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Why no mkr/pos. lights on my 740?

My 92 740 turbo wagon seems to have a strange configuration on the light switch.....

I thought there was a wiring error (someone screwed it up) because when I go to the middle switch position, which seems to be for marker/position lights, those lights do not come on. If I go to the righthand/clockwise switch position, then the headlights come on, and also the pos/mkr lights come on. So I looked this up in the Chilton manual, and it shows that the mkr/pos lights are hot at all times when the headlights are on! I checked the light switch and there is one white wire that, sure enough, turns on all lights together... headlights, and pos/mkr lights. Well, I can mod the wiring easy enough by separating the marker light power wires out on the bottom side of the fuse panel, and running them separately to the middle contact on the switch.... but I just wanted to know if all the 740s were made this way, and why an why on earth not be able to turn on mkr/pos lights only? I go through a security checkpoint every night, and I need to be able to turn the headlights off, but keep marker lights on.

Thanks, Geronimo

Reply to
geronimo
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Hi Geronomo,

Does the middle switch position give you "pos/mkr" (parking) lights alone (no headlights) with ignition turned off?

Andy I.

Reply to
Andy

The middle position should be live at all times. The power for this comes from a different place than when they're on in the headlight position. Look for a wire at the headlight switch that has power at all times.

Reply to
Mike F

Oh.....OK, then the middle position is supposed to give you marker lights even with ign switch off. Should be simple to wire that up, now that I know what normal is supposed to be. Guess I will just round-file the Chiltons' manual ;-)

On second thought....that is an invitation for a dead battery. Maybe I won't. thanks geronimo

Reply to
geronimo

Well if you don't there's no way to leave the parking lights on when parked on dark roads at night, which is why the switch position exists.

Admittedly, more than a couple of hours will probably flatten the battery.

Reply to
Richard Polhill

If you turn the switch off, you'll get marker lights and the headlights on dim, which may be ideal for your purposes. Or do you need to cut the engine, too?

Has somebody really gone to that much effort to mess up the wiring? There are no wires on the parking light switch contacts? Have you checked that there isn't a fuse out that would normally power the parking lamps?

Reply to
Richard Polhill

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