The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay New problems!

Got the alt. hooked up, seems to work OK. But now the (front) parking lights won't work. They still work with the add-on turn signals and flashers. Replaced headlight switch, same problem. Now the high beams blow the 30A fuse, and the gas gauge still reads empty. Replaced both wires to tank and grounded it to the frame. What the heck's goin on???????

Sounds like you have a short somewhere. Start looking for places where wires might touch sharp metal edges.

Sounds like you have at least three different problems. Work on one circuit at a time. Wire a circuit and test it before moving on to the next one.
Do you have a volt ohm meter? If not, I would get one; they are not expensive. My VOM is one of my most frequently used tools.

I hope you have a voltage reducer for the gas guage. If not, it's probably fried. Assuming you have the reducer, with the ignition on, check the voltage at the guage - should have 6 Volts. Switch ignition off. Next, disconnect the sender wire at the tank end. Check the resistance between the sender and ground. The resistance should read between 0 an 30 ohms. (0 ohms when tank is empty, 30 ohms when full). If the sender reads 0 ohms and the tank is not empty, the sender is bad. If the sender is OK, replace the wire on the sender and disconnect the sender wire at the back of the guage. Check resistance between the sender wire and ground. The resistance should be the same as what you had at the sender.

Headlights. You say the high beams blew the fuse. Was it OK on low beams? Did you check your dimmer switch before you installed it? I once had a dimmer switch that shorted when you stepped on it. Pull the connectors (sockets) off the back of both headlights. The connector has three contacts. Clockwise, the contacts are high, low, ground and none (no contact opposite the low beam contact). Using your VOM, check for shorts between each of the three contacts and ground. One of the contacts should be ground. The other two should be open.

Parking lights. The turn signals work; did you convert the parking lights to use dual filament bulbs or are the signal lights separate? Do the tail lights and instrument lights work OK?

Got high beams fixed. Dumb me grounded alt. to them. Park lights are driving me nuts! Repalced light switch..not the problem. Replaced dimmer switch..not the the problem. Jumped directly from switch to out side of lights at fuse block no luck. But that jumper worked when applied to other circuits. These lights are integral and worked recently. NOW WHAT???

Good advice on the fuel gauge. I'll work on that last.

So you have confirmed that there is +12V before and after the fuse. Now trace the wire from the fusebox to the light bulbs. Are there any junctions or splices? If so, check that there is +12V at these when the lights are on.

Here's a crazy idea: maybe both light bulbs are burned out! It happens ... check them if you haven't already done so.

Probably tinker with it thru the week. I'll get to you ASAP. Thanks again for your help.

How dumb can I be!!! You're right, it has to be the bulbs. The only reason they work on turn signal is because it's the brighter circuit. I must have blown out the lower dimmer circuit when I grounded the alt. incorrectly. Keep you posted.

Uhh, did you check with the light switch on parking light mode or headlight mode? The original configuration of the switch is to shut off the parking lights when the headlight switch is all the way out. To get them to work with the headlights on you have to wire them to the tail tab of the headlight switch instead of the park tab.

No it's my bad! I jumped the switch such that I could check several circuits. Did the same at the fuse box. I put in dual element parking lights. They work only on the high circuit used for the flashers. I probably blew the bulbs.

Now about he fuel gauge,,,I do have a voltmeter and I did put a resisitor on the empty side terminal. Installed new wiring to the tank. I'll tackle this problem later in the week and keep ya posted.

Now about he fuel gauge,,,I do have a voltmeter and I did put a resisitor on the empty side terminal. Installed new wiring to the tank. I'll tackle this problem later in the week and keep ya posted.

Gas gauge works!!!! I think a dash wire was grounding out.

Gas gauge works!!!! I think a dash wire was grounding out.