new trouble with lights

Lenny51

Lenny51

Member
could use a little help on my 51 Crestliner drove it Tuesday to get
the duall exhaust installed on the way home in the dark head lights going
on & off circuit breaker no tail lights brake light blinking all my wiring is
original is there one place were all of thease are connected thank you
for any help in this
Lenny
 
Not sure that is relevant, a short or overload is causing the circuit breaker to open, when it cools down it is closing again. The lights come together at the light switch, but the brakes are on a separate wire direct to the CB. Need to start by removing one wire at a time and see if you can locate the area causing the problem. There are two wires from the CB (brakes and light switch feed) might start there. Remove the light switch feed and see if the brake lights work (could just disconnect the wire from the CB to the lighting switch at the switch). Then disconnect the various light switch connections until you find the one causing the issue.
 
Lenny51 said:
could use a little help on my 51 Crestliner drove it Tuesday to get
the duall exhaust installed on the way home in the dark head lights going
on & off circuit breaker no tail lights brake light blinking all my wiring is
original is there one place were all of thease are connected thank you
for any help in this
Lenny
Click to expand...
If you still have all the original wiring you probably are missing some insulation by now and probably have a short. Maybe it's time for new wiring? Wiring is pretty cheap compared to a car fire.
 
A car I worked on,had long pliers left under hood.when moving car,smoke poured out from underneath the car,shut it iff right away,e-brake cables were smoking.Knew that it was electrical,opened the hood and pliers were shorting from battery post,to fender well.Problems after,were lights dimming when using turn signals,or using power windows,and cold starting problems.By accident,saw that the ground between engine block,and firewall was burned apart.Replaced it,and no further problems.Check grounds.
 
the only ground I have is from the cylinder head to the battery when I used it at night
a few months ago every thing was ok
 
You need to check the hot wires one at a time from the light control switch! You also need a ground from the battery to the frame in addition to the one to the block, but that is not related to the hot wire shorting out. One of the wires in the lighting circuit is most likely shorting out and you need to locate it.
 
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Should be a bullet connection between rearlight harness and dash disconect that to start with.
If head lights works after that you got the issue in the rear wiring or lights.
If that doesnt work there should be another bullet connection to the hi/lo switch disconnecting the front harness.
 
Found the problem with my lights wire going to backup light switch was
Rubbing on firewall Why did Henry hook every thing on 1 circuit breaker
 
Lenny51 said:
Found the problem with my lights wire going to backup light switch was
Rubbing on firewall Why did Henry hook every thing on 1 circuit breaker
Click to expand...

The way things were done in the day. And there should be two circuit breaker and a fuse on the 51s!
 
The circuit breaker was designed to furnish headlights with enough power to get home if a short developed, so it was doing its job. Almost always, a new problem is directly connected (no pun) to the last thing that was done. I always add a modern breaker panel with push button resets high on the inside of the firewall to protect individual branches. Most of the original rubber and cloth covered wire in old cars is brittle and falling apart. It is a wonder there are fewer fires than happen as a result.
 
supereal said:
The circuit breaker was designed to furnish headlights with enough power to get home if a short developed, so it was doing its job. Almost always, a new problem is directly connected (no pun) to the last thing that was done. I always add a modern breaker panel with push button resets high on the inside of the firewall to protect individual branches. Most of the original rubber and cloth covered wire in old cars is brittle and falling apart. It is a wonder there are fewer fires than happen as a result.
Click to expand...

Bob, I'm always amazed that people would drive around with 65 year old or older wiring. By now the insulation is falling off and the wires are corroded inside the insulation. I wonder if they would drive around on 65 year old tires? The V-8 club in their "Rouge" classification allows new original style wiring due to the safety factor. Old wiring is a fire looking for a place to happen.
 
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