Tell us the connection in all the boxes. Note which wire is connected to the common screw of the switches. It does not matter what the postion is.
This is avery un normal setup. You won't find a drawing for it.
The actual problem is probably the wrong wire on the common terminal of one of the switches.

Thanks for the response, joed.

I think the circuit is supposed to look like this when it's connected correctly:
http://www.electrical-online.com/3wayvariation6.htm

One problem is that in the switches, I have changed the connections of a couple of the wires based on a wiring diagram I was trying to follow before I realized the 2nd light made things more complicated. So I'm not sure I can remember the original connections to the switches, although the circuit's behavior is the same as it was originally. The wiring in the light boxes is untouched, though.

Part of the problem is that I've revisited this project a couple times over a couple years, so I forget what was changed when. I am certain that the light fixture wiring is original, though.

OK: Here's the wiring the best I can describe it.

Starting with Switch #1, on the house side of the garage; this switch works fine, as long as the other switch is in a particular position. It has one cable with a White wire going to the left side, a Red going to the right, and a Black to Common. (These wires have been switched around, and I'm not sure I remember the original connections)

Next is Light #1 with two cables coming into it . It has Cable #1: White wire going to Terminal A on the fixture, Red going to Terminal B, Black going to Black wire from Cable #2. Cable # 2: White wire to Terminal A (shared with White from Cable 1), Black wire to Black from cable 1.

Light #2 with three cables I'll call 3,4,5: Cable #3 (I realize it's not necessarily a different cable than others going into other boxes, but since I don't know which goes where, I am describing as a new cable until we identify it as one of the others). White to Terminal A, Red to Terminal B, Black connected to Cable 4 White and Cable 5 Black. Cable 4 Black: Terminal B. Cable 5 White: Terminal A (shared).

Switch #2, far side of garage, two cables I'll call #7,8. Cable 7 White connected to Cable 8 White, Cable 7 Red to Switch right side, Cable 7 Black to Switch left, Cable 8 Black to Switch Common. These wires' connections have been changed around.

So there it is. If anyone can figure out this mess from my amateur description, I'll be incredibly impressed.

I'm thinking that once I know which cable is going between which boxes, I can probably either find a wiring diagram or create one that will work. If all else fails, maybe I can track things down by checking each wire with an ohm meter to see where it goes.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

David

Are you sure there is not another cable in light #1? I can make some sense of this mess if there is.

I went back and double checked, and there are only two cables as described. This does look a little odd, because it doesn't match any of the diagrams I have found so far.

David

My thinking was that the W/R/B at each light comes from a switch, the W/B at switch 2 is the incoming power, and if you had two W/B cables at each light, these would carry the two travelers and the neutral and switched hot, respectively. But the lack of another set of wires at light 1 blows that theory.
You are going to have to determine which set of W/B cables is the incoming power and where each of the other cables goes to.

The wiring may not be conventional because the power or the light circuits are not coming into the switch boxes and some creative wiring was done.
The easiest way to figure this out is to first disassemble all switches and lights to access the wiring. Find out which wires in each box have power and make a diagram. Next shut off the circuit so you can check each wires resistance/continuity. This will allow you to determine which cable is feeding where. With a voltmeter/DVM set to OHMS pick the first wire to check and make sure there is no continuity. With the meter still connected to the wire go to the light or switch box you think the wire is running to and touch the same colored wire to ground (this is assuming it hasn't changed color by a connection somewhere else). The meter will read close to zero ohms when the wire is touched to ground (some wires may read a low resistance if it is connected to the light bulb so you may want to remove them). Do this for each wire until you have a diagram showing where all wires are going/coming from. Then is is a matter of having the wire supplying power go to the common of one switch. The two other wires in that same switch box must get to the other switch. The other switch will have the two wires coming in from the first switch and then the wire going to the lights connect to the common of switch 2. It now is a matter of connecting the wires through all the boxes to achieve this configuration.
If you cannot figure this out then a picture of where all the wires go to the switches and lights.

Good Luck!

OK- good help so far, guys. I had already started mapping out the wires, and just finished it. Now I need turn the power on again to see which wires have power coming them. I'll put together a full summary when I get it all mapped out, and maybe we can figure this thing out.

David

I think the way this is could be wired is the 3-ways are a switch loop from the lights. However the description of what is connected in the lights does not make sense, unless those connections have also been changed around. But in this scenario at light 1- power enters and leaves, 14/3 runs to the next light carrying switched power on the red and power to feed the switch loop on the black. At light 2 the black from the 14/3 connects to the white of the loop. 14/2 then runs to the 1st switch, and 14/3 continues to the last switch. Then again this could just be hacked together and the 14/3 runs from the switch to the lights and 14/2 is acting as travelers or some other code violating method. Testing for switch loops will help make a little more sense of it.

Here's the diagram I've come up with from my tracking the wires with my ohm meter and then testing where the power is coming in.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg212/db4570/Garage-Switches.jpg

Light 2 has 3 cables coming into it. Black and white wires # 9 and 10 don't match any of the wires in any of the other boxes, continuity wise. Kind of mysterious.

Hopefully I have enough wires in the circuit to make this thing work with 3 way switches. Maybe this diagram will give us enough to chew on.

Thanks for your help, everyone!

David

Here is a link that might be useful:

The lights appear to be wired correctly based on your previous descriptions, so leave all that alone. At switch 1, connect the white wire to the common terminal of the switch (the black screw). At switch 2, the black from the W/B cable should connect to the common.

At light 2, the ?/? cable appears to be a hot feed to other receptacles/lighting circuits.

Well, all the wires were disconnected so I could trace where they went to. I then re-wired everything using this diagram that seemed closest to my routing of wires:

http://www.homeimprovementweb.com/information/how-to/three-way-switch-option6.htm

...and it worked!

I still don't know what those wires marked "?" are for, that I put in my diagram in my previous message. I'm going to check and see if they are a hot feed to my outdoor light or something. They are disconnected from the circuit for the time being.

David

Here is a link that might be useful: Diagram I used

Good job sticking with it! That would frustrate most people.

Glad to see it works. Only issue is the diagram you used has an NEC violation. On a switch loop, the white wire, even when re-identified as a current carrying conductor (hot wire) can only carry power down to the switch. The "natural" black wire would be the switched wire that would be connected to the fixture or switched receptacle. Originally, the NEC did not require the white wire to be re-identified and this provision kept it so that there would not be 2 white wires ( one hot, one neutral ) that could be spliced together or hooked up in reverse polarity by mistake. Now, even with the required re-id'd white, the concern would be someone splicing into the switch loop somewhere between the fixture and the switch. They would have a black hot and a white "neutral" if the switch were off. While it may seem like a nit pick, I still hook my switch legs up so that the re-id'd white carries power down to the switch and the black brings power back up the fixture.

Thanks to everyone for their help. The circuit works great, and I discovered what the ? wires were for that I previously couldn't identify. They feed an outdoor flood light. So everything works fine now.

Blackadder- I appreciate your mention of the issue you describe with the white wires. I will take a look at the circuit to see if it can be wired the way you suggest.

David