high beam indicator & key buzzer

[jrbarrie83]

Hey all.  I'm a new owner of an '83 silverado.  It had (has) a lot of little issues I need to sort out.  Two little things I've been looking at are the high beam indicator and the key/seat belt buzzer.

For the high beam indicator, it worked before I tore the dash out, and I was fairly certain I put everything back together properly, but now it doesn't work.  Is it a socket wired separately or does it use a bulb that plugs into the cluster like every other light?  I had a socket with two wires to it that I thought for sure was the indicator light, but for some reason it's not working ... and if it's not the indicator, then what was this socket for??  I tried putting in a plug-in bulb to see if it's wired just through the cluster, but I was doing this by reaching up from under the dash and it was anything but easy.  Needless to say I dropped the bulb somewhere in the dash and I'll probably never see it again.

For the buzzer - it doesn't work for anything ... key, lights, seat belt ... nothing.  I just need to know where it is and how to replace it.  Are there replacements available anywhere?

Thanks!!
Jim

[blazing816]

For the buzzer - it doesn't work for anything ... key, lights, seat belt ... nothing.  I just need to know where it is and how to replace it.  Are there replacements available anywhere?

As for the buzzer in our trucks there is no buzzer for the headlights (you can leave them all day and not know  ) It is pretty easy to do, I have done it (I notice I did not see a write up). I will look for my pictures, if I have any, and make a write up. It is pretty simple $6 buzzer and $10 relay at RadioShack and some wiring. The buzzer your talking about is the hooked to the "fasten seatbelt" light and it does not stay on like current vehicles until you buckle up. Ours are just time and buzz for so many seconds when you first turn the truck on, in my opinion there are kind of pointless and mine sounds like a chicken being strangled to death....lol 

[jrbarrie83]

Ok thanks.  My dad has an '80 and I remembered it having some sort of buzzer, but didn't quite know what it was for.  My '86 Olds has one for all three, so I didn't know how advanced they were in '83.  I know it's pointless, but I'm the type that will spend hours on one stupid little part just because it was original.  I spent probably 6 hours in total on replacing a little bulb for a fiber optic line that lit a tiny little blue light by the headlight switch in the olds ... which lasted about a year before it burnt out again!

[blazing816]

O I hear you, I am going to be starting a build on my 87 that I want to keep original to the eye, but going to throw in a few "hidden" upgrades that most people will not even know about. It will be fun and stressful  .

Anyways I am sure someone will chime in about the seatbelt buzzer, but if no one does I will look at my 86 when I get home, because mine still works.

[frotosride]

The seatbelt buzzer as you call it is probably ok but when you took the dash apart of sometime in the last 30 years the switch may have been messed up. If you took the steering wheel off at all, you may have not put the switch back. I know this because I have the same problem and haven't thought or a good reason to take it back apart except for the fact that I have locked my keys in the truck at least 6 times in the last couple of weeks.

Either way the switch is actually for the key. It goes off because the key is in the ignition and it's just a simple flat piece of copper that attaches to the lock cylinder and gets grounded when the wafer pushes it down by inserting the key. This would be my first culprit.

[frotosride]

Oh and as for the high beam indicator. just pop the cluster back out real quick. Hopefully you have a tilt column because it makes this a lot easier. But check the bulb first and I will have to look at the schematic for any other solutions. make sure the bulb is screwed into the socket all the way to ensure it's making contact.

[Boone83K10]

the high beam is just a bulb at the top of the cluster. The contacts may be corroded like mine and not make the connection every time. Clean those and put a new bulb in just for good measure. The two wire socket should be all the way to the right and top closest to the heater/ac controls, at least that is where mine is.

the seat belt buzzer is at the top of the fuse block under the dash. it looks like a little speaker. mine worked, then quit, then started working again and I don't know why. They are cheap to replace.

[blazing816]

The seatbelt buzzer as you call it is probably ok but when you took the dash apart of sometime in the last 30 years the switch may have been messed up. If you took the steering wheel off at all, you may have not put the switch back. I know this because I have the same problem and haven't thought or a good reason to take it back apart except for the fact that I have locked my keys in the truck at least 6 times in the last couple of weeks.

Either way the switch is actually for the key. It goes off because the key is in the ignition and it's just a simple flat piece of copper that attaches to the lock cylinder and gets grounded when the wafer pushes it down by inserting the key. This would be my first culprit.

I am pretty sure that the buzzer only buzzes when you first turn the truck on, we do not have a buzzer for our key (or all three my trucks are broke). My buzz comes on when I turn key to the "on" position and lights up the "fasten belt" light and goes off after a few seconds if I buckle up or not.

But I can turn all three my trucks off and leave the key in it and there is no buzzer, as I do this all the time cause I rarely lock my 86.

[blazing816]

As for the high beam indicator the picture below has a red circle around that blub that should light up if your high beams are on. The green circle shows where the blub socket goes with the extra wire, which I believe is just another ground to ground the cluster. Hope this helps.

[jrbarrie83]

Thanks for all of the replies - I think I have answers to all of my questions!  Well, except one.  The socket with a bulb in it ... I have no idea what it is for.  I have the one with the fiber optic line installed as referenced above.  If I do decide to take the dash apart again I'll have to snap a picture of what I have.  There is no other light in the dash or otherwise that isn't working, so I can't begin to speculate what it is for. 

[Sartobuilt]

Is the truck a 4x4? If it is the bulb scocket is for the 4x4 indicator light. Should have one black and one white wire. That bulb will go into the empty hole in the picture above. Also FYI to the picture above, the lamp socket with the wire is not a wire it is a fibre optic that lights the ashtray. If its not a 4x4, and the bulb comes on with the headlights it could be the heater control lamp.

[roger97338]

The light for the windshield wiper switch has two wires coming out of the lightbulb base. I think it's the 1/4 turn type of base, similar to the ones in the instrument cluster. So, you could check your WW switch and see if it lights up.

[frotosride]

The seatbelt buzzer as you call it is probably ok but when you took the dash apart of sometime in the last 30 years the switch may have been messed up. If you took the steering wheel off at all, you may have not put the switch back. I know this because I have the same problem and haven't thought or a good reason to take it back apart except for the fact that I have locked my keys in the truck at least 6 times in the last couple of weeks.

Either way the switch is actually for the key. It goes off because the key is in the ignition and it's just a simple flat piece of copper that attaches to the lock cylinder and gets grounded when the wafer pushes it down by inserting the key. This would be my first culprit.

I am pretty sure that the buzzer only buzzes when you first turn the truck on, we do not have a buzzer for our key (or all three my trucks are broke). My buzz comes on when I turn key to the "on" position and lights up the "fasten belt" light and goes off after a few seconds if I buckle up or not.

But I can turn all three my trucks off and leave the key in it and there is no buzzer, as I do this all the time cause I rarely lock my 86.

Good point it has been so long since mine has been on that I didn't even begin to think that it only went off when you initially turned the ignition on..

[blazing816]

Also FYI to the picture above, the lamp socket with the wire is not a wire it is a fibre optic that lights the ashtray.

Hmm I did not know that.....maybe that is why my ashtray does not light up...because my black "wire" is going up in the dash somewhere....never realized they used fiber optics on old trucks. I might have to hunt for the other end, prob just laying somewhere. My PO messed a lot of stuff up, just from being an idiot...lol

[jrbarrie83]

Thanks again for all of the help guys!  So I finally got to pull the dash out again.  All lights are now working.  The two-wire socket was for the 4x4 indicator.  Unfortunately when I was messing around from underneath the dash, I ripped one of the connections for the high beam indicator.  I was able to temporarily fix it with some tape and tin foil.  I guess eventually I'll order a new circuit ... but not until I have a reason to tear the dash apart again!

Still haven't played with the buzzer.  I've devoted most of the time I have to working on getting it ready to pass inspection (and it didn't have to have emissions as I thought - good thing cause it never would have passed!).  As of today, I'm finally legal and can just enjoy driving it and working on it at my leisure.