electrical drain and no interior lights

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[Midlife]

Not a whole lot more to test.  The wiring from the alternator to the VR is part of the light harness, and there is also an alternator harness that goes to the alternator from the starter solenoid.  If you're ambitious, you can start unwrapping the tape and examine the light harness from the VR area and follow wiring around the radiator support to the alternator area.  If you find a splice of some sort, make sure it is connecting the right colored wires together and that any exposed wire strands are kept apart by electrical tape and such.

I'm 98% confident your VR is shot, but it may be your wiring that contributed to that condition. 

[panteramatt]

Thanx a ton. Is $50 too much for an electonic vr?

[apollard]

Thanx a ton. Is $50 too much for an electonic vr?

Most parts houses have electronic VRs for $15-20. I wouldn't pay $50, unless you need one that looks concours correct.

[panteramatt]

Well Midlife, THANX a ton! You were right. Picked up a vr for $13 at advanced and hooked the orange wire back up and sure nuff, no drain. Why did it run fine without it hooked up though? Seemed to keep the battery charged and stuff too.

[Midlife]

That line controls the amount of voltage sent to the battery, IIRC.  Without that line attached, you'll get full voltage output from the alternator at about 16+V instead of the 14.5V it should receive.

$15 for a simple fix is good!  Now tackle the interior lights!

[panteramatt]

Thanx mid, your the man! Already took the switch out and tried cleanin it but that didnt work. Really dont wanna spend $50 to find out thats not the problem. Looked at new wiring under the hood, but $220 for the headlight wiring it a little too steep for me right now. Gonna get the wiring from the alt to the vr for now.

[panteramatt]

Ok, so I tore the dash out tonight and did some testing. I have power going to the courtesy lights but they are all blown. I also noticed that the high beam light in the dash works. I tested the dash plug and the top 3 right side pins light up with my tester and a couple others light up once the ignition is on so I am getting power to the cluster. All the bulbs in the cluster are good also.