Re: Side lights won't turn off in my '55

Posted by HH56 On 2013/6/5 20:29:40

There are two bulbs and two circuits in the sidelights. One bulb is fairly bright, the other dimmer. The dimmer bulb is on with the tail lights. If the tail lights are not on at the same time as the light that circuit is OK.

The brighter bulb is operated by door switches. There are plunger type switches at each door which provide a ground to the lamps. On earlier 55 400's there are two switches at each door. One operates the front courtesy light above the glovebox and the other switch operates the side light. On later cars there was only one switch at each door that operated both lights. The single switch had two terminals to maintain the separate circuits. If you have a single switch make sure someone didn't use an ordinary single terminal switch and tie the wires together.

If you've ruled out the taillight circuit bulb I would look at those switches. If you have two switches, I can't tell you which switch is which but you can find out by pushing the plungers to see which turns off the front lamp. You can use a small screwdriver under the other switch and pry it out of the hole in the doorjamb. Check that the wire hasn't come off and is grounding or the switch itself is not bad. If both door switches are removed and you still have the problem there is a short to ground somewhere in the wire loom going to the lamps.