Wiring advice needed.

[Dallen17]

I recently bought my first Chevy square body. It's a 79 k20 Frame with a 83 Silverado body. When I got her home I realized I didn't have break lights, turn signals, or windshield wipers. fun right, id just like to have a advice on wiring do's and donts and where to begin. Fyi I checked the fuse box, no blown fuses. Please and thank you!

[Dead Parrot]

Do a complete work/not work inventory. Sometimes failures have a common fail point. Bad grounds are a frequent problem. Don't assume the PO kept up on bulb replacement. Could be that simple.

Do your running lights work?

[jabable]

Do you have turn signals upfront but not rear signals, or do you have no turn signals at all?

[andyh1956]

Since the body's been changed, do you have ANY WIRES running to the rear of the truck?

[hatzie]

Look in the manuals post for the 1983 and 1979 wiring diagrams.
Turns, Brake lamps, and wipers are all turn-stalk switch controlled on the 1983. Start there. I'd also look at the rear lamp harness attachment point at the firewall plug in the engine bay but that won't fix the wipers.

Brand new AC Delco Switches and stalks are still available if that turns out to be the failure point.

[gmachinz]

Ok-check to verify you still have a braided ground strap that should be going from a floor support brace to your frame under the box. Next, the wiper wiring is the same for 79 and 83 and the wiper switch is on the dash for 1983-not on the stalk. 1984 it was relocated to the turn signal stalk. Also, on the rear tail lights behind each lense there should be a small grounding ringlet on the body as well. If its all butchered and/or missing, I offer complete tail light harness sections should you feel a NEW replacement is needed.

[hatzie]

Good catch... 84 was the change-over at least according to the wiring diagrams. Not sure why I thought it was 83... CRS

The Weatherpak tail harness is a worthwhile upgrade if the original molded connector harness is butchered.

[Dallen17]

Originally Posted by Dead Parrot

Do a complete work/not work inventory. Sometimes failures have a common fail point. Bad grounds are a frequent problem. Don't assume the PO kept up on bulb replacement. Could be that simple.

Do your running lights work?

Yes my running lights work

[Dallen17]

I don't have turn signals in front or back, i do have running lights and head lights. Other then that no break lights or turn signals at all. Going to start looking at wiring and grounds today. Thank you all for the advice and help. It was much appreciated.

[Palf70Step]

Don't forget the turn-signal switch in the column. Brakes and turn run thru there.

As for the wiper motor, it may never have been plugged back in after the body swap.

[gmachinz]

Make sure your stoplight switch under the dash is adjusted properly. As for turn signals, look for some loose/broken/spliced wiring at your column connector-its a common failure area too-especially if a PO has swapped columns in the past on the truck. But check those frounds behind each tail lense-they are notorious for corroding/breaking and if the box has ever been off, the tail light section always get beat up it seems.

[Dead Parrot]

Do your emergency flashers work? Thinking maybe your turn signal blinker could be bad. IIRC, the emergency flasher is separate from the turn signal one.

[hatzie]

If the tail lamps work then the tail grounds are OK. The tail, rear turn, and backups are on the same ground.

Turns and brake lamps run through the turn switch in the column. Make sure the harmonica plug is fully seated and be sure the wiring is not damaged.

Checking the Hazards is a good idea. If the Hazards work swap the Hazard and Turn flasher to verify the flasher isn't your failure point... However the brake lamps being dead leads me to question the TURN switch functionality.

Wipers are a switched ground system with Ignition power to the motor on the White wires from the WIPER fuse. This allows the internal motor switch to keep the motor switched on til the wipers park
Is the WIPER fuse good?
Is the WIPER switch plugged in?
Do you have 12V at both of the White wires in the wiper-motor/washer Pak Con connectors verified with a meter with the ignition switched on?
With the meter set to resistance...

1. With the switch set to OFF Do you have close to 0Ω from the Black/LT-Blue wire to a good chassis ground?
2. With the switch set to LO Do you have close to 0Ω from the GRAY wire to a good chassis ground?
3. With the switch set to HI Do you have close to 0Ω from the Purple wire to a good chassis ground?

NOTE: You can set the meter to DC-V and a range higher than 12v. Then you substitute the chassis ground in the above three tests for the WHITE wiper/washer power wire. It should then read battery voltage in each test assuming the WHITE wires have a good connection to the fuse panel and the switch circuit is good...