I have good metal to metal contact and there is no change. The turn signal still cuts off the gauges.

Chris

Try twisting your dimmer switch around and seeing what happens, since that should be in series with all the instruments you mentioned.

I fiddled with the dimmer switch and it works normally. The lights get dimmer and brighter. There isn't a problem with the dash lights, just the gauges.

I don't understand how pulling a fuse and putting in the same fuse can reset something. Is there a breaker somewhere in that circuit? Like I said I suck at this electrical stuff.

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado

I once had a situation like that in my '85. Had been in a shop for a week or so and when I started off driving, after an hour or so everything just died on the dash. I pulled off the road, shut off the engine and pulled/inspected every fuse. Nothing was out of the ordinary, so after sticking all the fuses back in, turned the key and all was normal. That was 8 years ago and it has never repeated. I assume it was a fuse or holder that had oxidized contacts and with it sitting a while without running, that may have been enough to trigger the problem. The act of pulling and re-inserting the fuse scraped the oxidation off the contacts and thus "fixed" the problem.

Ok, so I have been messing with this thing for a while. The weather has prevented me from spending a whole day just getting this fixed. At this point I have replaced all of the standard fuses in the truck, new alternator and new battery. I charged the battery myself, so I know it is fully charged. It starts now without being jumped and the gauges all work. The last problem is that I am still getting a charge light. With everything I have replaced does this sound like the 80 amp alternator fuse? It doesn't look like it has blown, but I bought one anyway.

Man I hate this electrical stuff. Give me a broken spring any day.

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado

I hear ya, electrical issues are the worst for me. Not sure if this applies, but when I had my '84 p/u, I was diagnosing a charging issue. On my truck, with the external voltage regulator, there was also the 'charge lamp relay' which IIRC was on the driver's side, kick panel area. I believe it was last in trouble-shooting the 'charge' lamp staying on, but you may want to check to see if you have one. I had no idea there was a relay under there. Good luck. Tom

Is the light bright, or dim with RPM?

I will look at that if changing the alternator fuse doesn't fix the problem.

The charge light is pretty bright. I didn't rev it as I was just happy it started without a jump. I don't think it will hurt anything to change the alternator fuse, so we will see if that helps.

Well the new alternator fuse is in and everything is working normally. I drove it to work today. I am not sure that I really did anything to fix my original problem. It must have been a combination of corroded fuses and messing with them without disconnecting the battery caused me to blow the alternator fuse. Thank you for everyone's suggestions, although I don't know if searching this thread will help anyone else.

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado