[64Lemans]

Hello.

I have a 1964 Lemans. I recently took out the center console in hopes of fixing the shift indicator light as well as the rear courtesy light. I have attached a pic as well.
I purchased a brand new harness and installed it identical to the old one.
Put everything together and the shift indicator light works great.

However, the rear courtesy light does not. There is an orange and white wire(s) leading to courtesy socket. The orange wire goes to a switch when you open up the center console compartment. I installed a #89 bulb.

I guess my first question is, when would this light turn on. If the dome is on, this light should be on. Or when the center compartment is open. There is no switch on the bezel of the knob that controls the dimmer of the dash controls.

My second question is... anybody have any ideas why this doesn't work?
Ground issue or maybe power not getting to that socket. How do you recommend testing that?

Any and all input is truly appreciated. Trying to fix, what I believe, is my last light issue. Thank you.

[tallrandyb]

The brand new harness is likely crap, it was for me (M&H) when I built my 65 GTO console so I had to cut/splice things together to make it all work, not sure how they thought it was correct.

The orange (always hot) wire from under the dash goes to the courtesy bulb, and a second switched power wire goes to the compartment bulb switch, at least for me. A grey wire from under the dash (or you can run your own) connects to the courtesy bulb white wire as a ground, since opening doors (or rotating the light switch fully left) creates a ground on that whole combination circuit to light up the dome and courtesy (and under-dash courtesy if you have it). I had a black wire as a ground to the compartment bulb switch (ground it anywhere you like), since there isn't any metal to ground right there. Then whatever wiring you already had for the shift indicator.

I believe this is all correct from when I built it late 2020. I have a couple pix of my under-console wires but the labeling isn't that great. Good luck!

[64Lemans]

Thank you tallrandyb for the reply.

So you are saying that the courtesy light would act like the dome light. Door is open, courtesy light comes on.

Would the headlight bezel...turning left or right.. need replacing if the courtesy light isn't working. I thought I read somewhere that there maybe corrosion within the dial/switch.?.

If you have the pics handy and you have the time, could you post those pics you were referring to. I have a orange and a white (wires). I know that the orange had a metal connector, which i would assume is the ground, and it plugged into the underneath of the little spring peg/button...that I think acts as a stopper ....so the center console door/lid doesn't slam...not sure. Just my thought.

Hopefully I'm making some sense. The electrical / lighting part of any project on the car is frustrating for me. Not sure how to test any wires ..to see if its getting power. And I'm not the best at reading / following those wiring diagrams as well.

Thank you.

[Andre]

On the 64 console with the correct courtesy light bezel with switch, the switch is supposed to provide a ground so that you can turn the light on anytime you wish regardless of the position of the headlight switch, or doors being closed. For it to work properly, your console must have a good ground.

[tallrandyb]

Originally Posted by 64Lemans

Thank you tallrandyb for the reply.

So you are saying that the courtesy light would act like the dome light. Door is open, courtesy light comes on.

Would the headlight bezel...turning left or right.. need replacing if the courtesy light isn't working. I thought I read somewhere that there maybe corrosion within the dial/switch.?.

If you have the pics handy and you have the time, could you post those pics you were referring to. I have a orange and a white (wires). I know that the orange had a metal connector, which i would assume is the ground, and it plugged into the underneath of the little spring peg/button...that I think acts as a stopper ....so the center console door/lid doesn't slam...not sure. Just my thought.

Hopefully I'm making some sense. The electrical / lighting part of any project on the car is frustrating for me. Not sure how to test any wires ..to see if its getting power. And I'm not the best at reading / following those wiring diagrams as well.

Thank you.

Sorry for the delay, here are pix of my wiring for the console, you will need to zoom in quite a bit to see some of what is going on. I put in disconnects in the harness towards the front of the car, all different (male/female) and different lengths so I wouldn't mix them up when removing/installing the console.

I bought the A280CR and M30185 console extension harness and console compartment light wiring from Ames, and they said they expect you to do some splicing into the "existing" harness/etc to get it all to work. Plus they had the extra bulb for the automatic shift position that I cut out.

So just realize you need the ground applied to the rear courtesy light anytime you get a ground from the light switch and/or door switches just like the dome light. And you need to run a wire to ground for the compartment light, since the other wire to it is your power wire.

I highly recommend putting an LED in your rear compartment and dome lights if you can; when working on my car and leaving the door open for a long time without the battery disconnected, both covers got VERY hot with a regular incandescent bulb. The LED's are usually a little taller which made fitment for the console courtesy bulb, but totally worth it to be ice cold.

Good luck, it took me quite a while to work it all out and I wish I had taken more pictures after I was done...

[olde-goat]

good information, just curious for those who have updated to leds, any suggestions on bulbs/part numbers that work. Thanks

[tallrandyb]

I ordered all these from Ames for my 65: dome, instrument cluster, console courtesy, etc:

Glove Box: LED1891CW #1891 LED BULB
Cluster(s)/Turn: LED1895CW #1895 LED BULB
Dome: LED211CW NATURAL WHITE LED DOME LAMP BULB
Console courtesy: LED67CW #67 NATURAL WHITE LED BULB

[olde-goat]

Thanks....