The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Front Parking light problems '59 VERY FRUSTRATED

So I am still trying to knock out my wiring ( Brand New wiring harness ) in my '59. I am having VERY frustrating issues with my front parking lights, can't get them to work. I have taken my test light and I'm getting voltage to the bulb socket, that's great, the problem is I'm also getting voltage to the chassis of the parking light assembly. I thought the grounding was through the chassis, not the other way around. They are NEW parking lights assemblies, and both side are doing it, if I remove the bulbs, I no longer get voltage to the parking light chassis. WHAT IS THE DEAL

Hy AZ59apacheguy, try grounding your test light to the grill which the parking lights are mounted in, then with the bulbs out touch the probe end to the socket terminal and turn on the park lights. If you have ground your test light should light. It sounds to me as if your grill is not grounded, hope that helps.

I am sure there are "59" guys that could help more than I. Is this a 1 or 2 wire lamp. Parking and turn signal? when you have the bulb in is the lamp illuminated? Pictures are always good. Does the voltage go away when the parking light switch is turned off? When the lamp is in and the switch is on you should have voltage between the lead and frame or remove the lamp and there should be voltage between the contact in the lamp socket and to the frame.

are you testing this with the light assemblies hanging by the wires? if everything is mounted on the truck, a good ground shouldn't be a problem unless you stuck some rubber or sealer in the wrong place, or painted something you shouldn't have .... the ground is via the socket to the light body to the grill via the mounting screws .... try clipping a piece of wire from the socket to a grill mounting bolt

Bill

Hi. When the headlight switch is turned off, the voltage goes away. With the switch engaged the lights do not iluminate, and when I put the test light on the post inside the socket with the switch on I get voltage. I grounded the test light to the bumper, not the grill, I can try that this afternoon. Also, when doing this with the bulbs installed the turn signal arrows are constantly iluminated.

with the ground to the bumper you've got a good circuit ... but if you have voltage to the pins and the bulb does nothing, try a different bulb and make sure you have the correct dual filament bulb for the socket and it's in correctly, note the staggered side bayonets

might have gotten some wires crossed in the signal unit or in the light switch, the indicator arrows should only ever flash .... or you might have dash lights in the wrong place, they have the same size as the arrow sockets, the dash light wires are gray, the arrow wires are light and dark blue .... do you have a factory style signal unit or the add-on type?

Bill

The bulbs were supplied with the new Parklamp assemblies. The bulb sockets are in the correct spots, the turnsignal switch ( aftermarket ) is not even hooked up yet. I figured The turnsignal bulbs were light because I was getting some kind of bleed throught the parklamp assy.

with the signal assembly not hooked up the only way the arrows could light up is if you have something mis-wired, they only get power off the blue signal wires which connect to the brighter element of the park lights, and there should be no way power gets to that wire except via the signal unit .... are you sure you don't have dash light sockets in the arrow positions? the dash lights are on with the park lights .... recheck the switch wiring, I'm thinking you might be applying power to both elements of the park lights at once, maybe blew the bulbs?

also, using a test light, how are you measuring a voltage on the body of the light? one lead of the tester goes to ground, the other to a hot point, the body of the light should be ground, if you test hot between the body of the light and the bumper, there's something shorted out or connected wrong

Bill

Yes there is a way to get power to the turn signal arrows from the park light circuit. The dual filament bulbs have a common ground. If the current cannot find a ground at the base of the bulb like it should, it travels through the other filament. It will find a ground at the base of the turn indicator bulbs.

Make sure your housings are well grounded to the grille and the grille is grounded to the frame.

Cletis, he says his test ground is the bumper, that sounds like the housings are properly grounded ..... also if the park lights don't light it doesn't seem there would be a complete circuit thru the bulbs anyway .... I'm still trying to understand how there could be an indication with a test light that there's power to the light body - like ground of tester to the bumper and probe to park housing, which should also be ground

Bill

I'll Post a pic when I get home

The housings must not be grounded properly, thats why there is voltage from the housing to ground.

Here are two pics showing my issue
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/AZ59apacheguy/IMG_1164.jpg
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/AZ59apacheguy/IMG_1165.jpg

Can you hook up a temporary wire from the known good ground to the housing?
Normally, the applied voltage would go through the light bulb filament and then to ground, completing the circuit and lighting the bulb.
If you do not have a good ground, the current would flow through the element, to the housing, but not to ground, so the housing would show voltage to ground as the circuit is not completed.

my question is, if the park light bulb is completing the circuit from the socket hot wire to the light body, when the test light lights, why doesn't the park bulb light? if that ground spot in the headlight bucket is an actual ground, then why does the light show a difference in potential [a complete circuit] from that ground to what should be another ground a few inches away?

does the park light unit have lock washers on it's mount bolts? does the grill have lock washers on it's mount bolts? are all bolts tightened enough to make the lock washers cut into the multiple layers of paint? have you tried the test light probe to the grill near the park light? the only thing I can see is that you've insulated the light from the grill somehow

I'd take the light assemblies off the grill and try the lights with wires hooked right to the battery, which would tell you if the bulbs are good, and if there's a short from the socket base to one or both of the wires internally - then when remounting make sure there's good metal to metal contact at the mount points

Bill

First if the turn signal filament is lighting when you pull the parking light switch on, that's an easy fix.....push the wires, with the contacts, out of the socket and rotate 180 degrees and reinsert. Done, now the "low" beam filament will light when you want the parking lamps on.
As far as the "indication" of power to the housing as you stated above and shown in the pics above, what you are showing i believe is continuity not power. What I see is that you have a good ground at the parking/turn signal housing (that is if the lead isattached to the gound of the head light bucket). To check for power you would have to put a probe from a multimeter on a contact and the other probe to the housing/ground, with the switch on.
In your first post ----
I have taken my test light and I'm getting voltage to the bulb socket---- were you using the test light in the photo above or a multimeter

After re-reading ur 2nd post in the tread - do what I say at the begining and ur problem is sovled.....then it's on to the turn signals- oh what a joy!

So far you have proven that you have 12V to the socket. You have proven the bumper has continuity to the battery neg. You have NOT proven the socket housing/"chassis" is grounded to the battery and you have not said you have tested the bulbs right onto the battery. (Touch bulb terminal onto battery pos and touch the bulb base to battery neg to test) If the bulbs are good and you have 12V to the socket terminal and the socket housing has continuity to the battery neg, the light will come on. Hook a test wire from the battery GROUND terminal and touch it to the housing of the socket. The housing is the part that the bulb goes into. This housing has an insulator with two bulb terminals, as you know. The body of the bulb is ground and touches the socket housing at the bayonets, the socket housing is grounded to the grille or whatever metal it is mounted to. (don't touch this test wire to the terminals). You have a ground problem, that's all. Every major component on a truck is "isolated" by rubber. The engine, the body, the frame. You need battery ground to engine, ground strap from engine to body, ground strap from body to frame. Good dash ground for dash bulbs and gauges. Various short ground wires at sockets, dash lights, turn sig bulbs, gas tank sender. Also clean and sand where lamp sockets touch bezels and grilles and fenders and body panels and all these must be to bare metal (no paint, no rust, no grease, no corrosion). A wiring job is no good and you will chase these intermittent problems over and over if you do not ground everything carefully. Then your frustrations will be over.

Other issue: Voltage to parking light "chassis". I assume you mean parking light socket housing. It would be almost impossible to get voltage to the NEW parking light socket housing. You need to take off the entire park light assembly and see if there is continuity (ohm tester) from the socket housing to light bulb terminals inside the housing. If it is a cheap Chinese unit, ANYTHING is possible. The sockets usually have two insulated leads/or a connector coming out the back thru the bulb terminal insulator. These leads would have to touch the side of the socket? It is totally unbelievable that both do this "chassis" hot thing. Are you sure? It sounds like you found this with bulbs removed, so the bulbs can't be contributing to the problem. Were you just touching the socket (chassis) metal with test light and then to bumper/ground? If this were happening it would blow up the whole truck! or a least a fuse because the housing (chassis) has 12v and is touching the grille or whatever metal it is mounted to, ON BOTH LIGHTS???? I think you need to check that again and tell us it ain't so. The rear lights come on in park mode also and if they have a ground problem it can cause the fronts to act goofy. Are the rears coming on? Is the column connector wired correctly. That feeds the turn sigs.

I had this issue before with my 55 2nd series and it was a grounding issue. I ran a ground straight to the frame from the housing screw and it fixed the problem. But I have a clamp to the column turnflex turn signal system on the truck.

Success!!!! It WAS a grounding issue. I resolved it just as tracern1 did, by running a grounding wire from the Park Lamp housing's mounting studs to the frame. Headlights, Parking Lights and Turn Signals ALL Work, THANKS for everyones help.

Well whoda thunk it.