Now that I have the turn signals fixed, the stoplight switch is next.
There are two extra wires going to the switch plug, they have long (1 in or so) narrow brass tabs that seem to push in along side of the plug. One goes to a condenser looking thing, the other I can't see where it goes. I don't know what the extra wires do. The wiring diagram only shows two wires. The stoplights work sometimes. I bought a new switch and no change. I'm going to pull the drivers seat so I can get a better look...... I got a better look and the two extra wires go to each side of a condenser????. A mechanic friend suggested the extra wires might have been for an after market cruise control.
I removed them and no change. The lights go on and off if I wiggle the wires on the back of the plug. I seems to be a bad contact inside the plug. What can I do to tighten the contacts in the plug?
Thanks,
Lou

 

The capacitor is for radio noise suppression on the AM band. You can remove it or leave it installed - if original, it is probably long dead...

 

I had the same problem with the brake light switch on R66. I replaced the brake light switch, removed the lead to the capacitor that was missing, tore the turn signal switch apart and did all of the trouble shooting.
It ended up the contacts in the connector to the brake light switch were not making contact as the capacitor lead wrapped around the spade on the switch and the female lugs in the plastic connector were spread and didn't make good contact on the switch without the capacitor lead. I removed the lugs from the plastic connector and adjusted them to make a tight fit, put NO-OX on them and reassembled the connector to the switch and resolved the intermittent brake light problem.
Something you may want to try. I went thru all of the connectors that had a capacitor lead on them and disassembled them to tighten the connection and low and behold the battery gauge started working.

Ron

 

Thanks Ron,
I will try that tomorrow. How did you remove the lugs from the connector? It's funny you mentioned the battery gauge as that is next on the list, it doesn't work either.
Did you disconnect all the capacitors, or just cleaned the connections?
Thanks again,
Lou

 

Lou,

The female clips push in from the back side. There is a small tab that springs out when the clip is pushed in from the back and hold it in. You have to have a small thin piece of metal (feeler gage, metal wire tie, etc.) about 1/8" wide to push in from the front at the back of the clips to compress the tab and allow the clip to pull out of the back. Some times you have to push the wire and clip in deeper to get the clip to release from the plastic connector.

I can't get any pictures tonight due to my celebration of age reward more or less incapacitating me. I'll try to get an old connector and a camera out in the morning and take some pictures. It is not hard, but it can be a little frustrating. Don't pull too hard on the wire to remove the clip as it can seat the tab deeper in the plastic if you don't have it held down. I use a screw driver to push the clip out from the front.

I removal all of the capacitors or at least disconnected the lead and removed them at the connectors. The contact for them is just a small piece of copper about 3/16" wide that folds over the male connector on the switch. The old capacitors are a fire hazard as they come out of the can of the capacitor and can short out to the metal in the dash. You don't need the capacitors unless you are listening to AM radio. Even if you are listening to AM, carbon plug wires and resistor plugs will eliminate most of the noise. I even disconnected the capacitors on the voltage regulator and the ignition coil.

Ron

Ron

 

Thanks,
I will try it tomorrow.
Lou

 

Looking at the end of the connector - see the small slot on the outside of each contact (lug)

I use a piece of flat metal as a tool Scrap that I saved from something??? About 1/8" wide and .010" thick.

Insert your tool on the outside of the contact (lug) and push down as you push the wire up. Can be tough to do with only 2 hands. You can feel when the tool slides past the tab on the lug.

Pull the wire and lug out from the back while holding the tool down in the connector.

See the tab on the lug? You may have to bend it back out slightly to get it to engage firmly when reinstalling the contact(lug).

Bad picture, but the contact is a piece of brass bent almost 180 degrees and needs to be spread out to assure a good connection.
Lou,

Once the contact is spread, just push it back into the connector from the back until you feel the tab engage. Pull on the wire to assure it is firmly set in place.

This can be hard to do lying in the floor boards, but you will get it down by the time you had done the last one! Worked for me on the brake switch and volt (ammeter) gauge. Don't forget to shine up the contact surface with steel wool or something and put a small film of NO-OX on them to improve and protect the connection.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photos, but I don't have a fancy phone. Good Luck.

Ron

 

Thanks,
I'll do it when I'm done with the morning chores.
Lou

 

Ron,


OK, I cleaned and tweaked the plug, and now I have stoplights.
I tried the same for the amp gauge, no luck.
I will address it later.
Thanks,
Lou

 

Glad we could help. Now you can do some safe cruising, even without the battery gauge working. You must be really young to get it all done that quickly along with your other chores. It takes me a couple of hours just to get my legs, back, and hands limbered up to go that simple job if I have bright lights for my tired eyes.

Do a search on troubleshooting the volt (amp or battery) meter before you call the meter bad and waste money on a new one.
There is a thread, in the FAQ section I think, on testing the gauge with a 1-1/2 volt AA battery. If it tests good with the AA battery, then it could be in the connector at the firewall. If you have a volt/ohm multimeter (Harbor Freight has cheap ones for < $10), you can measure the voltage on the lugs in the meter connector coming from the horn relay and also from the starter to see if you have voltage to the meter. If you have voltage, I would clean and inspect the wire connections at the horn relay, starter, and firewall connector and try again. Sometimes you will get a reading, but a poor connection will break down when the load of the meter is applied. I had to clean the firewall connections on R66 after a few issues in the cockpit. You can use similar techniques to clean and adjust the pins in the firewall connectors. If you don't have one, get a copy of the wiring diagram. One of the members is supplying them here on line.

There are a couple of guys on here that really know their stuff on electrical (I am not one). If you can't find the historical threads, start a new one. OLD FARTs just drooling to help. Wilcox Corvette has some great info too.

Hope you have more good luck and find it is just a clean and adjust repair. It is kind of fun after you get it down and saves you $$$$.

Ron

 

Ron

My wife had major back surgery on Valentines day. We spent 20 days a Jackson Memorial in Miami Fl. She has to wear a brace for 3 to 4 months and can't twist, lean or lift anything over 5 pounds for four months. I have to feed our animals and muck horse stalls, do laundry, cook meals, keep up the yard and whatever comes up before I play with any toys. I seem to have it pretty much under control. Good thing for retirement.
I will start working on the amp gauge on Saturday.
Someone on the forum sent me the schematics for the 67 and I also bought DocRebuild's laminated and color coded schematics.
They also sent me 63-67 Fuel gauge diagnostics by John Hinckley.
The fuel gauge will be after the amp gauge.
Thanks,
Lou

 

Lou,

Give your wife our best wishes for a fast recovery. It will be a long 3 or 4 months for both of you. I am sure she will be happy to fix the meals when she can. Hope she is up and around a little bit as it gets real boring not being able to do things like you use to.

I don't think I could handle all of the chores my wife does. She won't let me cook as I set off the fire alarm one time fixing cold cereal (true story).

Too bad 50+ year old cars are not as resilient as our wives. Good luck with the remaining electrical issues you have.

Ron