Electrical Question 65 Coupe
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 57
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From: Belleville IL
Electrical Question 65 Coupe
With the headlights on, I keep blowing the dash light fuse ( and of course the taillights too), If I turn the dimmer control very low,it does not blow the fuse. If the lights are off, no problem. Any ideas?
Tech Contributor
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,576
Likes: 118
From: Conroe Texas
Pull the fuse and measure the amperage at the fuse holder with the headlight **** turned all the way to brightest.
Does your car have factory A/C?
Have you changed anything recently?
Is this a new problem?
Does your car have factory A/C?
Have you changed anything recently?
Is this a new problem?
Thread Starter
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 57
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From: Belleville IL
65 coupe electrical robes
I have had the car only a few weeks and have not driven it at night until last evening. It is a factory air car, but of course the ac was not on with the recent dip in temps here.
Tech Contributor
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,576
Likes: 118
From: Conroe Texas
Ok, if you can pull that Panel Lamps fuse and measure the amperage at the fuse holder with the lights on, that will tell us a lot about how much draw you have.
The fuse is normally a 4 amp fuse. This circuit was in place in 1963 as a 4 amp fuse.
In 1965 - 2 more panel lamps were added to the cluster. Plus the A/C cars had 2 lamps around the clock. Thus a 65 with factory A/C has 4 more 0.33 Amp lamps than a base 63 does - and yet still uses a 4 amp circuit.
If the lamps are new, or someone put in brighter ones, you may be pulling more than 4 amps now.
I went through this several years ago with my 65 and had to put a 5 amp fuse in the circuit (on the recommendation of the wiring harness manufacturer) AND had to replace the stock bulbs with slightly dimmer ones. Here was my nightmare http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...ort-still.html
The fuse is normally a 4 amp fuse. This circuit was in place in 1963 as a 4 amp fuse.
In 1965 - 2 more panel lamps were added to the cluster. Plus the A/C cars had 2 lamps around the clock. Thus a 65 with factory A/C has 4 more 0.33 Amp lamps than a base 63 does - and yet still uses a 4 amp circuit.
If the lamps are new, or someone put in brighter ones, you may be pulling more than 4 amps now.
I went through this several years ago with my 65 and had to put a 5 amp fuse in the circuit (on the recommendation of the wiring harness manufacturer) AND had to replace the stock bulbs with slightly dimmer ones. Here was my nightmare http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...ort-still.html
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 22,192
Likes: 4,180
From: Kannapolis NC
Just to clarify, the second fuse from the bottom, marked "tail lmps" should be a 10a. The third fuse from the bottom should be a 4a marked "instr lmps".
Last edited by 65GGvert; Nov 13, 2012 at 11:56 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,313
Likes: 512
From: Carmel CA
I had a somewhat similar problem on my 65. After chasing it for a while, I found that the problem was corrosion in the firewall connector. When I cleaned that out, everything was fine. Just a warning, disconnect the battery before you try to clean that connector. Don't ask why I know that.
Doc
Doc
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Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Belleville IL
Reply
Thanks everybody for your advice, sorry for the late reply, work has been a bear lately. I finally got around to putting a slightly larger fuse in the dash light slot, the smallest I had is a 7.5 amp although I need to te to the store for a smaller amperage. So far so good, taillights work fie and don't dim when I turn down the dimmer.
Pro
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 643
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From: San Francisco CA
Thanks everybody for your advice, sorry for the late reply, work has been a bear lately. I finally got around to putting a slightly larger fuse in the dash light slot, the smallest I had is a 7.5 amp although I need to te to the store for a smaller amperage. So far so good, taillights work fie and don't dim when I turn down the dimmer.