Can you tell me if I did it wrong?
Hello, and thanks for any help or advice you can give me.
I have a similar problem with my 1991 Explorer. Pulling the headlight knob out halfway turned on dash and running (parking?) lights but pulling it all the way turned on the headlights but then the dash, running and tail lights would go off. I could not afford to get it fixed but I must drive at night to get to work.
In desperation, I have tried to fix it myself. I read all the threads on this site that I could find, as well as on some other sites. I learned how to do a western union splice, how to solder (I hope), what liquid electric tape is, about Scotch 33+ electric tape, and heat shrink wrap. I got a new switch and pigtail and a Haynes manual, took off the dash, and applied this new knowledge as carefully as I could.
The two yellow wires in the dash that connect to the one yellow wire on the pigtail concerned me, but they go to the same prong on the switch so I twisted them together with the pigtail's yellow wire. The other thing that bugged me is the fatter brown wire coming from the dash hooks up to a black with red stripe on the pigtail, there's no other option, but the brown wire is a bunch of fatter copper strands and the black/red wire's copper strands are noticeably thinner, but the total wire is the same thickness as the brown's, I guess they both fit in the 14 gauge hole in the stripper tool. I was hoping this is okay, but please tell me if it's a problem.
After doing the whole task of hooking up the new pigtail, I got worried and so cut it off and redid the soldering again to try to make sure it wasn't a cold solder job. Then I coated the splices with liquid electric tape. The next day I wrapped them with Scotch 33+, then shrunk the heat shrink over that.
My problem is that now I am scared to put the switch on and hook up the battery again to see if it works. I know it probably won't explode, but I am cautious by nature and have a really, really good imagination for potential disasters. Is there anything obvious I'm missing, or does it look like I did it right and it should be okay?
Also, are the next steps to just plug in the switch, put the knob stick back in it, and hook up the battery so I can start the car and see if the lights work right? I wish I could post the pictures of it but I'm still figuring out how.
If there's anything else I should be aware of in my nooby ignorance please, please feel free to clue me in. I'll leave the dash off until I know it's working right. Thanks for any help.
