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| flashers and fuses for a '60 valiant? https://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9165 |
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| Author: | Eatkinson [ Mon Apr 26, 2004 2:22 am ] |
| Post subject: | flashers and fuses for a '60 valiant? |
Thanks to the guys who just advised me how to remove my dash/faceplate. my headlights are not working (neither hi nor lo beams), but when I turn them on my taillights go on. My parking lights go on but when the ignition is "on", I don't get any response from signaling right or left. Not even a dashboard light. The overhead dome light also is not working. Would someone tell me where to find the fuses and if there is a 'flasher' that is somewhere in/around the dash area that I need to replace? Thanks. |
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| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Mon Apr 26, 2004 8:24 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
The '60-'61 cars are not extensively protected by fuses, and what fuses there are are not in a convenient fusebox, but scattered here and there using inline holders. The turn signal flasher "can" is mounted in a spring steel clip under the dash. It is round, about 1¼" diameter by either 1¼" tall or 2" tall. I like to use the "electronic" flasher, such as Ideal/Tridon EL-12c, because of its low internal resistance and nice, loud click. If this does not fix your turn signals, there is something wrong with the switch—another fairly common "needs work" point on the '60-'61 cars. Also be sure to check the obvious -- if a bulb is burned out or its path to ground interrupted by corrosion or broken connections, the flasher won't work, and if two bulbs are burned out or ungrounded, the flasher REALLY won't work! To check if it's the flasher or the switch, step on the brake and signal for either turn. If the brake light on the side your're signalling goes off, the switch is *probably* OK. If it does not, the switch is *probably* in need of service. But these are not definites, because a bad flasher can louse-up this test. There is a circuit breaker—a thermal cutout—built into the headlamp switch. If neither your high nor your low beam headlamps work, and you know at least one filament in each circuit is good, then the likely culprit is a bad headlamp switch (or a bad built-in breaker). Do you have a voltmeter or at least a test light? Pretty much all electrical diagnosis is the same, trace the circuit from its end to its beginning, finding the point at which voltage "stops moving forward". Many of the original switches and breakers through '62, made by RBM (="really badly made?") were just barely equal to the task they were given, and tend to fail with age. (Yes, this is a little bit of a ridiculous statement...I guess you should replace the headlamp switch every forty-four years whether it needs it or not...). Installing anything but the original 4000/4001 type headlamps (halogen sealed beams, 5001 high beams, H4s, whatever) will heat and fail the early switch rapidly. See http://www.danielsternlighting/tech/relays/relays.html . You are on the right track thinking about fuses -- it will be very much worth your while to add fuses to all circuits not presently so protected, and—very important!—add a main fuse. The factory began protecting the whole of the body electrical system with fusible links in '63; cars up to '62 have zero protection against catastrophic electrical fire and resultant massive destruction. A properly rated "slow blow" or "time delay" maxi-fuse is preferable to a fusible link. The proper rating can be estimated by totalling up the wattage of all of the car's electrically-operated items, dividing by 13, adding 8 to this result, and rounding down to the closest available slow-blow/time-delay maxi-fuse. Such a fuse would get installed inline in circuit A-1, the main feed. Do you have a factory service manual for your '60? You should get one... |
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| Author: | relic-lover [ Mon Apr 26, 2004 9:03 am ] |
| Post subject: | Turn signal switch might be culprit |
The 61 (and probably the 60) turn signal switch tended to shear off the plastic pin where the switch was actuated. Use a meter to check out if the switch makes and breaks connection when you move the turn signal wand. As for the dome light - there are two failures I have found. The door switches get so much rust they don't make contact - or the wire connection is rusted completely off. And the second is the water coming in from the drivers corner of the windshield corrodes the connection to the pink and yellow wires under the drivers side kick panel. Remember to check the bulb with a meter first - maybe it is the obvious, a burnt out bulb. BTW there is a 60 Valiant Shop manual on ebay right now the starting bid was $16 - they usually go for less than 25 in usable but greasy condition. |
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| Author: | Eatkinson [ Mon May 03, 2004 10:52 am ] |
| Post subject: | thanks |
thanks to you both for helping with this. Still working on the problem. |
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