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Dim Headlights; New HARNESS
Topic Started: Aug 19 2011, 04:56 PM (1,362 Views)
Fred
Member
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First of all i want to thank you for all your advice you give on this board.
i have a 1953 cj-3b that i just put in a new wireing harness and the problem is the headlights are dim weather their on high or low beam.
I had a friend come over and he said everything is connected right.
I tried everything and ran out of idea.
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Don
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First make sure you are not connecting 12 volt bulbs to a six volt battery.
Just kidding... :rolleyes:

Start here. If this checks ok then we'll look for a problem at the other end.


Posted Image
Don Norris
Southeast, NC

1953 CJ3B
1959 Jeep Pickup
195? M100 trailer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The trail never ends
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If lovin' Jeeps is wrong,
I don't wanta be right.
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oldtime
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MODERATOR
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To All...
Please do not respond to TOPICS via personal messages.
That only serves to create information gaps for those who are reading the Topic.
Also...Please fill in your "SIGNITURE" with details about your Jeep.

Quote:
 
and the problem is the headlights are dim weather their on high or low beam.
By "dim" do you mean it always seems to be on low beam never switching to high beam ?
Or do you mean the candle power seems insufficient regardless of the beam selection via the dimmer switch ?
Is this still a 6 volt system ?
Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
Rock Crawler using factory parts from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963)

http://s4.zetaboards.com/CJ3B_Bulletin_Board/topic/30228766/1/#new
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Larry (TX)
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Fred, I'm with Don and Ken on your situation, you need to share a bit more info with us, most importantly whether you're still using the 6 volt system and bulbs, or have changed to a 12 volt system.

One tip to try regardless (provided the bulb and battery are the same voltage), using test wires with alligator clips along with the diagram Don has provided, test the lamps individually directly off the battery to see if there is any difference; (attach the ground terminal first, then the low and high terminals one at a time). If the problem is indeed a brightness issue and not a high/low beam issue, and the bulb now has the correct brightness, I'd think there must be a ground problem somewhere in the wiring harness.
Larry Steed
Pearland, Texas
'53 Willys CJ3B
'52 Willys M38
'86 Chevy M1009 CUCV (K5 4x4 Military Blazer)
M100 1/4 ton jeep trailer
M416 1/4 ton jeep trailer (2 ea.)
M101 CDN 1/4 ton jeep trailer
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Fred
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Oldtime, Sorry about the lack of information,
Don, every thing checks out ok, according to your diagram.
This is a 6 volts system with 6 volt bulbs.
the candle power seems insufficient regardless of the beam selection via the dimmer switch ?
I purchased the wire harness from Walck's, so i called them and told them
the problem i was having, they had me check my ground wire when i told
them it was ok they said they don't know what the problem is.

Larry,
I checked the ground wire test as you suggested and their is no difference.
the candle power seems insufficient regardless of the beam selection via the dimmer switch.
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Gunslinger
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Just a thought here, my lights are dim aas well when I try them with the engine off or at low engine RPM, when I speed the engine up the alternator kicks in and then the lights come up to full brightness...just a thought.
1950 CJ 3a named Triple X, 1997 Cherokee Sport, Colt 1911 National match
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oldtime
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Check the batteries voltage reading and post your finding.
Clean all battery cable connections. + and -
Clean the connections on the large red wire (10 or 12 gauge) going to the ammeter.
Then follow that wire to the rear end of the light switch.
Clean all light switch connections.
Clean all dimmer switch connections.
Clean all connections at the three terminal junction block on the left (drivers) fender.
Test your generator / regulator output.
Designate the voltage, amperage and the engine rpm tp start the battery charging.

Did the lights work well before the harness was installed ?
Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
Rock Crawler using factory parts from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963)

http://s4.zetaboards.com/CJ3B_Bulletin_Board/topic/30228766/1/#new
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Dave Pete
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Somebody correct me here if I'm wrong, but my first thought was you installed a 12 volt wiring harness.

If your system is 6 volt, it needs bigger wiring to allow more current (amps) for same wattage (Volts x Amps = Watts).

If lights were bright before the harness swap, that may be it, got the wrong harness. Otherwise, I'd agree with oldtime, dirty connection somewhere or a bad voltage regulator in some way limiting current output to the lights.
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jyotin
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Two things...

First, whenever I deal with a 6 volt system I use 00 gauge wire on the battery terminals. Trying to bend an 00 wire is like trying to bend railroad rails (well, almost), so they'll need to be a little longer than smaller gauge wires.

With a 6 volt system a good ground is a connection of bare, clean metal to bare clean metal and nothing else. After you have secured and bolted down a good connection, you can spray paint the whole thing to keep rust away from it. It is much more sensitive to even a minute level of resistance/corrosion.

Second, if all else fails you could try an 8 volt battery. It'll just go in the battery tray and you won't need to replace light bulbs, generator, etc. Now, if you go to K-mart for an 8 volt battery they will tell you that there's no such thing, so you'll need to go to a battery shop -- and they'll probably have to special order it for you.
It's just my luck that something good is going to happen to me today.
54 - 3B - down on the farm
67 - cj6 - former state of Alabama vehicle
?? - cj5 T98a - made from spare parts - Ford tractor blue
?? - cj5 T98a - made from spare parts - Jeep green
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Fred
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Here's more information on my wireing problem. Oldtime , i will not at this time be able to give you all the information you want, read on.
I done a complete frame off restoration.
The wireing was the last thing to do, The motor was completely rebuilt
and the motor has not been started yet.
Here's the problem that blows my mind. with the old headlight bulbs
plugged into the sockets one bulb is very dim the other bulb is bright as it should be. here is the strange part, if you take the bright headlight bulb on the
driver side and plug it to the pass. side its bright over there also while the other bulb remains dim on eather side.
So i went and bought too new headlight bulbs and put them in. (Quote);Oldtime.
the candle power seems insufficient regardless of the beam selection via the dimmer switch.
Both new headlight bulbs are dim no mater what i try.
The battery is kept fully charged with our charger. Every time we tried
something new i grounded i it out with heavy wire with alligator clips .
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oldtime
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Fred,
Remove the sealed beam headlamps from the headlamp housings.
Test the bulbs by wiring them directly to your battery using 10 or 12 gauge wires.
Test both the high and the low beams.
Don't worry you can't burn them out in case you happen to connect the wrong spade connections.

Let's us know what you observe.
Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
Rock Crawler using factory parts from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963)

http://s4.zetaboards.com/CJ3B_Bulletin_Board/topic/30228766/1/#new
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steve
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I have a similar problem ,when I did my first resto I replaced the wires I think they were original because they were cloth covered,P.O. had switched from 6-12 volt anyway lights worked fine before, after my electrician friend helped me run new wires the low beam was very dim and high beam was about as bright as the low beam should have been. I could never figure out what went wrong. someone told me that there is a relay on the end of the headlight switch and I do not have one. the parts book shows something attached to the end of switch,anybody hear of that. I hope that when I finish my present resto with new harness and switch that this problem is solved./ I will be watching this post closely. Steve
54 CJ3B ~ up and running ~ Tiger Top installed
Suffern,NY
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oldtime
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No there is no relay on the end of the correct headlight switch.
However the correct lighting switch for all CJ's 1941- 1971 will have a 25 amp circuit breaker on the end.
Occassionally one will find 20 or 30 amp breakers on the lighting switch.
NRS switches typically do not have the circuit breaker.
Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
Rock Crawler using factory parts from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963)

http://s4.zetaboards.com/CJ3B_Bulletin_Board/topic/30228766/1/#new
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Don
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Fred,Aug 22 2011
07:34 PM
Here's the problem that blows my mind. with the old headlight bulbs
plugged into the sockets one bulb is very dim the other bulb is bright as it should be. here is the strange part, if you take the bright headlight bulb on the
driver side and plug it to the pass. side its bright over there also while the other bulb remains dim on eather side.
So i went and bought too new  headlight bulbs and put them in. (Quote);Oldtime.
the candle power seems insufficient regardless of the beam selection via the dimmer switch.
Both new headlight bulbs are dim no mater what i try.

Fred,

Test the bulbs as Larry and Ken have suggested. Connect them directly to the battery.

Normally if a problem follows the bulb,, as when you moved them from one side to the other,, the problem should be the bulb. One of them is working correctly in either place and the other one isn't correct in either place. Now both "new" ones are both not working correctly ???

I hate to beat this dead horse,,,, are you sure the bulbs are six volt?

Also,, please check the voltage with a volt meter at the socket if possible.

Are you using the three terminal junction block on the driver's side fender? If so, check your wiring connections carefully for a crossed connection.

I can't wait to here the answer to this problem !!!!!
Don Norris
Southeast, NC

1953 CJ3B
1959 Jeep Pickup
195? M100 trailer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The trail never ends
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If lovin' Jeeps is wrong,
I don't wanta be right.
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jyotin
Member
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Before you buy anything else or take anything else apart, try this simple solution.

Take the lamp numbers off of the original two headlamps. I suspect they will be two different numbers. Note which number is on the "bright" lamp.

Then take the two lamp numbers off of the new lamps. I suspect that they will both be the same number.

Now you have four lamps, and probably three different numbers.

Search the internet for a good cross reference and make sure that the old "dim" lamp and the new "dim" lamps are, indeed, 6 volt lamps. Based on your analysis and lamp swapping it sounds as if you've got three 12 volt lamps and one 6 volt lamp.

j
It's just my luck that something good is going to happen to me today.
54 - 3B - down on the farm
67 - cj6 - former state of Alabama vehicle
?? - cj5 T98a - made from spare parts - Ford tractor blue
?? - cj5 T98a - made from spare parts - Jeep green
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