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Tail lights

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Rick G

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Ok....I have no idea about how the electical stuff works and I have a problem. I do keep a voltage meter around just to impress people who a even more clueless than I, but that is the extent of my knowledge in this area. My problem is the tail lights and brake lights as well as license plate lights are out. Flashes work and every thing else works. The two fuses on the engine wall are fine. Could this be related to the fire I had behing the speedometer last month? Everything appeared to work just fine after I put it out, but this could be some collateral damage. I have a 60 BT7 with a lot of wires taped at the ends and stuffed up into the dashboard. I have no idea why, but everything has always worked before, so I have not investigated these capped wires before. They are all red and some have male ends and the others seem to have sockets (female) that these look like they should be plugged into. I have no idea what they could be for. The car is poitively grounded. Any ideas where to go from here?
 
Healey electrical problems are often a bad ground somewhere. However, the fire behind the dash could definitely be your problem. I would take your volt meter and see if you have power coming out of the light switch, then at the tail lights with the switch turned on. If there is power at the lights, check the grounds. Get an electrical diagram (Haynes Manual pg 174-175). It is also possible for the wiring harness to the tail lights to short out because of age and chaffing. Finally, it is a good idea to add fuses to the lighting circuits. Healey for some reason did not fuse the lights. A good place to add in line fuses is at the light switch.
 
HI Rick, it appears that the main power feed to the non working lamps you listed has been interrupted. This feed is a red wire that originates at the lighting switch and is routed to the boot via a multiple connector which you will find at the top of the left hand foot well inside the engine compartment. You should verify 12 volt power there and that it also reaches the boot.---Fwiw--Keoke
 
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