Why don't I have any lights?!

[JohnnyWadd]

Hey, guys. I feel like a dumbass because of all the technical help I've been seeking off of this site. Anyway, I'm in the process of reassembling my stolen car, and I keep running into little problems. The latest one has to do with the lights. For some reason, I don't have any. And I don't just mean the headlights. No foglights, no dashlights, no tail lights, no back-up lights... hell, even the little LED on the rear defog switch won't come on. I do have blinkers and brake lights, but that's it. Anybody got any idea where to start? I'm wondering if there is a relay or a fuse that runs all of this. Unfortunately, there are no lids to my fuse / relay boxes. If you know what to check, I'd be forever grateful.

Thanks
Jon

[SilvrEclipse]

Check all of the fuses. You also might want to invest in a shop manual, they can be very helpful some times.

[1stGenRocks]

i dont even bother with the fuse lids. just grab a test light and check for power on the little numbs on top of the fuse. any fuse that has power on one side should have it on both. turn the key on while you check so that everything is powered up.

[caniborrow50cnts]

if your car was hot wired, a short in the steering column could have fried your wiring harness. There are multiple fuses, so 1 wouldn't keep them all from working. Check the fusebox wires for continuity. If several wires are coming up dead, check your harness for melted or cut wires. I don't know what model you have but the harness should be above the driver side wheel well or through the firewall behind the glovebox.

[JohnnyWadd]

Okay, I solved this problem, and it was an odd one. When the car was stolen, they decided to take all of the fuses and circuit breakers from the three spots under the hood. They also took the lids so that I couldn't tell what was what. When I went to the parts car, it had the lid for the AC Relay block, but not the one for the main relay block on the passenger's side. It did, however, have all of the relays intact. So, I took them all and put them in my car.

After posting this problem, a guy sent me a picture of his lid so that I could know which relay was which so that I could start there. I was convinced that the relay wasn't the problem, considering that there are seperate relays for the head lights, tail lights, fog lights, and such. I thought that there was no way that all three relays could be bad.

Well, I was wrong. I don't know what the deal was, but for some reason, the relays I got from the parts car were not working in my car. It was a '90 and mine was a '91, but I can't imagine that being the problem. I don't know what the deal was.

I have access to a '92 Talon, so the first thing I did was pull the headlight relay from it and put it in my car. I figured I'd start small and work from there. Viola!! I have headlights. Still no fog lights, tail lights, back-up lights, or instrument panel lights. So, I pull the relay from the '92 for the tail lights. That, too, fixes another problem. Now I have tail lights. So, I decided to go for three. I pulled the fog light relay. That worked as well. I was dumbfounded. At least three out of the six relays that I got from the parts car didn't work in my car. So, for good measure, I just decided to pull the other three and swap them out as well. Not sure whether they were working or not. I just decided to be safe rather than sorry.

Thanks for your ideas, though, guys. I was lost for a while.
Jon