| silverchief | -- 06-18-2010 @ 9:43 AM |
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In addressing problem with dim lights, started with examination of old original wiring at original switch. With switch on - it's connecting wires become very hot to the touch. Lights are not only dim - but very slow to come on once switch is pulled. I realize this is a dangerous situation. Outside of new wiring harness - where should I start? Also, can I reach headlight buckets to clean the grounds by removing center pan in front of radiator? Thanks in advance.
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| supereal | -- 06-18-2010 @ 9:56 AM |
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When I installed halogen headlights, the result was less light than the old sealed beams. Some testing showed that the system, from the switch thru the dimmer, and many "bullet" connectors left little power for the lights themselves. In addition, the wiring was smaller than the required gauge for the load. I devised a relay board that would allow full battery voltage to be applied, and used the existing connectors at the front end of the car to connect it. The original circuit operates the relays which, in turn, provide the power. Now, the headlights are very bright without massive rewiring and replacement of the switches. The cost: about $60 for both the solenoids used.
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| trjford8 | -- 06-18-2010 @ 9:38 PM |
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Make sure all your grounds are clean and tight.Then check all the connections to make sure they are not corroded. This will probaly help, but if the wiring is old you really need a new harness.Old original harnesses are a fire looking for a place to happen. If you don't have a battery disconnect swithch on the car at this time you should get one. I would not leave the battery connected with this old harness when the car is unattended.
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| carcrazy | -- 06-19-2010 @ 12:10 AM |
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It sounds to me like you have a short circuit in one or more of your wires. I would check the resistances of each wire to ground and to the other wires at the switch to determine the source of the short. Disconnect the battery before measuring resistances of the wires. Once you determine the source of the short you can replace or repair the bad wire or wires.
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| supereal | -- 06-19-2010 @ 8:37 AM |
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Rather than measuring resistance, a quicker way is to place the probes of your voltmeter across each leg of the circuit. Any reading indicates the loss of that much voltage to a high resistance connection. At 6 volts, it only takes a few ohms to lose it all. Hot wires or components indicate a high resistance in that part of the circuit. Heed Tom's good advice: Install a master cutoff switch on the battery of any old car. There is lots of wiring that is out of sight, and plenty of old cars have burned because of them, sometimes taking the garage, too!
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| 37RAGTOPMAN | -- 06-19-2010 @ 12:46 PM |
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replace the wiring before the car catches fire.or maybe burns the garage down, sounds to be you are asking for trouble with wiring getting hot, really is you car worth more then the price of a good wiring harness, ask yourself this, I just replaced the dash harness in my 37 last year and it had a NOS FORD harness in it and I had no problems. but it was old and did not trust it anymore, and install a dissconect switch, just for safety sake, KEEP ON TRUCKIN 37RAGTOPMAN
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| silverchief | -- 06-19-2010 @ 2:41 PM |
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Thanks buddy - my old wiring is very shabby. I don't have a problem springing for a new harness and think that is what I will do.
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| silverchief | -- 06-19-2010 @ 2:43 PM |
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Supereal, Yeah I think cut switch first and new harness second. Thanks.
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| silverchief | -- 06-19-2010 @ 2:46 PM |
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Ragtopman, Good advice. I am very super cautious where fire is concerned. Must have 10 alarms in my house. And of course if a fire were to start it would be in the dead of the night. Thanks.
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| TomO | -- 06-19-2010 @ 3:02 PM |
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Any connection that is hot, has a high resistance. If the connections at your light switch are hot, disconnect them, clean them and coat them with a thin coat of corrosion resistant grease and the reassemble them. I would not drive the car and would keep the battery disconnected until the problem is resolved. To check the ground circuit for the headlights, connect the POS or + lead of your volt meter to the POS terminal of the battery and the COM lead to the screw that the ground lead of your headlight is connected to and turn on your lights. You should read less than .1 volts. DO NOT DO THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE CORRECTED ALL HOT CONNECTIONS. Tom
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