No instruments, plus front marker lights on all the time

[austbrad]

Hi there,

I've got a 71 cuda with a hemi. The car had been running great up until about 2 months ago, we it just died while out on a cruise. Turned out that the fusible link and the ballast resistor were fried. Upon further investigation, the number 16 and 18 terminals in the firewall bulkhead connector also looked like they had overheated, which may have been the source of the problem. I've now replaced the fusible link, the ballast resistor, plus the coil, the electronic regulator and the starter relay for good measure. I've removed the heavy gauge red and black wires out of the firewall bulkhead connector (terminals 16 an 18) and re-routed them into the cabin using two separate dedicated wiring runs with a heavy duty connector located inside the cabin. I have crimped and soldered all wire joints.

I've got the car running again, but a fresh electrical gremlin has arisen. The front marker lights are now lit up all the time and I have to disconnect the battery to turn them off. Also, the instruments in my rally gauge cluster (tach, oil, tem, fuel and clock) are no longer working. They were working fine before the fusible link blew. I've checked the 5 amp fuse and it was blown, so I replaced it. I've checked if there is power to the fuse block an I have power to everything fuse, expect the 5 amp fuse. There is no power to either side of the 5 amp fuse. Looking at the wiring diagram I have, it seems that the 5 amp fuse is wired to the radio (orange wire), the ignition switch (orange wire) and the panel light dimmer switch (tan wire). The dimmer light seems to be working ok, I have not checked the radio yet (never used it before).

Where should I start looking for the problem?

thanks

Brad.

[dodj]

Well the power for fuse 5 comes from the infamous dimmer switch, so I would start there and see if you have power at the dimmer.
As for the markers, I was first thinking switch, which you should check, but with the serious electrical issue you had, wires may be melted together. Try pulling the harness connector off the headlight switch and see if they still come on?