Headlight madness

Joebee

Joebee

Junior Member
I am having trouble with the headlights on my 1930 Business Coupe the headlights will not work and when I turn them on the horn and brake lights stop working. The parking lights are working fine. I changed the rod inside the steering column and changed the wiring bulb at the end of the steering shaft but the problem still continues. I thinking I am going to have to rewire it today as I have a harness and hope the problem goes away. Any Help?
 
make sure your light switch at the end of steering column is put together correctly and contacts are clean . keep us posted.
 

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When the reproduction headlight on a 1929 Ford started to smoke, I looked for the cause. The screw in the back is 3/4 of an inch too long and shorts out the wiring. ALL reproduction Model A headlight parts are CRAP, I'd rebuild original parts if it was my car. Bob
 
The Light switch is on Properly. Just finished rewiring with a new harness and problem still persists
 
Unplug both headlights at the buckets and slide the wire ends out. I suspect the terminals are grounding to the conduit. With the wires out, try the horn and brake lights when you turn the headlight switch on. If they work, then the problem is the plugs or inside the buckets.
 
Sockets:Check that the spring-loaded contacts inside the bulb sockets do not contact the wall of the socket. Some repo sockets can be pretty sloppy in this area Contact will result in a short circuit whenever the lights are turned on, either in one or both high low beam.just another thought.
 
Sounds like a ground problem - fresh paint on the headlight bar or fenders?
Try a temporary ground wire from a headlight mounting stud down to the frame, and see if anything changes.
I had to add a ground wire from the horn mount to the frame to get my headlights and horn to behave. (and mine has all new wiring)
 
I have brake lights and interior light horn and parking lights ........ When I try to turn on the headlights everything goes until I speed up the engine and then the previous items come back on ..........
 
Have you used a meter to see if you have voltage coming from the wires to the lights? A volt/ohm meter is the most important tool most folks do not use enough. Would have saved you replacing all those parts you didn't need to replace. If you have 6 volts at the end of the headlight wires then you have a ground problem. When you have a grounding problem in a headlight when using the big bulb like you described, the bad ground makes the other weaker bulbs go dim. Easy way to be sure is take a piece of wire about 3 feet long and fasten it to a good ground like the ground terminal on the battery, then touch the other end on the headlight housing and if the lights now come on, you have given the lights a good ground. If that is the case, then take the headlights off, clean under the headlight in the headlight bar cup, and if needed clean between the headlight bar and the fender.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
Unplug both headlights at the buckets and slide the wire ends out. I suspect the terminals are grounding to the conduit. With the wires out, try the horn and brake lights when you turn the headlight switch on. If they work, then the problem is the plugs or inside the buckets.
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Tom if that is the case, and what you say sounds logical, wouldn't that headlight connection get very hot very quickly?
 
ericr said:
Tom if that is the case, and what you say sounds logical, wouldn't that headlight connection get very hot very quickly?
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Yes, unless you also have a poor connection somewhere.
Ever see the dome light come on but after trying the starter then everything goes dead? This is often casued by dirty battery posts/cables.

If things go dead, but nothing gets hot, then use a test light and start checking to see where the power drops off.
 
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