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All:  My courtesy rocker switch never worked and I never cared.  Finally pulled it out.  Have verified wiring is correct and jumping with separate switch confirms both courtesy dome light and door lights work correctly.

Question:  is the rocker switch supposed to be an "on-off" switch with off being doors and on being courtesy?  My switch seems to be centered in the middle and toggles both left and right.  Neither position yields connectivity when tested with a meter.  

Before I pull the center pin and look inside, I was curious how it was supposed to function?  

I have rebuilt my headlight switch previously.  Plan to buy new bezels from Hall and use the old switch if I can figure out what is wrong with it.

thanks for the input.

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This will not help you very much but at least it is some feedback.

I have a brand new in the box courtesy switch that has Three switch positions. I have a used courtesy switch that only has two switch positions.

Bill Taylor’s diagrams at Panteraplace show the connections on the backside of the switches. But no information on how many positions they have

Larry

FWIW. Not sure if mine is wired like stock but it works like

Depressed to the left = red door lights only, no dome when doors opened

Center location = red door lights and dome works when doors opened

Depressed to the right = dome light comes on with doors closed

Bill’s diagram looks pretty straight forward, but I don’t think mine works that way.

As a close-out update for those that are interested, I sourced a new switch from Mike Mayberry.  The courtesy switch is a 3-position switch, left, middle, right.  By testing the terminals for the various combinations of connectivity in each position, you can achieve the results described above.  For me, Right activates the dome light when the doors are closed.  Middle actuates the door red markers when the doors open and left adds the dome light when the doors open.  I looked at pictures of several courtesy light switches on the web and every one had a different set of rear terminal combinations.  you just have to play with the combinations to make it work as intended for all 3 settings.  

OBTW, Hall is out of plastic switch bezels and I can find no other vendor that has them (or ever had them).  Hall is checking to see when they may get them back in stock.  I am in need of one for one other switch but if the wait becomes to long, will just buy another new switch.  

Hope it helps

My recently acquired Jan 72 production has a 2 position switch. It may or may not be original to the car. Currently it only activates the courtesy light switch in the right position. I have power at the door switches and the red door lights also work, but the courtesy light  will not come on. Possibly I need the 3 position switch ? Would prefer the symbol style. Guess a call to the vendors to see what is available.

Last edited by Pantera 3rd&Last

The wiring diagram that SOBill did is correct.  There are 3 wires on the switch.  White/black wire which is hot from the fuse block which passes through the dome light (SOBill's diagram says this is a purple wire but in my car it is white/black).  A double purple wire set which is the door switches, and a black ground.  In order for the dome light to work when you open the doors, the white hot has to be connected to the purple  wire set.  When the door opens, the door switch produces the ground and voltage passes through the dome light which makes it light.  So if you want all 3 functions, yes, you need a 3 position switch and then play with the terminals to get the right 3 combinations of connectivity.  

@panterapatt posted:

The wiring diagram that SOBill did is correct.  There are 3 wires on the switch.  White/black wire which is hot from the fuse block which passes through the dome light (SOBill's diagram says this is a purple wire but in my car it is white/black).  A double purple wire set which is the door switches, and a black ground.  In order for the dome light to work when you open the doors, the white hot has to be connected to the purple  wire set.  When the door opens, the door switch produces the ground and voltage passes through the dome light which makes it light.  So if you want all 3 functions, yes, you need a 3 position switch and then play with the terminals to get the right 3 combinations of connectivity.  

Just received a new courtesy light switch(symbol) from Wikinson. It is a 3 position switch. By any chance do you have the wire position for the terminals you ended up with to have all 3 functions ?

NO, that is wrong.  The White/black wire is hot and when grounded lights the dome light by itself.  The violet wires when connected to the white/black wire simply connect the circuit through the doors and include the dome light.  That circuit grounds when one of the door switches is opened, creating the ground.  

I have exhaustively tested the circuit and promise you the white/black is hot.  On SOBills' diagram, he shows that wire as violet.  On my 71, it is White/black.

Your two  three position switches may in fact be identical. I just installed a brand new light switch that looked correct but did not work correctly. Upon removal and testing, I found one terminal is apparently not internally connecting. The rivet attaching the terminal to the case is tight, but that terminal is not receiving power when it should.

I went through my junk drawer of spare switches and found two, three position courtesy switches that were both functioning correctly. I swapped out the black “courtesy “ rockers for “light” rockers and all is now good. Except for the brand new switch that is defective. ☹️☹️

I know of another owner that has also found brand new switches to be defective  

Larry

Incorrect (at least on my car).  See the wiring diagram.  The "V" wire exiting the bulb of the dome light is white/black on my car.  It comes from the Fues block and sure looks hot to me, and was hot when tested.  When you ground that, the dome light lights up.  What isn't HOT about that?  Whatever at this point.  Mine works as it should in all 3 positions and I am moving on.

Larry - agree with you, the switches are all over the map in terms of which terminals they have, and whether they connect in a given position.  The only way to determine is to test a switch in all positions to see which lugs are connected.  From that you can map how to connect the device or lights properly to make the switch do what it is supposed to.  Simply attempting to stick wires on a numbered terminal will not produce the result unless you happen to get lucky.

@forestg posted:

There should not be a hot wire connected to this switch. To get the functions described earlier with a three position switch connect the two violet wires from the door lights to terminal1, connect the violet wire coming from the dome light to terminal 4 and connect the black ground wire to terminal 8.

I installed Wilkinson's 3 position switch. Different with a black/white instead of violet. Here is the wiring connections that worked on my early 72 production.

Terminal 1 2Violet wires. Terminal 2 Black/White. Terminal 8 black ground wire. Functions as position 1 always off. Position 2 door activated. Position 3 on with doors closed.

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