Multiple ills lurking in my electrical system

[Tonefiend]

'70 Challenger std. guages.   Ok here goes.  Sometimes the car will only start or run in drive.  Other times it will start in park (colum shift) but will suddenly die unless it's in drive.  Happens in reverse as well.

Right turn signal arrow semi lit, kinda wavers on and off. 

Electrical guage moves and lights get brighter with application of accelerator.

Very stupid question, but I just got the car today so gimme a break.    Are my guages supposed to be back lit?  I drove it this PM and there is nothting but a weak light activated by the panel light switch.

Also no overhead light, but that coulbd be a bad bulb which I have not looked into yet. 

One more thing, burned out left taillight.  Could this be the reason for the turn signal arrow to be on?

Thanks!

[shadango]

Congrats on the new ride!

I will let others comment on the start/run problem....excpet to say that it could be the wiring that is connected to the neutral safety switch....but if that were the case it would be a problem with it starting and stopping, but not in drive I wouldnt think...the NSS (on auto trannies at least) prevents starting the car in any gear....only neutral or park......

The instrument panel is not backlit......(that concept was new to me too, so dont feel bad...LOL)......it is lit from the front, using several small bulbs behind blue/green plastic lenses built into the metal strip directly above the panel...there are 4 or 5 screws (I think) holding it in and it drops down.....

The headlight dimmer switch controls the intensity of the light, but even after cleaning my dimmer switch really well its still leass than impressive.   There are a number of threads on this forum (search for dimmer   or sintrument lights) about fixes/tweaks/mods for the instrument panel lights.....one is removing the plastic lenses altogether....as Chryco talks about in this thread....
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=60732.0

For the dome light, check the bulb first but it could be that the pin switches in your door jambs are crusty/not working/missing......

The burned left rear signal could be causing that side signal to blink funny.......so check the bulb and if its not that, the socket etc.  The grounds on my tail-lights were bad and I had all sorts of weird signal/light issues til I went over those.

Good luck and welcome!

[Bullitt-]

'70 Challenger std. guages.   Ok here goes.  Sometimes the car will only start or run in drive.  Other times it will start in park (colum shift) but will suddenly die unless it's in drive.  Happens in reverse as well.

New one on me.... I'm GUESSING a connection issue with the column... 

[dodj]

'70 Challenger std. guages.   Ok here goes.  Sometimes the car will only start or run in drive.  Other times it will start in park (colum shift) but will suddenly die unless it's in drive.  Happens in reverse as well.

Right turn signal arrow semi lit, kinda wavers on and off. 

Electrical guage moves and lights get brighter with application of accelerator.

Very stupid question, but I just got the car today so gimme a break.    Are my guages supposed to be back lit?  I drove it this PM and there is nothting but a weak light activated by the panel light switch.

Also no overhead light, but that coulbd be a bad bulb which I have not looked into yet. 

One more thing, burned out left taillight.  Could this be the reason for the turn signal arrow to be on?

Thanks!

Your starting problem seems suspiciously like a linkage adjustment problem. Like shadango said, your nss is to only allow starting in neutral or park. If your linkage is a bit out it is conceivable it would cause the part of the symptoms you are describing. Check you nss plug on the tranny as well to make sure it is solidly plugged in and the wiring to it is in decent shape.  Starting then dying on the other hand could be a lot of things, but not the nss. Possibly ballast resistor?
Electrical gauge/ammeter moving and lights getting brighter with acceleration is an e-body feature and completely normal (until you do the mods)
A burned out taillight can cause the interior indicator to stay on.....or off, I've seen both. I guess the make of flasher determines this.
Congratulations on your new Challenger! Post a pic and lets see it!

[dodj]

Also, for the dash lights check out the thread called 'looking for brighter dash lights'