No interior power

[cashmoneyspeed]

I was installing an extra support bracket on my radio plate and all electrical was good. The interior lights, radio, etc were all working. Then I noticed the interior lights weren't on anymore so I checked the fuses and nothing is blown. It was late so I called it a day but when I went to lock the car with remote, the power locks aren't locking the doors anymore which is a problem since I have shaved key holes.

So power door locks, radio, and the dome/2 underdash interior lights do not work. The only thing disconnected and reconnected was the aftermarket radio and cigarette lighter when i had the radio plate out. Everything else works. Any thoughts before I climb into the wiring schematics?

Headlights all work and cluster lights work.

 

[Blacktiger355]

First two things I think of are one of the door light switches that triggers the dome/interior lights. Or a possible bulb out or causing a short somewhere.

 

[cashmoneyspeed]

The bulbs are good but there is no power at the sockets, the red power wire for the radio, the door pin switches, or the cigarette socket. I didn't pull the door panels but I'm sure the door lock actuators not working is related to the other things.

 

[dottelife]

Does the car start...

 

[pontiacgp]

you say the fuses are good but is there any power going through the fuses?

 

[dottelife]

Maybe a fuseable link.

 

[cashmoneyspeed]

Yes the car starts and all exterior lighting works. I just checked the fuse block and there's no power at some fuses so looks like I'm going to have to pull apart the 2 year old fusible links and see what's going on. It's just weird since I wasn't doing anything with wires, just removed the radio and the interior lights were still on, then 5 minutes later they didn't work and all I had done was get out the car to get a drink, close the door and then open it again.

 

[CGimbel]

Assuming you know how to check a fuse with a test light.... Okay. The part of the harness you affected for the cigarette lighter, lower dash lights / dome light (DOOR PIN) and door locks are apart of the "courtesy fuse". Yes, there are going to be some fuses that have no power if you check them. First, turn your ignition in the on position and head lights on..... now check. The fuses that were not lit are lit. No '78-'87 has a red power wire for the radio, "yellow & orange". (Problem) Follow that red wire and any other wire's that are hacked, pinched, chafe or just don't belong. Door locks and interior lights are plugged in the junction box above the fuse box. That junction box gets powered by one thick wire from the fuse box. This should point you in the right direction.

 

[cashmoneyspeed]

I found the problem. The wire terminal off the back of the fuse block wasn't making contact. So with a test light I was getting voltage on both sides of fuse but no power to the affected things still. I'm sure glad I pulled the box off because it was driving me crazy since I had cleaned up all the wiring a couple months ago when I rewired the radio, interior lights, and headlight harness. The best fixes are the free ones. Thanks to those that replied and hopefully this helps someone in the future.

 

[86cutdawg]

Can you tell me the way to wire an aftermarket radio using a wiring harness? I wired mines by color matching but still came up short and the CD player received no power. So I wired the power wire into the cigarette lighter power wire for the CD player to work. But the CD player would only work when the lights were turned on. Now the headlights and tail lights still work but I have no interior power. My dash doesn't light up nor does my hvac control unit. The CD player doesn't get power and the dome light doesn't work.