51 Ford light problems

Lenny51

Lenny51

Member
MY Ford still has original wiring I have blue dot tail light lens on I tried a ground wire from the battery to the tail light housing they are new repo
housings
I have some extra bright 6 volt bulbs but the filament for signal & stop
only last for a little while also the signal lights blink very fast brake lights
work then they don't original 1154 bulbs are very dim
Thank you for any help in this
 
Just to be clear, is the only problem with the original bulbs is that they're dim? No burn out or fast blinking problems? If that's the case, you probably have connection problems somewhere. I have a '51 that I've had a long time that has been well cared for since it was new, and the stock lights work just fine.
 
Are the extra bright bulbs you are using LEDs? Fast blinking normally indicates there is not enough load in the circuit. There are ways to correct that.
 
JT FORD said:
Get rid of the blue dots will brighten things up alot!
Click to expand...

Amen to that. Blue dots during the day are actually dangerous. You can barely see the stop lights in the daylight. Had them once on a car and was almost rear ended when stopping at a signal light. Got rid of them right away.
 
I have a third brake light & it is very bright original 1154 bulbs are very dim for brake
& tail lights I will get rid of the blue dot lenses signal lights blink very fast
I am thinking flasher no good or signal light switch this is mostly a original car
 
These are very good points, I am a big fan of the third brakelights in the rear window.
 
If you have not done it check all your grounds and make sure they are clean. Add extra ground wires to the tailamps to the frame if necessary. Make sure the sockets are nice and clean also. The new housings may be powder coated and if no bare metal for a ground it can be a problem.
 
The primary ground path is through the body and engine, not the frame. The only exception would be the need for a ground path for the frame on the older trucks where the tail/brake lights are mounted on a bracket that is bolted to the frame. Body mounts, rubber engine mounts and trans mount may not provide a consistent path to battery ground.
 
I have a ground wire from the cylinder head to the battery another ground from the starter bellhousing to the frame
 
Run a ground from the body to the frame. The body and engine both sit on rubber mounts so they are not the best for grounding.
 
The bullet connectors can be problematic. Check connections at the harness from the directional switch for heat. This will be the problem. I've had to distort them a little to get them to make a good connection. The fast blinking directional light is indicative of a bad flasher or a short somewhere. Something may be sucking voltage off the brake light circuit. An oversized bulb can also cause the flasher to blink fast but you said you have stock bulbs. LED lights do not draw as much current and will make the flasher NOT blink. Halogens draw more juice.
 
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