1979 Electrical problem

[heks]

Hello.

Today I went to start my 79 ranger xlt. When I turned the key apparently the bezel was loose and I turned the entire ignition switch about a half inch.

After that the truck would not start. No electrical connection whatsoever. No windshield wipers , no lights etc.

So I turned on the wiper switch, removed the ignition switch and started wiggling wires around under the dash. After a bit of wiggling the wipers came on and everything seemed to work.

I put the Ignition switch back in, tightened the bezel, and turn the key.

Nothing.

I'm at the point where the wipers do not come on now, no dome/ inside lights and even the headlights won't come on.

Before this happened the headlights would come on whether there was a key in the ignition or not.

The battery is good and everything worked just fine before I accidently turned the entire ignition switch.

Can someone with any electrical knowledge steer me in the right direction?

Is it a ground issue maybe?

I want to take the dash panel off and possibly remove the instrument panel to get to the wiring but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the headlight switch off. Is there a trick to it?

Thank you.

 

[J&SBroncolvrs]

Reach up under the panel and press a button on top of the light switch assembly. The light switch should then pull right out with this button depressed.

 

[chase8266]

it sounds simple but could be tricky,i would start with replacing the ignition switch,i think your whole problem started their,should be easy

 

[JJCrash]

Just noticed the date you posted the question, hopefully you have it fixed by now! Just in case: Took a quick look at the wiring diagrams, your head lights and marker lights completely bypass the ignition switch. The pages I need are munched by my 3 year old so I may be way off but it looks like there is a fusable link that feeds the head lights as well as the ignition switch but they are seperate systems. Possibly shorted that out? I work on electric forklifts and have seen these links partially short, they pass voltage unless the load is too high then they open. Can you check actual voltage to the fuse block and ignition switch? Let me know what you have and I'll see what I can tell ya.