An electrical issue or two

Marc, I don't know about the dash lights but the lights on my Dino are also quite poor, however they are not the originals but later style GE 6024 sealed beams that were used on the 328. One day I plan to replace the headlights with Cibie E-code halogens which seem to be the best option out there. Requires additional relay if you want to run higher wattage bulbs than 55w.

An excellent thread to go read is:
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65424&page=1

 

Marc - if you have no lights on the dash, the first place to check is the dimmer rheostat - the small knob that one turns to adjust the dash-light brightness. Make sure that both spade connectors are, in fact, connected. If one of these came off the variable resistor the dash lights will go out. In fact, if you want to do the smart thing, disconnect both spade connectors off of the rheostat and short them together, thereby bypassing the resistor. Unless you like to toast bread or warm your coffee in the dark hours, the rheostat does nothing but create enormous heat and energy loss. The lights will be brighter if you bypass this resistor.

As far as the headlight intensity. I would spend the afternoon sanding all of the spade connectors that attach to the back of the bulbs, and the ground connectors on the headlight rings attached to the chassis with sheet metal screws. Finally, disconnect the spade connectors going to the lamp relays and clean them as well (the mail side on the relay, and the female side on the harness). A cardboard nail file that can be cut with a sissors will allow you to slip the sandpaper into the female spade connector and gently abraid the brass/copper connector. Most of the dimming will occur as a result of oxidation of all of these connectors and increased contact resistance. Tedious to clean all of these connectors but a project well worth pursuing.

Try this first and let us know whether it solves the problem. If not, there are several more things to try.

Jim S.

 

Jim,

Great point. I'll try cleaning up the contacts on mine as well. The relay for my headlights just went bad this week and on the one we pulled out the five contacts were quite oxidized.

Headlight relay markings were:

LUCAS
6 RA
33231F 12V 2271

 

If you sand the inside contact points on the female connectors with the emery board (good idea), I would also recommend gently "resizing" the female connector for a guaranteed tight connection. Gently squeeze the female connector with an appropriate set of pliers. This will help to ensure a good tight connection.

A trick I learned while maintaining my 62 XKE from Lucas, lord of Darkness!!

 

Marc,

If you want to maintain the functionality of the dimmer (I don't like the full bright setting--too many reflections in the windscreen) you can lightly clean the coil of fine wire that forms the rheostat dimmer doo-hicky using a fine emery board or small piece of a Scotch-Brite pad. Rinse off with a squirt of CRC Brake Cleaner. Also, clean the "slider" that moves over the wires when you turn the control knob. I found that a couple coils of my dimmer wire had rusted badly so I cut those strands out and soldered the new end to the original post. I can't dim the lights quite as much as previously but it works fine for me.

Bill

 

Sounds like a earthing problem to me, when i rebuilt my dash some months ago i put in extra earth straps as the console is on a fibre glass pod.

Try halogen bulbs, work much better with no increase in load.

Tony

 

Marc,
Trouble shooting is pretty basic. Take instrument lights first. Power goes to fuses first. Is there battery voltage on the fuses? Measure it. If you don't have a multimeter, you really can't find all the plausable problems. Don't need anything fancy. The Sears one at $10 to $20 is fine. You need the schematic for your car. It is in the owner's manual. You have to get a connection from the battery to the light before it will come on. You must get all of the battery voltage to the light. Loose or corroded wires and connectors give you something less. A one volt drop is not good.

Sanding all connectors is a bad idea. You can remove plating off of good connectors and ruin them. A safe cleaner is WD-40 and a gentle wiggle. Under all conditions, find the problem first.

You need full voltage on one end of the dimmer. You need full voltage on the terminals of the sealed beams. Measure the voltage there. Stick pins through the insulation if you have to. If you have less than battery voltage, problem is loose or dirty before test point. If full voltage, all OK to this point. Here is a Saga that talks about brightness of instrument lights.
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100210&highlight=dimmer
Just go step by step. Get help if you don't understand something. Like a doctor, first, do no harm.
Good luck,
John

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