Odd electrical gremlin - need electrical gurus

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

So I just got my T/A back from the body shop today after the front bumper was removed and repainted,and the headlight panel was replaced due to a minor collision. They did a great job on the repair.

My body guy mentioned that at one point through the repair job, he had to jump the car because the battery had died, and he had noticed that the interior dome light was staying on even with the doors closed, but was dim. When doors open, the dome light shone at the correct brightness. I noticed the same thing when I picked the car up today.

He said he had to disconnect the battery so that he wouldn't have to keep jumping it. Otherwise, for a simple bumper and headlight panel installation, I would *PRESUME* the only four connectors that needed to be unplugged were the 4 headlight terminals. Not even the turning signal or horn terminals needed to be unplugged, so I'm having a hard time believing it was something that happened while at the body shop.

So anyway, we just decided on removing the dome light bulb for now, and I decided I'd tackle it at a later date. But once I got it back to my storage unit and started testing out other devices/accessories, I've noticed some oddities.

• First off, for the heck of it, I put the bulb back in the dome light and now it *MOSTLY* works the way it should, as in it fully turns off when the doors are closed and fully brightens when the doors are opened. However, I now noticed that if I turn the radio on, the dome light also turns on at the same dim brightness even with the doors closed. What the heck??

• Automatic power antenna stopped working. Was working fine before I brought the car to the body shop.

• The clock now stops running when the dome light is on, but will run when the dome light is off.

• The footwell courtesy lights stopped working, both with doors open and when headlight switch is turned counter clockwise to turn them on manually.

• Power trunk release stopped working. Was working fine before I brought the car to the body shop.

• Key buzzer stopped working. Was working fine before I brought the car to to the body shop.

• I haven't put my timing light on to check the RPMs, but according to my tach and oil pressure gauge, and even just the seat of my pants, I can feel my idle RPM is just a bit lower by like 20-35 RPM. Something drawing power somewhere??

Everything else still works, including all exterior lighting; tachometer; gauges and gauge lighting; glovebox light; wipers; radio; blower motor; and AC.

So what is this? Is there a ground that all these devices have in common? Or a simple fuse issue? I know there is a fuse that has pretty much all the abovementioned devices/items in common, but if the fuse was out, then why is the dome light and clock still working under certain conditions, and why is the power antenna out? Can a fuse be partially bad? Is something drawing power? I'm at a loss seeing as how random this is and how many devices have been affected by it. I don't know if the headlights being swapped to a new headlight retaining panel would have anything to do with this, I thought that was its own harness?

Anybody that knows T/A's, please enlighten me lol.

[b_hill_86]

My guess is a grounding issue. Possibly related to your courtesy lights not working. I’d start by eliminating some variables by disconnecting certain things systematically. I’m not an electrical guru but I feel like I know the electrical in these cars fairly well. Firebirdparts or Wallington will probably have better suggestions than me but if it were my car I’d disconnect the courtesy lights and see if anything changes.

Here’s a link to firebirdparts’ webpage if you haven’t seen it before lots of good info. I forget exactly where the harness plugs in. I think it’s to the left of the glovebox but I could be wrong.

[Wallington]

As above, those courtesy lights are often affected by the slightest issue elsewhere. Remove the globe, maybe unplug the door plungers. They can wear also,but not often the issue.
Check headlight switch isn't turned to keep dome light on.
I see some updates so ignore any. Rule out any fuses. Sounds like something has flipped polarity, still operates bulbs, doesn't operate things running off it. Did they rewire or repair front park lights or fender markers? Or headlights have halogens and not rewired from stock? Check headlight harness grounds on each end of support and battery ground cable to support as well as others in place around the chassis.

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

As above, those courtesy lights are often affected by the slightest issue elsewhere. Remove the globe, maybe unplug the door plungers. They can wear also,but not often the issue.
Check headlight switch isn't turned to keep dome light on.
I see some updates so ignore any. Rule out any fuses. Sounds like something has flipped polarity, still operates bulbs, doesn't operate things running off it. Did they rewire or repair front park lights or fender markers? Or headlights have halogens and not rewired from stock? Check headlight harness grounds on each end of support and battery ground cable to support as well as others in place around the chassis.

You called it, Wallington. The issue as to why everything was not working or working funny was because of a blown fuse. Had to actually remove the CLK-ACC-CTSY glass fuse to see the gap and that it had blown. When I glanced at it initially, it looked fine. After replacing it, everything now works like it should - in fact, my radio reception is clearer now than it was before on various channels. The rest of the fuses were fine.

It's weird how a blown fuse protecting one bank of the electrical system can affect devices that operate off another bank since the dome light isn't protected by that specific fuse that blew, and that how some very minimal draw devices on the bank protected by the bad fuse can still work in the presence of a blown fuse such as the glovebox light and clock. Either way, after replacing the fuse everything works again and works the way it should. I also replaced the dome light bulb just in case.

I'm concerned now, though because I'm well aware a blown fuse is a symptom rather than a cause, but I'm not really sure what could have caused the fuse to blow other than just bad luck or age. Maybe that bulb for the dome light shorted or something as it was a bit loose in there.

You could be right in that the grounds for the front end harness were messed with. Not sure why - it's grounded on the radiator support, rather than the headlight retaining panel which was all that was replaced. I've always had standard sylvania high and low sealed beam halogens like what the car would have come with stock, and they're working okay. My battery's neg cable is bolted to the stud on the cylinder head as stock, and also has an auxiliary ground wire going to the radiator support.

[b_hill_86]

A blown fuse for that circuit combined with the clock running with the dome off suggests to me there is a short somewhere otherwise the clock shouldn’t be getting power with a blown fuse.