Electrical Problem

[mgbmedic]

I just bought a 69 B/GT that's basically a sound car with only one little electrical problem. When the light switch is turned to the first (middle position), the headlights and front parking light(driver's side) came on and there were no tail lights. Moving the switch to the full on position, the headlights came on but the parking light went out and still no tail lights. Looking at a schematic, two things were obvious, (1)the switch is off a later model B and (2) the wires were in the wrong locations on the switch. I repositioned the wires and now (1) Off position--everythings off (2) the middle position--nothing (3) Headlight position--headlights and drivers front parking lamp but no rear driving lights. OK- the bulbs appear to have intact filiments on the rear lamps, i haven't checked the front passenger lamp yet, so it could be just burned out. Question is --- could the switch be the culprit or should I look elsewhere? Electric is not my specialty, but I can follow directions to troubleshoot. Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated. This is the only thing stopping me front licensing the car. Here in Indiana, to get historic vehicle plates, the State Police must inspect the car to see if it's roadworthy. Brake lights and turn signal lights work.

 

[DrEntropy]

Look to the pile of Lucar connectors just behind the soleniod first, That is where the rear harness ties into the main. After that if you don't find a disconnected or broken Lucar, go to the trunk wiring and check there. A test light would rreally help you with this.

 

[Bruce74B]

It sounds like you are almost there. I would look into getting the tail lights to work...

You say the brake lights work...turn on the tail lights and try the brake lights (ignition must be on)...if the lights go out (if they are on) or the brake lights don't work then, it is probably a bad ground, which is common in these cars. The brake lights are likely grounding through the taillights. Clean up the fixtures, check the bulbs, and check the grounds.

If that doesn't work, next try turning the flashers on and see if they all work...if they do, then turn on the running lights while they are on and see what happens. If the light go out completely in the rear and the front flashers continue to work, look for ground problems again. If all the flashers stop working, get into cleaning all the connections in the harness. Report back by Sunday?

Welcome to the Lucus Circus /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

Bruce

 

[mgbmedic]

Bruce74B---Brake lights work and in all configurations you described. I did have to ""jiggle" the 4-way flasher switch to get it to work and all 4 lights flashed, so I'll check the connects there.

 

[mgbmedic]

Thanks Dr E - I've got a tester and plan on spending this morning buried in this cars wiring.

 

[mgbmedic]

found it!!!!! Loose wire under the hood...works like a charm...thanks Bob

 

[DrEntropy]

Where? Was it at the cluster of Lucar connectors to the rear harness?

 

[mgbmedic]

no!! on the fender well under the fuse box. There were two red wires each with in-line fuses, the fuses checked out ok, but as I was re-installing the last fuse, I saw a flicker of light from the front parking lamps. Hoo-ah! At the bullet connector just under the fuse(which appeared to be connected)the wires weren't connected. Just a matter of dumb luck on my part. Thanks for the advice. Bob