Re: IML: Dome Light On Half Power W/O Switches Closed

[tom higgins <thomash85715@xxxxxxxxx>]

Are you in a moist climate or environment?  Water accumulated between the fixture and the underside of the roof or within the fixture itself could make this happen.  The attachment of the fixture to the roof must maintain infinte resistance; whatever insulating material exists in this area is critical.  Otherwise, frayed insulation on a yellow wire as it passes near metal through a bulkhead seems the only remaining explanation.  --Tom

Rob van der Es <r.vdes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

OK Paul,

Thanks for your very clear explanation (as always!) Here is the situation
and my opinion (please correct me if I am wrong..): There is a purple wire
running through the dome light, this is the positive 12 volt wire that is
going to the bulb. To complete the circuit (and make the domelight
working) we need a ground. This ground is supplied by a couple of yellow
wires, 2 of them are coming from the rear door switches and one is coming
from the manual switch in the headliner.

Even with these 3 wires disconnected from their switches, the light still
shines at half power or so.

So something is providing ground to this circuit.. Richard Burgess was so
kind to point me at two connection points were those yellow wires come
togehter, one is at the left rear wheel well and the other is under the
headliner close to the manual switch.

I couldn't find anything wrong with the connection point at the rear wheel
well so I guess the yellow wiring under the headliner is at fault here?
Maybe this connection point is grounded somehow??

Strangely enough when I remove the bulb, to prevent that my battery is
running flat, and place it back after a couple of days everything seems to
be normal again. The light only comes on then when a backdoor is openend
or the manual switch is operated, but after half an hour or so the bulb is
shining continuously again at half power..

Talking about electric gremlins!!

Any thoughts, anyone....???


Thanks again,


Robert












Op Wo, 18 oktober, 2006 1:37 pm, schreef randalpark@xxxxxxx:
> I really think that this dome light issue is related to some kind of an
> electrical short circuit. It has been explained that this light comes on
> even if the doors and light switch are not activated. That means that the
> circuit is being completed someplace else. It has to be, or the light
> can't work. I know it sounds wierd, but this short might not be in the
> wiring to the light itself.
>
> A simliar situation in my '48 Lincoln Continental resulted from a
> grounded wire under the dash. In this case, the dome light became
> brighter as I increased the engine RPMs. At one point, it would go out
> until the RPMs fell back down to that level. I haven't mentioned this
> previously because the car is six volt positive ground. Nonetheless, it
> takes a completed circuit to make the light come on. Once I found the
> short, the light functioned normally, and so did the rest of the car.
>
> Paul W.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: r.vdes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 1:30 AM
> Subject: Re: IML: Progress of a sort on the '60 LeCrown
>
>
>
> Hi John,
>
>
> Thanks a lot for your kind suggestion!
> I will check the fusebox then to see if something is wrong there.
> Might well be the case, cause about the same time my dome light stays on
> at half power my wiper motor stopped working... Might be an coincidence,
> but who knows?
>
> I will check out the fusebox this weekend!
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> Robert
>
>
>
> Op Wo, 18 oktober, 2006 4:09 am, schreef john sadowski:
>
>> The dome light at half power sounds like a fuse is bad. On my first 63,
>> I
>> had an 8 track player mounted directly below the fuses. Well , one day
>> the dome light wouldn't go out & it was shining less then full power.
>> Opening the doors caused the problem to move to the map light. After
>> nearly pulling my hair out, I discovered the bad fuse. I put the 8 track
>> back in the same place & it happened again. After the 2nd time, I
>> relocated the 8 track & no further problem. John ----- Original Message
>> -----
>> From: richard burgess
>> To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 7:24 AM
>> Subject: Re: IML: Progress of a sort on the '60 LeCrown
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Hey Everyone,
>>
>>
>>
>> Since we're all chiming in on our '60s I thought I would throw in
>> another update.
>>
>> If you have paid attention to the saga, a big milestone has been made.
>> I
>> have a brand new correct windshield installed, finally! It's so
>> beauutiful. I have most of the stainless back on but of course had one
>> of the header clips break. Fortunately I have had parts cars. The
>> trim slid around a bit so it took a couple tries to get everything
>> rights. I am ready to install the dynamat insulation on the roof and
>> begin windlacing installation. I have started installing
>> weatherstripping on the doors. I seriously wonder how well these cars
>> were sealed in the first place. The original weatherstripping was
>> crushed in many places leading me to believe it never quite went the
>> direction it was intended even when new. As soon as the headliner goes
>> in I can start on the carpet and installing the interior which is
>> already finished.
>>
>> The engine and transmission have now both been overhauled a second time
>> due to botched work the first time. My Dad is coming down next week
>> and we are going to get the drivetrain installed. This should all go
>> very qwickly as we have now done it once before! I really plan on
>> finishing the car sometime next Spring. this is my fourth year in this
>> frame up restoration. We are then going to get the front sheetmetal on.
>>
>>
>> Then the real troubleshootinng can begin. Once everything is hooked up
>> I
>> can see what does and does not work. I have laboriously added a factory
>> original power lock system from a parts car using the original wiring
>> harness and nos transformers. I still need one actuator for the
>> driver's door. It will be things like this that I am dying to know if
>> they actually work.
>>
>> It's going to be looking like a car again soon!
>>
>>
>>
>> Richard Burgess
>> '60 Crown
>>
>>
>>
>> Rob van der Es wrote:
>> Hi Donn,
>>
>>
>>
>> Ahhh, the joys of owning and maintaining a 1960 Imperial...
>> Been there, done that and as a matter of fact.. Still do!!
>>
>>
>>
>> Isn't it great fun to find yourself under the dash upside down (not too
>> easy when you are size XXL :) trying to repair something that is
>> hidden there?
>>
>> Right now I am trying to fix the wiper motor, it suddenly stopped
>> working and haven't found out yet what is wrong. Since both the switch
>> and the wiper motor are really hard to accesss this aint a job for the
>> faint hearted!
>>
>> Another problem is that the EL dash lighting system from time to time
>> fails to work, I have already thrown in a new (=rebuild) power pack but
>> the dash still gets dark every now and then (after a few days everything
>> is working again for an hour or so..) Must be one of the gauges that is
>> shorting out I guess, so in a short time I will finding myself again
>> under the dash pulling white leads from the gauges to find out which
>> one is guilty.
>>
>> Then we have the strange problem with the dome-light, it stays on when
>> the doors are closed.. And even stranger it shines it's light at half
>> power or so. There must be a shortcircuit to ground (and no, the
>> doorswitches are ok and so is the manual switch: with all those
>> switches disconnected the dome light is still working at half power..)
>> but I haven't found out yet where.
>>
>> I learned from Richard Burgess that there is a connectionpoint under
>> the headliner, running from the manual switch to the domelight and then
>> to left rear wheel well where it connected to the doorswitches, so
>> problably the shortcircuit is in this area...
>>
>> Apart from all these electrical problems (the electrical system of the
>> 60
>> model year isn't of the same quality as the rest of the car if you ask
>> me) the car drives beautifully. Running strong and is shifting gears
>> perfectly, all I have to do in this aspect is to sort out a rough idle.
>> I
>> might be in for a new harmonic damper since the timing mark seems to
>> have slipped..
>>
>> So enough work to do, but it is worth every minute of time that I have
>> spend so far to make the car better then it was before I bought it:) It
>> is fun, and to see all those faces of people looking at a car that they
>> have never seen before...Well, it makes it all worth I guess!
>>
>> So Donn, keep up the good work and keep it runnin'
>>
>>
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>>
>>
>> Robert
>> 1960 Crown 4 door Hardtop
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Op Di, 17 oktober, 2006 5:16 am, schreef Donn Reese:
>>
>>
>>> In fits and starts the Imperial is getting more roadworthy, but good
>>> grief is it putting up a fight! Maybe it's just tired and WANTS to go
>>> sit in a pasture forever. I've certainly been ready to oblige a couple
>>> times recently.
>>>
>>> The heater fan was making a loud scraping noise and the heater
>>> control valve had been bypassed so I decided to pull the heater and at
>>> least fix the fan. I was surprised how easy the heater unit was to
>>> remove, just three screws. Turns out the plastic housing on the
>>> outside face of the squirrel cage had deformed inwards pressing
>>> against the squirrel cage itself. I used my heat gun to heat up the
>>> plastic then pushed the face out, reforming from a concave to a convex
>>> (btw, it's pretty crappy
>>> plastic). But it's much quieter now and I didn't have to cut a hole in
>>> the housing.
>>>
>>> With that fixed I removed the heater control valve and (assuming it
>>> was just froze up with corrosion) proceeded to lubricate it and get
>>> the valve working again. I reinstalled it and hooked up the heater
>>> hoses and fired up the car. That's when I found out why it had been
>>> bypassed, it leaks. Soooo, I bypassed it again and will have to scout
>>> around for a new one.
>>>
>>>
>>> I discovered the cause of the slow turn signals at idle that I
>>> reported here recently.....bad flasher. I put a new one in and now it
>>> works regardless of idle. Seems strange to me though.
>>>
>>> Amongst all of this, last week the speedometer started making a
>>> horrendous noise and the needle would jump around. The OIC archive
>>> came in handy, found the same symptoms there....who would have guessed
>>> you have to lubricate the speedo head periodically. Definitely a new
>>> one on me. Especially surprising considering they don't make it easy
>>> to get any of the instruments out to do any kind of maintenance.
>>>
>>> I made another little test run down the highway and back and
>>> everything seems to be fine for now. Let's hope it stays that way as
>>> we're now getting frost at night and working outside is getting
>>> chilly.
>>>
>>> Donn Reese
>>> 1960 Custom 4dr hdtp
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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