What am I doing wrong here?

ThompsonXterra

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
California
I hate wiring. But I'm trying to get better and thought it was a good idea to try and tackle wiring an engine bay light.

I thought I had things going perfectly, I went to turn the light on, anddd nothing. To add to my frustration my LED pod lights no longer work either for some reason (I turned them on just a few hours ago). I used the same ground for the engine bay light as the pod lights, but I didn't think that would cause an issue? Now, even after unplugging all the wiring for the engine bay light, the pods still won't turn on. Did I really screw something up?

Anyways, here's how I wired it. One of you electrically inclined people will probably see the problem right away and want to smack me lol. I'm not using a relay as the switch itself will be in the engine bay and I'm not too worried about it. The only possible problem area I can think of is where I grounded the switch and the light together by soldering the wires together like I have drawn. Can I not do that?

I'm using 14-gauge wire. Is that too thick?

Thanks for the help.

 

Muadeeb

Nissan al Gaib
Admin
Location
Dallas
Smack.



Remove the light from the switch. Remove the ground from the switch. Run the middle post of the switch to the positive lead of the light. Attach ground to the negative lead.

Repeat the XN mantra: I will consult Jay or Deeb when I am unsure how to wire something. If I think I am sure, have them double check me.
 

ThompsonXterra

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
California
Smack.



Remove the light from the switch. Remove the ground from the switch. Run the middle post of the switch to the positive lead of the light. Attach ground to the negative lead.

Repeat the XN mantra: I will consult Jay or Deeb when I am unsure how to wire something. If I think I am sure, have them double check me.

I knew someone would come along!

Thanks. Little confused on one part though. Am I simply running the negative from the light to negative lead on the switch? Not grounding it? If you could draw or link a picture that would help a lot. Visual learner lol
 
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ThompsonXterra

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
California
Well I rearranged the wires on the switch how I thought you meant for it to be done. The switch is now lighting up! There's a small light on it, however, there still seems to be no power to the light itself. I've tried the negative wire on both the left and right posts on the switch with the same result, switch light comes on but not the actual light itself.

Here's my new wiring setup (blue represents negative wires) and the switch itself. All help is greatly appreciated!



 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
On your switch, you have power in, power out and the ground is strictly for the light in the switch. The switch should work just fine without the ground connected.

Since your switch is lit up, my guess is that it has a good ground. But that's not saying that the power is connected correctly.

Though if it is an incandescent light in the switch you could have your power in and ground are backwards which would make the engine bay light not work.

Need to check the connections between the switch and the light and check your ground on the light.


Here's my next question. 1st gen?
 
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ThompsonXterra

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
California
On your switch, you have power in, power out and the ground is strictly for the light in the switch. The switch should work just fine without the ground connected.

Since your switch is lit up, my guess is that it has a good ground. But that's not saying that the power is connected correctly.

Though if it is an incandescent light in the switch you could have your power in and ground are backwards which would make the engine bay light not work.

Need to check the connections between the switch and the light and check your ground on the light.


Here's my next question. 1st gen?

Thanks for the help and sorry for the late reply. It's been a busy week. Hopefully working more on this tomorrow.

And yes 1st gen
 
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