1986 chev diesel half ton, no power to lighting side of fuse box

[volpatti]

I have a 1986 chevy half ton that used to have a diesel engine in it but non of my exterior lights work, have ran a jumper wire to the fuses for each and they work so im not getting power to my fuse box for my lights, any ideas of what it could be?

 

[bucket]

Have you checked the fusible links found in various places under the hood?

 

[chengny]

I would first check for power to the light switch. There should be 12VDC at terminal 2 (the big red wire) at all times. This lead is straight from the battery and is protected by a fusible link.

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If there is power there, change the headlight switch - it has an internal breaker that can fail.

No power at the main battery feed into the H/L switch? Check the fusible link. It is down near the starter solenoid.

There are two main wires that tie in at the solenoid. Both have fusible links. One of them feeds the lighting circuit and is probably blown. Check for voltage between the "outlet" side and ground of each. If one of them is not allowing voltage to pass, it is blown and will need to be replaced.

Problem is - it probably failed for a good reason. It may have just broken due to mechanical forces, but more likely it melted due to high current flow.


Also, are your headlights working? You say this:

have ran a jumper wire to the fuses for each and they work

but there is no fuse for the headlights.

 

[89Suburban]

 

[volpatti]

thanks guys, shortly after posting this I went out and found one of the main power wires with the fusable link was not hooked into the selaniod, than read your posts and figured this had to be it and sure enough it was, just not getting signal lights now

 

[chengny]

As a quick check to see if the problem with the dirctionals is the flasher:

Pull the hazard flasher out of the courtesy center and replace the directional flasher with it. They are electrically identical. If your blinkers start working leave the good flasher where it is, and buy a new flasher for the hazards.

But first check the TURN /B/U fuse. USE A METER.

You have been doing a lot of electrical trouble shooting and repair lately - it is possible you shorted a lead. Fuse is 2nd row from the left 3rd fuse slot up from the bottom.