My footwell lights are somehow connected to those stripped orange and yellow wires and connecting them, even without the CRTY fuse installed, turns the lights on.
04-Nov-2023
EDIT: As identified in the photo in post #41 above, the Orange wire belongs to the CTSY
circuit, and depending upon how I read the above, if you were to connect it to the nearby Yellow wire
with the key in the ON or ACC position, I would expect that the footwell lights would come on.
If the above is true, then feel free to skip the rest. All is working as advertised.
****
Hi Additivewalnut,
We've discussed quite a bit, but I don't think we've touched on this particular symptom. It sounds like the
'Hot At All Times' CTSY fuse-protected circuit has been accidentally cross-connected with another power source,
possibly powered up through the ignition switch?
This isn't a priority, but when you are winding down from the other fixes, I'd
be interested to know exactly when the 'footwell lights still coming on
without the CTSY fuse
installed' symptom presents?
For example, IF the lights still come on w/no CTSY fuse, but only when the ignition is in ON & ACCessory,
then this narrows down which other power circuit has been cross-connected to the one that feeds your
footwell lights?
OR, if the footwell lights have power available ALL the time, even with the key out, plus the CTSY fuse not installed,
then we need to investigate further. Because this scenario
might be caused by the PO jumpering around a fuse to
force something to work, (aka: idiotic move) thereby removing the intrinsic safety that these fuses provide us?
Taking this one step further, IF your footwell lights have power available 100% of the time with the CTSY
fuse out, I would want to know if these lights are on a fused circuit or not. No problem. It's as easy
as working sequentially through the fuse block, pulling one fuse at a time until the lights extinguish.
Worst-case scenario: And what if more than 1 power circuit is cross-connected, which can't be found by the
normal 'remove 1 at a time' search? Go for the gold, and pull ALL the fuses. The results will tell you
which way you need to proceed:
* IF the footwell lights now go out, good. Then start adding the fuses back in, one at a time, until the lights
return. Document that fuse, remove it, and continue to add in the remaining fuses, rinse, repeat until done.
This way you can figure out if it's 1, 2, or 3+ circuits that are cross-connected. Think failed/forgotten/hidden
aftermarket anti-theft device (installed by some PO) monitoring different electrical circuits for activity. Hunky-dory
until it breaks... (
@Komet nailed this in his previous
reply. :0)
Note: If the footwell lights stay on with ALL the fuses out, then this is an
illegal** condition, and must be
figured out. Now you have to go back to the firewall, and disconnect the wires at the battery junction block
until you finally find which 'Always On' feed is responsible, and go downstream from there.
****
Again, this doesn't rise to the same level as an intermittent power problem involving the fuel pump. And
if you figure out the cross-connection but there's not time to actually fix it until later, then just remove
the footwell bulbs (and disconnect other non-essential convenience items on the same circuit) until you
can address the issue with a permanent fix.
The bottom line, the more we know, the tighter the problem definition, and the better we can
implement an appropriate measured response.
Wrapping this up, here's what the Courtesy fuse is supposed to support:
(Note: Substitute 'Glove box' for 'I/P Compartment' Lamp -- FSM jargon)
You must be registered for see images attach
And I've attached a couple of schematic pages showing the 'door jamb' switches
and the wiring that's supposed to be involved.
Last & least, there's no mystery to electric power distribution. Lots of details, sure. But no magic.
Happy Hunting --
**Electrically speaking. I'm not afraid of electricity, but I *do* have a lot
of respect for it. For me, an unknown power circuit mod under the dash = potential
fire hazard. IF I can make sense of the mod, I might decide to leave it in place.
But I've learned the hard way not to ignore janky-looking stuff from overconfident
sparky types that have preceded me. Safety first! :0)