As the ***le states. But I do have directionals. I swapped out the headlight switch, with no change. I checked all the fuses and wiring. As far as I can see all appears in order. Im thinking a ground, or maybe the floor mounted dimmer switch. Does anyone know if the headlights, parking lights and stop lights are on the same fuse or relays on these harnesses? Any ideas? Quick, summer is coming to an end, my time to enjoy it is limited. Thanks in advance.
Do you not have the instructions? If not contact Ron Francis for a set. Brake light should run on a different circuit. Your brake lights run thru the turn signal switch. Kind of car and the type of column would help ole squrriel tell what's wrong...try a ground jumper in various places to check the grounds.
Get a test light and figure out where the electricity stops. Touch the tip to check all the fuses, then check and see if the electricity reaches the switch, if it does, turn on the switch and check the power to the high beam switch. Normally the brake lights, headlights are on different fuses. The key is checking the flow and finding where the break is.
Grounds. Always check those first. The fuse box should have the different circuits labeled. When in doubt, re-read the instructions.
Thanks for responding. It in my 50 merc with a GM column. I'm not very good at electrical stuff, I installed the harness myself over a year ago with no issues until now. I figured the rake lights were on a different circuit. I was probing around checkin for power and looking at the ground wires and to see if I have any shorts. I have power to oth sides of all fuses, power to all terminals on the headlight switch and power to the 3 termianls on the headlight bulb, ut I don't think I should have power to all three. Ughhhh, I'm hopin a good nites sleep and a lot of rain storming at work tomorrow will lead me to something tomorrow afternoon. Good thing I got a mindless jo that pays well
Sounds like you need to do is get a fuse box with the different circuits labeled. I did my own wiring. I ordered a fuse box that was labeled and it went a lot easier than I thought. Trust me, if I can do it.... so can you.
You just replaced the switch, right? Pull the switch back out, thats where the problem lies. Do the wires connect individual or are they part of a harness connector? If individual then you need to get a tester and schematic. If a connector and they worked before then look inside the connector at the individual wires and see if one of the connectors got pushed up. Some headlight switches have thier own fuse, it is located out at the end and very short. The headlamps are on different circuitry than the parking lights and the parking lights can be connected in a couple different ways. The only ground on the switch is for courtesy lights and that connects in the very front nearest the rheostat. The headlight feed goes in the middle. It is a complicated rascal so give it its' due attention.
All three of those things should be hot all the time. Follow the circuits back with a test light and see where you have power to it and where you don't. I agree with those suspecting a ground connection, though. A jumper wire from ground to a terminal someplace would confirm that pretty fast.
IIRC, one of the end pins on the headlight bulb is ground, the middle one of the filaments, the other end is the other filament. Sounds as if your grounds to headlights and parking lights have an issue. The brake lights sound like the turn signal switch is giving you troubles there.
The three terminals will be hot (with the headlight switch on) if no ground is present at the common terminal of the bulb.
billcove and d2_willys are correct. You've had a ground go away somewhere. Run a jumper from the ground side of the battery to a good spot on your car body (inner fender panel, radiator support, etc.) and see if things change.
From what you are saying, only the terminals that should be CONSTANT power are not operating. What about the ignition switch? Follow the wire from the switch. Test it. Be sure. But ground is an option. How do you have the car grounded? Battery?
Trace the power feed to the headlight switch back to its origin, there is where the problem is? Did you just wire this car? What headlight sw are you using? Did you power the sw?
Your headlight switch should be grounding to the dash, right? Did you change something there? New paint on the dash maybe?
If the headlight switch is grounded you will have smoke and fire ie a SHORT. All terminals on a headlight switch on American cars at least through the 80s are insulated from the body of the switch. Some imports are not this way 240 Zs for one.
Thanks for the suggestions. I got it figured out. There are 3 wires that come off the starter plus the starter cable. 1 wire is the ignition, 2 is the starter and the 3rd is power to the fuse panel. Well the 1 wire to the fuse panel came undone. once hooked up, I had all the lights again. My guess is there is power to some things on the fuse panel from the ignition wires for the ignition switch, but not to the other parts of the panel. Am I right?
Glad you found the problem. I'm still having trouble understanding how the wire you reconnected could have resolved the issue, when your troubleshooting indicated that you had power to both sides of all fuses, power on the headlight switch terminals and the headlight terminals. Guess I'll make it a point to stay away from the Ron Francis harnesses, cause they must really be weird.......
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