engine compartment. I have no voltage on the driver side but I have 12V on the engine side to the corresponding red wire.

Note - seems someone at some time squirted a bunch of black RTV into the shroud of the connector (on the engine side). Very very messy.

So it seems that there is an open somewhere in the bulkhead connector. On the driver side, the red wire looks a little cooked. Good sign that this may be the culprit.

Now I have the grand task of trying to figure out how to pull out the connector to examine and replace the bad wire (or link if there is one in line). There is one screw on the engine side and two on the driver side.

Anybody ever take one of these off?

Thanks again Rusty!