stupid questions time - heater controls illuminate and Parking brake cable ?

[badmix]

'84 Blazer.


1) I rarely drive at nite and dont remember if the a/c, vent, heater control area is suppose to light up. I pulled the instrument panel to fix the light behind fuel gauge and been testing the lights and those dont light up and not sure if they are suppose to. IF they are, than mine arent. POST #6 covers it, I got it!!!.


2) My parking brake cable running under the truck goes thru this metal bracket ( just below the drivers door) the problem is the bracket hole is pretty big and the cable is pulled to one side of the bracket to the point that its wearing thru the cable and the cable passes really close to the frame almost at an angle. Is this cable suppose to go straight back, parallel with the frame and not off at an angle and is there suppose to be something in this bracket like a grommet? I just went and checked it, its only really tight when the P brake is set, its loose when its released. anyway to keep it from rubbing thru? Can you guys take a look at yours and let me know. I can get a pic if need be.


Thanks.

 

[tRustyK5]

#1) yes it's supposed to light up with the headlights on. Should be another twist in light holder from the backside, and I think this one has the fibre optic lead that goes to the ashtray.

#2) What year is your rig? There are two different styles of E-brake routing.

Rene

 

[nemeth21]

First check for voltage which would be real easy. The power is fed from theheadlight switch

 

[badmix]

Its a 1984 K5.

There was a wire that went from the fuel light bulb somewhere in that direction. Wasnt sure what it did or went to. was part of the bulb assembly, is this the one? IF so, how does it work?

 

[tRustyK5]

OK, so i just had a look...the light for the heater controls is a two wire dealie seperate from the cluster. Looks like white and a darker color and they head back and down toward the center of the dash area. The wires come into the back of a twist lock bulb holder.

On the E-brake I should have been more clear. The early style of E-brake cable is two same length cable at the rear diff, plus a long slave cable that the foot pedal pulls on. The newer style there is a short cable on the drivers side of the rear end, and a longer cable from the passenger side, then both cables head forward along the drivers side frame.

If you have the second (newer style) I can snap a few pics.

Rene

 

[badmix]

Id have to look to double check,

1) But here is a super crappy picture of what Im up against. Here is the cable pulled tight when the P brake is set. I actually bent the bracket more in the direction of the cable to help relieve some stress/pressure, but it was only marginal

2) As far as the heater control light, could it just be a BULB , since the rest of my dash lights work?

**EDIT**. Ok, never mind. I went down, was checking things out and decided to fix it like I fix most things on my K5, I smacked that area with my hand, low and behold the light came on. Its to the RIGHT of the controls. So, ill try to reach up thru the bottom of the dash and clean the connections, apparently theyve gotten corroded or something.

3) Also, what is the cable coming off the Fuel gauge light bulb, its like a black round plastic cable, not sure what it is.


Thanks everyone, sorry to be a pain in the azz.

 

[tRustyK5]

That black 'cable' is a fibre optic lead. When it gets dark turn on the lights, open your ashtray and look up and to the left and you'll see a very dim (but useful) light. That is the end of the fibre optic cable transferring a bit of light from the fuel gauge light to the ashtray area.

My parkbrake has the same deal, and does the same thing. There is a chamfered, smooth 1/2" wide ring in the bracket to prevent cable wear.

Rene

 

[badmix]

Ok thanks, I just went back down (since its dark out) and the fiber optic is working, well, as working as it should be, pretty dim light. I always thought the light in the cig light area was just light escaping the back of the dash gauge cluster, lol. Hard to believe ive owned this truck going on 8-9 years now and never noticed.

I dont have any ring inside that bracket, ill have to make shift something, I dont want my cable wearing through, that would be one more mess Id have to fix.

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cc/full.aspx?Page=155

I wonder if #4 in the 3rd picture , is the part that I need

Any ideas?

 

[tRustyK5]

Yep, that'd be the one, although your crappy pic it looks like something is there that's about 1/2" wide. The catalog shows two places with that 'grommet'. Check towards the rear where the two cables go through, there should be another 'grommet'.

Rene