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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 39 Deluxe, Lights Dont Work

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Discussion Topic: 39 Deluxe, Lights Dont Work

LanceD

05-15-2012 @ 1:08 AM

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Okay so on my 39 Tudor Deluxe my lights have quit working, all exterior and interior lights. I haven't begun to figure out the problem but I am guessing someone here can point me in a good direction to start looking and save me frustration.

I believe the problem is due to a stupid mistake I made today. I was in a hurry to get my battery connected and accidentally touched my wrench to the car body while it was touching the negative battery terminal. This caused a little arc that made a nice spark (luckily didn't leave a mark on the body). I'm taking an educated guess here and thinking this stupidity of mine caused the issue.

So can anyone point me towards what parts to look at first to identify the issue? Thanks in advance.

-I know I have an old car, that's where my knowledge ends, Lance

TomO

05-15-2012 @ 7:27 AM

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I would first check the fuse.

Tom

supereal

05-15-2012 @ 10:08 AM

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I doubt that your wrench caused the problem. As Tom suggests, check the master fuse that connects the yellow/black wire to the fuse. The other side of the fuse is a yellow/red wire. I'm attaching a wiring diagram for your car to help you trace the wiring.

LanceD

05-15-2012 @ 8:56 PM

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So I haven't had a chance to do anything to the car today, but I walked in to the garage before work and saw the headlights shining through the cover. Apparently I had left the switch on while they weren't working and they at some point in the day decided to come on. Kind of weird

-I know I have an old car, that's where my knowledge ends, Lance

ford38v8

05-15-2012 @ 11:32 PM

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Lance, All interior and exterior lights are fed from one single fuse. Look up behind your dashboard on the driver side, high on the firewall. You'll see a ballast resistor and a fuse block, both mounted on a brown fiber board. The fuse block is your target suspect. The fuse itself is good, but you may have dirty or loose contacts for the fuse, or the wire(s) connected are loose. Check also the same wire where it connects to your ignition switch. These are the only possible causes, unless your engine stumbled or quit when the lights went out, in which case we're back to square one for a diagnosis...

Alan

LanceD

05-16-2012 @ 12:58 AM

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Engine is fine, starts quickly and runs great. I tested the lights before I left for my little drive. The car was then parked for a while and when I got back in it started right up but no lights, though the blinkers and four ways (which I'm guessing were added during restoration?) did work. So I drove home slowly with the 4 ways on. Then the lights magically came back on while the car sat untouched in the garage.

I believe this all points to a loose connection and I'll start looking where you suggested.

-I know I have an old car, that's where my knowledge ends, Lance

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