Parking Light Problem

[kboyd]

When I took my 83 Avanti out today, everything was working fine but while driving and messing with the heater controls, I noticed the red light under the dash and the console heater control lights come on as though I had turned on the headlights on which I had not. When I got home and shut the car off, the headlight warning buzzer came on as though I left the headlights on. I checked the headlight switch and it was off and got out of the car and discovered the front parking lights, side marker lights, tail lights, license plate light, and the console heater control lights were on. I cycled the switches a few times to no benefit. I finally had to disconnect the battery to kill the lights.

Has anyone else had this problem and what was the fix?

[Gunslinger]

Unless Avanti Motors changed the wiring (always a possibility due to changing federal regulations), the lights you mention are on a different circuit from the headlights. I would concentrate on the circuit that controls the affected lights.

The switch itself may have become grounded to the windshield frame and is passing current due to that. That happened to me years ago with a '63...the blower fan kept running even with the engine off. Somehow...likely vibration...the switch had moved and the wire contacts grounded and completed the circuit allowing the fan motor to run. What I did was wrap electrical tape around the contacts and no more problem.

You may well have a bad switch. Remove the switch, then reconnect the battery power. Use a test light to see if power is going in and out of the switch...with it switched on and off. If power is going through the switch regardless of position, then you know it's bad.

[kboyd]

I thought I would give some feedback on the resolution of my problem incase someone else encounters the same problem somewhere down the road.

The culprit was the SPDT toggle switch (Aux Switch) on the console that controls the Driving lights. When this switch is in the forward position it energizes the parking/tail/console light circuits even when the ignition is off. Since my car is not equipped with Driving Lights, up until this point I had assumed the switch did not energize anything but obviously I was wrong.

Many thanks to Bob Johnstone's Avanti Pages that had a hand drawn diagram of the Ananti II's parking/tail/console light circuits showing how the "Aux Switch" could energize these circuits even when the ignition is off. After spending the better part of an afternoon checking out the primary switches, I was beginning to fear that I had an internal short somewhere in the wiring harness. That evening I looked through Bob's Johnstone's pages and found the wiring diagrams and walked out the car and fixed the problem with a switch flick. Obviously I had accidentally turned the switch on when I was fiddling with the heater controls and did not notice it.

Also, thanks to "Gunslinger" for his quick response and advice.

[Gunslinger]

I'm glad your solution was easy, though finding that easy fix often requires much frustration and profanity.

My car doesn't have that auxiliary switch so it's good to put that little tidbit in our memory banks. While my '70 came with driving lights (according to the build sheet), they were long gone with no trace by the time I purchased the car. I did install a set but wired them into the high beam circuit through a relay, so there's no separate switch to deal with. Whether the originals were wired similarly I have no idea.

Again...happy your solution was in the end, a simple thing.

[Skip Lackie]

Some historical trivia: At one time, the Feds required auxiliary lights that were controlled by a separate switch (which they all were) to also energize the parking and tail lights. The idea was to make sure that someone (mistakenly) driving on the driving lights alone would also have all the running lights illuminated. In the early 70s, I added some driving lights to a 70 Camaro, and the inspection station flunked me because I didn't have them wired that way. I passed once I changed the wiring around to match kboyd's car.

But in the mid-80s, a lot of car manufacturers started adding fog/driving lights as factory equipment, and the Feds wanted to prevent them from being used when the high beams were on (shame on you, Gunslinger!). So the regs were changed to require driving lights to be fed by the low beam circuit. When you switch to high beams, the fog lights go out.

[Gunslinger]

Skip...

I understand where you're coming from. With fog lights, they're supposed to be used only on low beam as high beams reflect back in foggy conditions...they're useless with high beams. Driving lights are supposed to extend illuminated sight range, which is why they're wired them to the high beam circuit. Basically, the only difference between fog lights and driving lights is the lens...fog lights are diffused and short range while driving lights have a clear lens for long, more narrow beams. Some fog lights have amber lenses.

I can understand the Feds requirements, though. Not all use either fog or driving lights properly. I've seen way too many cars using fog lights when there's no fog for them to cut through.

[sat65]

Skip...

I can understand the Feds requirements, though. Not all use either fog or driving lights properly. I've seen way too many cars using fog lights when there's no fog for them to cut through.

I strongly agree with this. Many cars have fog lights which are brighter than the headlights to oncoming vehicles. It should be illegal to use fog lights when there is no fog.

[Skip Lackie]

It's also true that both headlights and driving lights with separate halogen bulbs were illegal in the US for a long time, while the OEM fog lights installed by the American car companies tended to be sealed beams that were legal. So in a sense, the Feds were trying to prevent the installation of driving lights (which admittedly, can be really distracting to oncoming drivers if they're not aimed properly). Kinda naive in a way, as every auto parts store had displays of halogen bulb-equipped driving light kits marked "For off-road use only".

[Penn Avanti]

Hi Guys,

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I thought I was nearing the end of electrical problems on this 76 Avanti but the parking lights, etc. were on and I was completely stumped after tracing the wiring for several days. I had completely forgotten the aux light switch, which is unmarked, as you know. In fact, after reading your posts I still could not locate it because I thought it was under the dash, wrong! It was on the horizontal panel by the heater controls. So, finally, the buzzer is off.

Funny how time and age sometimes leads one to forget. Thanks' again.

Roger