headlights quit working

[30modelA]

havent drove the car at night yet, headlight have always worked, high and low beams. on the original switch. took the fam out to eat went to leave from the restaurant turned lights on they came on as normal, never made it out of the parking lot and they went out. needless to say i drove home in the dark. anybody had this happen?

[Kurt in NJ]

A bad (loose?)connection at the battery can cause a high voltage spike and burn out the headlight bulbs ---

possibly there is a fuse installed in the light power feed wire that blew

Do any lights work ??
Did they get very bright just before they quit?
Has the car been modified from original type system?

[30modelA]

Originally Posted by Kurt in NJ

A bad (loose?)connection at the battery can cause a high voltage spike and burn out the headlight bulbs ---

possibly there is a fuse installed in the light power feed wire that blew

Do any lights work ??
Did they get very bright just before they quit?
Has the car been modified from original type system?

the tail light works, thats the only other light on the car, horn works, didnt see them get bright. i dont think there is a fuse, they are sealed beam lights, thanks

[Richard Wilson]

First test would be to pull the lens and see if you have power to the headlights. Might be as simple as a corrouded ground.

[Ed in Maine]

My guess would be poor ground. Just take a jumper wire from the head light bolt to the block nut and see if they come on. If not, then a connection problem at the light switch.

I recently rebuilt and polished a set of head lights. I wanted to be positive that grounds not become a problem inside the head light. I soldered a stranded 16 ga. wire to the bulb base and ran the wire out along side the mounting ball/bolt of the head light. Now when you mount the head light on the bar you will be crushing the strands of this copper wire to the bar. At least now you don't have to worry about a bad ground inside the head light. Ed

[heneste]

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I've only had the headlights stop working because of a loose connection at the base of the headlamps. A few people in this area opt for hardwiring the headlamps with the headlight harness. It avoids ever having a loose connection if you hit a bump but does make it more work if you ever have to work on the radiator and have to remove the radiator shroud etc.

[Paul from Maine]

Originally Posted by heneste

I've only had the headlights stop working because of a loose connection at the base of the headlamps. A few people in this area opt for hardwiring the headlamps with the headlight harness. It avoids ever having a loose connection if you hit a bump but does make it more work if you ever have to work on the radiator and have to remove the radiator shroud etc.

I hardwired mine and have never had a problem since. The original connections worked well , but when I replaced the wiring harness, things just didn't quite match up. After comparing the two harnesses, I realized it would never work reliably, so I hardwired them with spade disconnects inside the head light. I made the highbeam male and the low beam female so I wouldn't get them mixed up when removing the headlight bar.

[46vette]

Dimmer switch? Happened to me,on a 67Camaro.

[30modelA]

Originally Posted by 46vette

Dimmer switch? Happened to me,on a 67Camaro.

there is no dimmer switch

[30modelA]

thanks guys, the damnest thing ever is they work today

[1931 flamingo]

Start ck'ng the wires (continuity) from the light sockets, thru the bullet connectors to the spider. Got to be a loose connection or bad ground.
Paul in CT

[Steve Wastler]

I agree with Paul, still check everything, you will find if you don't, at night again when you need them, will be the next time they fail to work.

[rickmass]

I,ve been checking old post,on head light,s not working,Had head light,s now I don,t got brake light,s horn ,even a back up light.I check all the gounds nothing thing power to the switch nothing to the light,s HELP i,am going crazy.Rickmass

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by rickmass

...even a back up light...

[bobpo]

Originally Posted by 30modelA

thanks guys, the damnest thing ever is they work today

The key word is "to(day)". What about at night? I wouldn't trust lights that only work when they want to. I'd opt(like several others) for the bad contact, even if it is a bad ground. Mine did the same thing until I hard-wired them with spade connects. Haven't had a problem since. (and I drive it at night).

Now if could just get them adjusted properly.......???!!!

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by bobpo

Now if could just get them adjusted properly.......???!!!

What kind of bulbs and reflectors are you using? Repro reflectors will never focus correctly and higher power bulbs in them will just give a brighter flood light when you need a focused spot light.

[Art Bjornestad]

Lost my battery ground one night, only thing that worked were the brake lights because I wasn't using the brake when everything got very bright for a few seconds.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Oxidized Auto Electrical Connections:

Many vintage car owners have no idea how many hundreds of thousands of very good coils, good condensors & good sets of points were incorrectly thrown in the garbage because of electrical metal connection corrosion thus insulating auto electrical connections, all caused by metal oxidation.

Typical scenario: One disconects wire terminals on either the coil, condensor, or points, & reinstalls either a new coil, new condensor, or new points with fresh, shiny , & immaculate connections.

Then in tightening either the electrical connection bolt, screw, or nut, on the wire connections, the turning action of same removes the metal oxidation which was causing an insulatng effect & stopping the transfer of current.

After installing the new coil, new condensor, or new points, with "clean" non-oxidized connections, & throwing away the old part with oxidized connections, one is incorrectly lead to beleive that the former coil, condensor, or points were "bad".

One way for a vintage car owner to greatly reduce oxidation & electrical connection failure on (-) & (+) ground connections for headlights, tail-lights, brake lights, coils, condensors, etc., etc. is to apply a very inexpensive anti-corrosion & anti-seize material specifically formulated for these electrical connection applications.

One such product is Permatex #80071, a four (4) ounce can of Copper Anti-Seize which sells fo under $8.00.

Humid climates & coastal regions can cause more oxidation & more sporatic electrical connection failure than arrid regions.

In my opinion, if one has intermitent electrical failure with slip-on or threaded electrical connections, (daily, monthly, annually or even every 5 to 10 years), thoroughly cleaning these oxidized connections & applying this product or a similar copper product will greatly reduce these connection failures & give one peace of mind for years, as well as being able to return from a function at night with working lights.

[rickmass]

question, how many wires on a, I guest stock head light swith,Rickmass

[Vanspeed]

Same thing happened to me about 3 years ago, I was far from home and in heavy traffic so I had to be towed home. I was almost hit by a car because they could not see me. I soon pulled over. Had one light working. The problem was in the sockets. I bought some repo sockets and took all the wires and switched them over to my original sockets (the repo connectors were too loose in the headlight buckets) been working fine ever since.