TR6 Trunk light in TR6

Hello - thanks again to all of you that have helped me with all of my questions. I am close to getting my car back on the road for the first time in 25 years! I have all of my electronics/lights working except for the interior light that sits on the tunnel and the trunk light. I am not sure if the tunnel light works because the switch looks like it is damaged. My question is does the tunnel light switch operate the trunk light also?
Thanks, Kevin

Kevin- they both get the power from the same source but they splitt off before.Check for power at the switch. Do you have 1 of those nifty colored ski-matics?
don

Kevin,

On my 75 TR6 the trunk light is activated by the main light switch. When either the parking lights or the headlights are turned on so is the trunk light. I guess the Brits figured that if your lights aren't on then it must be light enough outside to be able to see in the trunk without the light being on. On the other hand they probably figured that if your headlights were on then it was a good idea for the trunk light to be on in case you needed to look in there for something at night.

I do not have a colored schematic of the wiring. Can you recomment a source - one that has a schematic that is useful for someone like me who is not an electrician? My Haynes manual was great for hooking up the dash and other lights back up (The previous owner diconnected every wire in this car for his "great" paint job I will eventually have to strip off and redo.) One thing I have in my favor at the moment is since the interior is gutted, it is fairly easy to see where the wires are. Thanks for the information on the trunk light. My next question though is if the tunnel switch does not operate, will this effect the trunk light, since it seems to piggy back off this line? With the information I have, I will check to see that there is electricity where the wires plug in near the dash when I get home.
Thanks, Kevin

Go to www.advanceautowire.com and click on "Stock Schematics on the left-hand side. Scroll down and you'll see the files you can download. The Hayne's manual has some useful info, but the wiring diagrams have a lot of inaccuracies, or at least they do not apply to all model years, but AdvanceAutoWire has the year-specific schematics in color even. Thank Dan Masters for the great job on that. My TR6 is a '71 and the trunk light is on when the trunk is open whether or not the headlights are on, and I don't think the tunnel light has any effect on the trunk. I haven't climbed in the trunk yet to see what it does when the trunk is closed! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif

Kevin,

There is a trunk switch that grounds out and turns the light on when trunk lid is opened. Same type switch is for the courtesy light in the doors and operates the tunnel light. Switch shows not available in VB catalog. I might can come up with one.

Marvin

Kevin, I think I have an extra one somewhere. And to John I don't think the light is suppose to be tied into headlight circuits. I am not fluent in later 6's so I could be mistaken.

The explanation of the trunk light going on or off in relation to a switch or grounding out with the opening and closing of the trunk makes sense to me. I will not have access to my car until this evening, however, I can not remember any kind of switch (like I have for the doors) visible anywhere. I also did not see where the trunk would create an open circuit when I shut it, or a closed circuit when I open it. Where is this switch located, or where/how is it grounding when the trunk is opening or closing? From the replies I have gotten, and some of the other posts, it seems like there are many little subtle differences in how things were wired for the various years. I have especially found many unique attributes in my car being a '69.
Thanks,Kevin

Kevin the switch is operated by the right hand boot hinge. When you get home look next to it. Maybe your switch is gone. On my project I added another light on the other side of the back board.I will PM you and give you my # if you need to call.
don

Thanks, I'll check it out when I get home tonight.
Kevin

Don,

What was I thinking? Yes, operated by the right side boot hinge. And it works, too.

I have hours of correcting to do, but I slipped out into the garage anyway. Thanks to all the responses I found the trunk switch and was able to get the trunk light working. I still do not have the courtesy light working. My first guess is that the courtesy light switches in the doors are not working. I don't know if makes a difference, but the guy who painted the car painted right over the switches. I am hoping I can remove them and clean off the paint. I do not know if the courtesy light fixture itself actually works at all. Can I just hook up the courtesy light directly to the battery to see if it works? The black goes to ground, but which of the two purple wires would I connect to the positive?
Thanks, Kevin

Kevin,
The tunnel light can be grounded (and, hence, illuminated) in one of two ways. Normally it is grounded by way of door switches (purple and white wire). Or you can ground it with the doors closed using the switch on the light itself which grounds it directly through the black wire. The solid purple wire is your hot (+) wire and is hot even with the ignition off. If you have two solid purple wires I would double check your wiring because all solid purples should be constantly hot. One of them should be the purple/white wire to the doors. Again, I would encourage you to check out www.advanceautowire.com and look at the schematic for '69 TR6. I used to pull my hair out looking at the Haynes manual since it didn't seem to match what I was seeing in my car ('71) at all. I found the AAW schematics and suddenly everything made sense! Lucas wasn't such a deranged sadist after all! I copied the file onto a CD and took it to Kinkos and had them print me out and laminate a poster sized copy. Unfortunately, that was the non-color version of the schematic and the same evening I got back from Kinkos the color version came out! But even the B&W version still helps a ton and with it being laminated I can color on it with grease pens if I like. Good luck!

Hey Kevin,
If it hasn't been mentioned already, a must-have is Dan Masters' book on TR6 electricals. You can get it direct from Dan himself. It is so good that a friend borrowed my copy and has yet to return it. Oh well. Back to wiring on the TR6. Many of us that run the 6 have found that, depending on the year, disconnecting some features of the circuit have benefits. For instance, in my 73 they had a system under the seat for seat belt warning, etc. which I disconnected (don't have OE seats). Also, I bypassed the rheostat on the dash for the lights. They are dull enough, why would I want to make them more dull! Also, I took out the circuit for the floorboard courtesy light (the switch in front of the shift) because this is a great way to kill the battery by inadvertently leaving it on. That is why a really good schematic is valuable, to see what you can do and what you shouldn't do. The book has a schematic for every year as a foldout. I even found a mistake in my new wiring harness which the marketer admitted with much chagrin after I pushed the issue on the phone. So much more the reason to trust but verify everything you do with wires.

Bill

Kevin- The main power goes to one one PW and the other PW goes to the door switch and then to the passenger door switch.
don

Kevin, Let me add one more bit of advise. The plug ins for the truck light stick out just enough that you must be careful not to have them ground on the gas tank. I always wrap this light in tape were the wires come in. What happens is you put golf clubs or something that pushes against the back board, it normally blows a fuse, but!!!. Sparks in this area tend to have explosive results, what with gas vapors in an enclosed area.