Re: Why would my headlights be dim?

Posted by HH56 On 2017/5/11 9:10:55

Grounds are the biggest culprit in dim and sometimes intermittent lights. The tail light housings are pot metal which are bolted to the fender. The electrical path is a clean and bare spot of metal on the fender which touches a nut or bolt which is threaded into the pot metal which finally reaches the socket. Rust or corrosion at any of those spots and ground is lost or becomes a high resistance. Same with the front pot metal turn signal housings except the electrical path also goes thru the grill potmetal before reaching body sheetmetal.

I would start by cleaning up any connections you can see and pay attention to where the housings and bolts meet sheetmetal. Some have even had to add an additional ground wire directly between a lamp housing and the body sheetmetal. That is particularly true of the front park/turnsignal housings.

The flashers are the type that depends on a specific resistance and size in the bulb filaments so the heater working the bimetal strip will start the flashing. Any increased resistance from poor grounds changes the overall resistance and the turn signas become erratic or do not work at all. In all probability a new flasher will not solve the issue. Also, be aware that some of the modern flashers won't like the positive ground. They may work the turn signal bulbs but not the dash indicator light.

There are no 6v electric wiper motor conversions. There is a unit from Newport Engineeringnewportwipers.com that will bolt in in place of the wiper motor but it is 12v and requires a new switch to be mounted somewhere. The mechanical cable from the original switch and the original switch location will not work. There may possibly be a 6 to 12v converter module that could be added to allow the wiper to work on the original 6v but how easily a proper motor rated unit can be found is unknown. There is a discrepancy on the Newport website as to that availability. They still list the item but somewhere else say they no longer sell it.