lighting woes

[ed1948]

My house was built in the early 70's with aluminum wire. At the time it was cheaper.
As far as wire gauge is concerned aluminum is 1 size larger. In other words the copper replacement can be equal or 1 smaller. Replace all the aluminum wire and update with copper. My brother in law had a 79 Cutlass with aluminum trunk wiring and it had gone bad already in the early 90's in the Canadian damp, salty climate.

 

[malibujustin]

Update...finally had a chance to work on malibu today. Checked the aluminum wire and it was good at fuse block and in back. Going to replace with copper wire soon anyway. Now the problem I found while looking at fuse block was it was missing flasher at top left of block. Bought 2 flashers and replaced both. Wallah...tail lights and turn signals now!!! And no more park lights when brakes are applied!!! Hazard lights working to!! Thanks for all the advice from all you guys!!

 

[malibujustin]

Thanks again for all the advice!!!

 

[malibujustin]

Well happiness short lived. Brake lights not working again when headlights are on. When brake is applied they work though. But my signals are still working on rear and front now. And my reverse lights are now working. The 2 flashers did work. And brake lights were working but have now stopped again. Replaced bulbs. Guess I will chase those grounds and the brown wire again and fuses.

 

[pontiacgp]

check the grounds....

 

[ed1948]

Long shot....check the bulb sockets for shorts or corrosion. Also a rare one- could be a defective bulb with an internal short(happened to me once).

Make sure all the grounds are clean and tight.(it's been suggested before - worth repeating)

To troubleshoot you could remove one bulb at a time to watch for change. This might narrow down the circuit.

 

[malibujustin]

Thanks for diagrams. Don't have the rear side marker lights but do have the rest. Will check them all though.

 

[malibujustin]

If one bulb goes out will it affect the others...as in making them not work? Cleaned the sockets when changed bulbs but will definitely recheck. Did notice last night they came on when head light switch pulled on...but there was a 5-10 sec delay. Tonight none.

 

[malibujustin]

None as in no tail lights

 

[pontiacgp]

If the rear lights came on when you turned the headlights on it sounds like a bad ground and the headlights are giving it a tempory ground if the lights came on and went out. GM didn't think grounds were that important on these cars so it's a good idea to upgrade the ground to the body from the battery and clean all the grounds so they have good contact