Electrical issues, YAY!

[Coffin04]

So i know i definitely need to replace the whole harness because it's all original and decaying but i haven't had time and it's been holding up. But now that i'm able to drive my car again i've noticed a major problem with it. My head lights. I replaced them and they started off pretty bright but than after a few days of driving, only twice at night, one head light has already burnt out it's high beam. On low beams my passenger light is brighter than the driver light. but when i put on the high beams the driver light becomes as bright as the passenger light and the passenger light goes out. It's a trip to watch. I'm not sure what to think of my electrical. I know it's SNAFU for and oldy like this but still.

[Oldguy48]

Probably a ground problem. It seems like the ground gremlins play havoc with automobiles. I'd try to check that out first.

[rustyzman]

+1 on the ground. Find the grounds for the headlights and clean them or run some new ones, even temporarily. Seen this a thousand times on taillights, every one was a poor or broken ground.

[JBNeal]

another possibility is that the copper strands inside the insulation have corroded enough to boost resistance, especially after the wires heat up a little bit. This happened on my starter cables: cold starts were good, but hot starts were purt'near impossible. New cables solved the hot starting problem immediately.

[Coffin04]

I'll give them grounds a look. It has more trouble starting cold than hot, that's for sure. The end all is eventually have the generator rebuilt and replace the harness completely.

[Coffin04]

I've having some trouble recently with either the ampmeter or the generator. Not sure which yet. But many times the ampmeter shows i'm only drawing energy rather than charging. Can a faulty ground cause one of the many issues this could reppresent?

[rustyzman]

Not to be too general but a poor ground/grounds can cause some of the strangest irrational intermittent problems you can think of.

One thing to do with the head lights is check voltage at the low and high beams respectively when they are on and see what you read. Low voltage (any reading that is more than .5V lower than battery voltage is too low on the power side of the circuit) here identifies the power circuit as the culprit (or one of the culprits) and you should trace backwards until you get to a junction where you see full battery voltage. Once you find that point, the problem is between there and the headlight.

Also with the lights on, use a voltmeter with one lead at the bulb ground terminal (on the bulb) and the other jumpered over to battery ground. Any reading over .2V is too high and shows that you have a voltage drop/high resistance in the ground circuit. Or run a piece of wire from the ground terminal of the headlight to the battery ground temporarily and see if the problem disappears.

If the wiring in the car is really that bad, you may be chasing multiple problems.

Also, if it is that bad you run the risk of a fire, so be ready to disconnect that battery fast if the green flames start shooting from your harness.

[55 Fargo]

So i know i definitely need to replace the whole harness because it's all original and decaying but i haven't had time and it's been holding up. But now that i'm able to drive my car again i've noticed a major problem with it. My head lights. I replaced them and they started off pretty bright but than after a few days of driving, only twice at night, one head light has already burnt out it's high beam. On low beams my passenger light is brighter than the driver light. but when i put on the high beams the driver light becomes as bright as the passenger light and the passenger light goes out. It's a trip to watch. I'm not sure what to think of my electrical. I know it's SNAFU for and oldy like this but still.

Okay, 1)make sure you ground s are good clean and tight

2), the wiring from the terminal contacts, are they located under hood, you can replace wires, from this point forward, if there is a short problem going on here.

3), sounds like the passenger side high beam(12 gauge) lead, is shorted or not carrying current. The drivers side low beam sounds like another poor contact connection, or bad wire.

How are your other lights, tail lights, brake lamp etc.

If necessary, and if the under dash wires are in good shape, then maybe the connections need to be cleaned and tightened, and if you need new head lamp wires, you can run new wire from terminal block forward.

Not sure if this helps or not..........Fred

[Coffin04]

so far only the head lights have been giving me issues. but now I'm having occasional trouble turning the engine over. the starter just slowly losses power. Had to use one of California's great hills to push start it tonight. great experience. now i know how it's done. The battery is new so this is leading me to believe that the generator is also not doing its job or something else is hindering it from charging the battery. Going to replace all my grounds as a fix to the head lights and as preventative maintenance. then Go about replacing the harness itself i think.

I put a thread in here a while back about the generator but i can't seem to find it. it was asking about rebuilding them. I couldn't remember what i need to replace in it, if anything, to refurbish it.

[Joe Flanagan]

I did mine not long ago. There are four brushes, which you can get from NAPA. There are also three bushings, front, rear, and middle. These should all be replaced. The one in the middle often gets overlooked. What happens is the bushings wear out and become too loose, allowing the innards of the generator to make contact with the case. You can see if this is happening if you take the generator apart and see abrasion marks. Also check the wiring from the field and armature terminals and make sure they're not frayed, corroded, etc. It's a pretty easy job EXCEPT reassembly and keeping the four brushes in place. There are some good tips here somewhere about how that is done. One of the guys showed me a neat trick when I got to that part of the job. There are a couple of places that need light lubrication, too.

[Joe Flanagan]

I have to correct my previous post. The generator has two brushes and they are easy to install (lucky for you). It's the starter that has the four brushes, which are a PITA. I think the generator might also only have two bushings, front and rear, but the issue is the same and they still should be replaced if you're rebuilding it.

[Coffin04]

Thanks for the Info on that generator Joe.

And thanks for the hint on the grounds...well everyone really!

So i decided I'm just going to go ahead and replace the whole harness starting with the grounds then branching out from the generator. Also going to refurbish and replace what components i have to as i move along. Going to take the hard fix over the easy patch.

Any of you have any experience with wiring? I know what gauges i need and about how much but i don't want some shoddy wiring that'll bug out on me. Any recommendations on a producer?

[Joe Flanagan]

Are you interested in buying a harness or do you plan to go wire by wire? If you have a manual for your car, wiring diagrams can be found in the back. When I was wiring my engine compartment and gauges, I used a yellow highlighter to trace the wires I would need to run. I found it much easier to read that way.

Also, if you want vintage-looking cloth covered wire, I can recommend the Brillman Co. Their wiring is actually plastic/rubber insulated, like modern wire, but has a cloth covering that for the period look. Really nice stuff.

Edited March 15, 2011 by Joe Flanagan

[Joe Flanagan]

It might also be a good idea to solder your terminal rings in addition to crimping them. The guys here have often recommended using star washers on all connections as well.