Why would I suddenly have no lights ?

Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration
Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: Why would I suddenly have no lights ?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Randy Glowacki on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 08:59 pm:

Checking out the 27 Roadster for some driving tomorrow. When I switched on the lights, nothing... Starter works, the horn works. Checked the terminal block and everything is tight. Has my switch gone bad ?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wes Nelson ........Bucyrus, MO on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 09:15 pm:

Did you pay the bill?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kevin Whelihan on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 09:29 pm:

Kinda sounds like a switch. Do they light on the dim or normal setting at all? If not, take out the test light and start tracking down the wire.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Norman T. Kling on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 09:45 pm:

Did they work in the past? Could have a bad switch. You can bypass the switch to see if the lights work. If the last time someone drove the car, the battery cable came off or a wire between the battery and the ammeter was disconnected, it could have burnt out all the bulbs. The generator will put out a very high voltage with the battery out of the circuit. Also check to see if there is a fuse in the circuit. If there is a fuse it could be blown.
Norm


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ray Green on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 09:51 pm:

Are they still on the car or has some one stole them.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ross Benedict - Calgary, Alberta on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 10:13 pm:

Fused??


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Tomaso - Milton,WA on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 10:21 pm:

Funny, Wes !


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Randy Glowacki on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 10:24 pm:

No, they are not fused, guess I will have to check out the switch.
Several of the comments here reminded me of the first time I met my future inlaws in Wales, UK. We were sitting in the living room watching the telly in front of the coal fire, the only heat in the house. Suddenly all the lights and the tv went out. Mum jumped up with a bag of 10 pence pieces and started pumping them into a meter in the hall closet....pay as you go electricity .....Ha !


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Jablonski on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 10:38 pm:

Broken Bulbs ? .... it happens, age....vibration...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Thomas Mullin on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 11:28 pm:

Randy,

I remember heat like that at a hotel in Edinburgh. Only they wanted shillings!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Randy Glowacki on Friday, July 11, 2014 - 11:55 pm:

Thomas,
Went to Edinburgh for our honeymoon, and I remember pumping shillings into the tiny heater in our room....it was cold there by September 20th.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Patrick on Saturday, July 12, 2014 - 05:02 am:

Does your rear light work? Are both brights and dims out? If the entire lighting system has gone out, it almost has to be the switch. You may need to take it apart to see if any of the contacts are broken or need the tension increased in order to make good contact, then clean of any corrosion that has built up on the contacts. When you take it apart, be very careful to bend the tabs as little as possible (only just enough to be able to remove the contact plates), because they will break off very easily. I broke the tabs off my original switch and had to make new tabs and rivet them on where the old tabs were. Jim Patrick


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Patrick on Saturday, July 12, 2014 - 05:04 am:

PS. Also lubricate with Vaseline or white grease


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Semprez-Templeton, CA on Saturday, July 12, 2014 - 10:46 am:

Randy, when you were in the UK did you purchase any Lucas parts for your Ford? Prince of darkness and all that rot?

Seriously, though, it sounds like it may be a switch problem, but first I would try jumping between the hot lead and the light lead on the terminal block to check if the lights actually work. I would start there and work back to the switch. Any loose/corroded terminals could be the problem, I would eliminate all external possibilities before digging into the switch.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Randy Glowacki on Saturday, July 12, 2014 - 12:40 pm:

Thank you Jim and John and everyone else. I will see if I can get power to the lights thru the hot wire first. I do feel it's the switch as the ammeter makes no move at all when I turn on the switch...but we shall see.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Saturday, July 12, 2014 - 08:52 pm:

Are they magneto lights? If one burns out the other goes out. Wired in series.


Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.
Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration