Electrical Advice

[rychi1]

I am a novice at electrical wiring, so I am trying to figure out how best to trouble shoot the problems I am having. Any suggestions would be helpful. I am using the standard wiring harness from the kit, with a small block chevy. I have an electrical cutoff switch that I have been turning off while I am not working on the car.

When I hook up the battery from the cutoff switch, the parking lights on the front are illuminated, regardless if the key is in or not.

When I turn the key to accessory power the left blinker light stays illuminated as well as the front left parking light.

My rear Tail lights/brake/turn signals work fine but the front turn signals don’t work. Since I know the lights work because of the first problem I assume this is something to do with the blinker wire coming into the front harness?

[sethmark]

My immediate guess is that you are running too many wires to the rear tail lights. I believe that the purple wire is not supposed to be hooked up. Tail lights are not set up like a trailer. It’s not stop turn tail. If memory serves correctly, the two wires are the turn circuit and the tail circuit.

[Svtfreak]

I don’t know if the purple wire at the back caused problems up front for me, but when it was hooked up, the rears didn’t work right. Start by making sure it isn’t connected at either rear light. Then recheck. But your problems sound like something somewhere isn’t wired right. For them to be on with just power supplied. Something is tied into that sides turn signal line after the flasher it almost sounds like.

[rychi1]

The violet wire in the rear is disconnected, and the rears work just fine.

[AC Bill]

Wiring issue of some sort.

Sounds like the power wire leading to your front running light sockets, is wired to an, always hot, "un-switched" source. This could be at the headlight switch, t/signal switch, or at the relays
There is traditionally, an un-switched, always hot, running to the headlight relay, and headlight switch, whereas the t/signal switch & relay, normally uses a switched source of power, IE ignition on.

[Just puttering]

One first check you may want to try is pull fuses (try one at a time first) until the lights go off - then start checking that circuit - hopefully this will narrow down what is powering the lights

When I hook up the battery from the cutoff switch, the parking lights on the front are illuminated, regardless if the key is in or not.
When I turn the key to accessory power the left blinker light stays illuminated as well as the front left parking light.

To clarify - when you turn on the key, the right side goes off - key off right side back on and left is always on?

[rychi1]

When I hook up the battery power the left front parking light comes on. If I turn the key like I am about to start it, the fuel pump kicks on and the left indicator light comes on, both parking lights come on. When I turn the key off, the left indicator light stays on, until the fuel pump kicks off.

I tried to install the ididit dimmer switch on the turn signal stalk, the power for it comes off the headlight switch, I am going to unhook the power to it and see if it changes anything.