1996 850r Instrument panel stays on when key is out

[Texasbrainstew]

Hi guys,
Wish I wasnt here on my Birthday but its whatever lmao.

Was working on my AC and had the 1996 850R running for a bit in the garage and when I went to turn it off and all of my cluster lights stayed on.

When the key is out, ONLY the dash cluster warning lights are on. (coolant temp and gas gauge stay on as well but no background lights) no radio, no window power ect.

(INTERIOR LIGHTS ARE IRRELEVANT)

With the key out and the cluster lights on I tired unplugging the light switch with no luck. The ignition lock cylinder seems decent and is fully maxed out ccw.

Got the Haynes wiring diagram out and am about to follow the power, its just odd Ive never ran into this problem across 6 different p80s.

Anybody deal with this before? I feel like a relay has failed or something. Something is SELECTIVELY letting power through to the cluster ONLY.

Appreciate yalls time

NA

[misha]

Electrical portion of ignition switch?

[erikv11]

Electrical portion of ignition switch?

This is what I'd suspect first. It's a very quick swap to test, do you have a spare or access to one?

[scot850]

Or just disconnect it and see if the lights go out at least. That is the easiest solution to check for. If t hat is not the source then we have to go deeper!

Neil.

[BEJinFbk]

Or maybe an ignition overload relay is sticking.
Anything else staying on?

[Texasbrainstew]

Im down to probe the electrical part of the switch.

At the moment I dont have access to an extra.

Didnt think about trying that (disconnecting the lock switch) Ill post how that goes when Im off work.

A part of me thinks one of the overload relays is stuck open.


And No no other lights on at all. Whats crazy is the lock cylinder behaves normally and responds correctly to its position. Like when I turn on the car all of the lights turn off like normal, and in the second position is completely normal.

When I turn the car off to the 1 position the lights stay on as if its in position 2.

When I put the key in position 2 the lights get just a hair brighter from proper power Im assuming

[erikv11]

For the record, failing ignition switch can show all kinds of completely bizarre behaviors, with no apparent rhyme or reason.

[Texasbrainstew]

Hey Erik! I was hoping youd still be around these parts. Good to see youre still around! Have definitely given me good advice along with Lee that helped me get to where I am today.

Interesting stuff no doubt. Ive heard too much about the lock cylinders and am sad that my day has come haha

I forgot to mention that my key fob no longer works when the cluster lights are on.

[Texasbrainstew]

Update: Pulled the Ignition switch off with no luck.
Power still making it to the cluster

[scot850]

When you said you pulled the ignition switch, you mean you disconnected the connectors fully and the lights stayed on?

The other thing that can cause weird stuff is the main light switch.

Next thing would be to do a current drain test. Disconnect the negative battery cable and connect a voltmeter set to ohms to the cable and the other to -ve battery terminal. (Make sure all doors are closed and do not open them or you will fry your voltmeter).

For your car you should have a parasitic drain from 10-20 mA. That is standard for an 850. Any higher you have a short somewhere.
If the draw is higher, then start pulling each fuse in the main fuse box one at a time until you find which circuit is the issue. Then it is a case of looking at a circuit diagram and see what is on that circuit and isolate each item in turn.

Sounds like you may already know how to do that, but worth mentioning.

Neil.