Headlights on, engine wants to stall.... ideas?

C

crminal

Junior Member
Okay, so we are talking about a stock, 6V, '29 coupe. Stock generator. Using 6V sealed beam headlights.
I just wired them up after replacing stock headlights. Stock headlights have never worked since I've owned the car.

So, I wired them and they work perfectly when the car is not running. Switch on the steering wheel performs well. High beam and low beam.

Then I start the car. Car runs perfectly until I turn the lights on. When low beams are on, engine sputters and runs poorly, lights become very dim.
With high beams on, engine sputters worse and will die in seconds if I do not turn the lights off. Turn lights off and engine runs normally.

So then I thought it might be a weak battery. Hooked up a 6V charger to the battery and tried it again. No difference.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Bryan
 
Do you have a fuse mounted on the starter?? If not, I would go back to the re-wireing that you must have performed and look for a short. JMO
Paul in CT
 
I used all existing wiring which was there. The only new wiring was the new socket for the sealed beam connection.

I will chase the wiring and see if there are any defects.

But, if there were a short, why would they work fine when the engine is off?

Thanks for your ideas Flamingo.
 
Be sure the nuts and terminals are clean and tight inside the terminal box on the firewall. Also make sure the wires and terminals on the back of the amp guage are clean and tight. If these are clean and tight, then the current should freely flow from the battery to power the coil. The generator should supply the needed coil power, but since you installed sealed beam headlights, they will draw more current than the generator can produce, so the current will be coming from the battery.
 
Along with what Tom said, have you adjusted the third brush?
What does the ampmeter show with the engine running and the lights off?
What does the ampmeter show with the engine running and the lights on?
 
I had the same problem, wile driving or setting car ran great turn on the head lights the engin would die . I am running a ilectronic ing and a 30 amp altinator change to a 70 amp from mikes, fixed the problem. I would say your geneator needs rebuilt or adjusted to put out more amps.
 
dr.j said:
Tom, would an EVR fix the problem?
Click to expand...

It would help by regulating the output to the correct level, but the generator is still designed to only put out 12 amps, which is more than enough for good lighting when using good original lights and reflectors. When using sealed beam bulbs, which draw about twice the current, then the generator won't be able to keep up with the current draw. However, the battery still should carry the current to the lights and coil for quite a long time, until it goes dead. It sounds like the battery is good and that's why I'm thinking it may have a bad connection between the battery and coil.
 
Great ideas on this problem thank you all! I will re-check connections (thanks Tom) and am thinking generator output as well, so I will test it.

Bryan
 
Alright, here is what I found.....
Connections and wiring are in good order. I charged the battery and drove the car about 2 hours the next day. When I got home, I tried the lights and they worked fine on low beam, but on high beam you could sense the engine beginning to struggle.

If I figure out the "third brush" thing and turn it "up" will there ever be enough output from the stock generator to run the lights properly?
And, will I be constantly doing the turn up - turn down, day-night thing?

I checked out the EVR and it looks good but am not sure I will ever the output for sealed beams.

Is there (dare I say) an alternator in my future?

Thanks y'all
 
I was told the Power House Generator puts out 20amps. I am not sure that this is true.

I noticed the Power House does not have much for cooling. No holes in the case. I have not used a Power house, but plan to in the near future.
 
I have found that on all our model A Fords, if I set the third brush so that the amp meter shows about a 3 amp discharge while the stock head lights are on high beam and while we are running down the road, the battery can handle the load for hours without going flat. If I set the third brush any higher than that, the generator over charges the battery when the lights are off (boils the battery dry) and it is hard on the generator by high charging and the generator doesn't last. We have been running our 1929 Tudor this way during the last 44 years that we have been driving it. It has worked well fo us. That is my experience of the matter.
 
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