parking lites

geraldchainsaw · 2018-10-06 18:42

messing with th4e parking lites, left hand turn signal works, right hand does not, took out bulb cleaned blub socket, took a test with a 12v tester, clipped on housing and put pointer on the 2 diff contacts inside socket, on one i get a lite on the other nothing, the only thing i havn't done is cut the wires, any ideas out there?, thanks jerry

Hoosier Hurricane · 2018-10-07 05:35

Jerry:

Does the turn signal work at the tail light? If not, the problem may be in the turn signal switch or wire. Trace the wire from the light to the block on the fender panel with all the wires and see if you have power there. If yes, the problem is in the connection of the wire in the block or the wire to the light. If no, the problem is between the block and the turn signal switch. Remember, to check that circuit, the turn signal has to be on and you will see an intermittent glow in your test light. John

geraldchainsaw · 2018-10-07 08:12

yes the tail lite works, both. so i guess i'll start in the front, cut the wires and trace back, i did have the turn signal on, and no intermittent lite, another question also, do i have to take off the grill to pop the whole parking lite housing?, if so thats going to be a pain, but then isn't it always a pain. thanks for the info jerry

lalessi1 · 2018-10-07 09:28

I would look at the connector block on the radiator support. I have had wires separate from the ends and appear connected there.

djfordmanjack · 2018-10-07 16:32

I see that your convertible is fully restored, but sometimes it is just bad ground because of surface rust or perfect new seals. Either the parking light assemblies or headlights have brown ( I think) ground wires that are fastened to the inner fenders with metal screws. the right one is awfully close to the battery area that often can be heavily corroded by acid. also the big connecting block on the left inner fender is aprox where the fan would spray all the rain water, so they can have some internal corrosion as well. Like Lynn stated it would be a very good idea to pull these connectors and use a penetrating oil/ fluid, that is compatible with electric connections. Mechanical cleaning with small screwdriver or brass wire brush will help as well. I think the wire loom for the RH parking lamp runs under the front header panel along the horns. It could possibly be quenched or damaged by the hood hinges. I think the parking lamp assemblies have seperate twin wire connectors that are either plugged behind the grill or inside the inner fenders. you will have to pull, clean and lube these as well.

geraldchainsaw · 2018-10-07 17:12

ok, i've had ;lots of suggestions on what to do, and i'll try them all, but no one has answered my questions about , do i have to take off the grill to take the lite housing off? jerry

RICH MUISE · 2018-10-07 22:22

Pull the two screws that hold the parking light lens on, and I believe you will find two sheet metal screws that hold the housing to the grille....so no, the grille doesn't need removal.

djfordmanjack · 2018-10-08 03:37

I hate to say so Rich and Jerry, but I think I have to disagree with that. Surely the lens is held by screws, but in my opinion the housing has 2 studs spot welded that are fastened from the back of the grill with hex nuts. In my mind it will be very hard to access these with hood in place. you would have to reach down very low with your elbow down below the hood hinge and use a small ratchet. probably a 3/8 or 7/16 spanner. this was easy to reach when Ford assembled the whole frontend in the factory and put it on finished car as an assembly.
We all know how delicate it is to work around the grill, front splash pan, rad support or fenders. lots of bolts are really hard to reach and its a real drag removing the grill itself.
I would try do everything possible in cleaning connectors and making sure there is good ground on the assmbly before trying to remove it from car. Most times / as a matter of fact all of the 6 lamps on my 3x 57s, when I pulled the lenses there was enough corrosion there in the bulb socket to keep it from working. the socket is spring loaded of course and a good dose of WD40, rust penetrating fluid or simply scratching the solder contacts and socket with a scraper or sharp screwdriver might help a lot.

lalessi1 · 2018-10-08 09:21

It is studs that hold the housing in. Original nuts are captive lock washer types. You can get by just removing the splash pan but I don't think you need to remove the housings, the sockets don't seem to come off anyway.

geraldchainsaw · 2018-10-08 09:37

djfordmanjack is right, the housing is held in with bolts that were spot welded or whatever and can't get to. so the only thing i can think of is to grind the heads off and drill and put screws in place letting me remove the lite housing, now on another hand, i used a 12v lite with ground and back tracked, havn't got all the way yet but so far it looks like its somewhere between the lite housing and my last crimp, i don't like grinding all the lite housing bolts, but it seems like the easiest way to go, at least at shows there not going to pull off my parking lite lens to c originality, any way, i've got 6 months to get this fixed before next season. jerry

djfordmanjack · 2018-10-08 15:24

Jerry, as far as I remember the holes in the grill are either elongated slots or enlarged holes. it would be very difficult for you to fasten the parking lamp housings once you drilled the og studs.

geraldchainsaw · 2018-10-08 16:02

djfordmanjack u may be right, i'll have to use a mirror and check it out, also, i did some more checking and got all the way to the connection on the lite housing, so its some where between the housing and the connection, which means if i want to fix it i have to come up with something or just forget about it, i'm not tearing things apart just for a right hand turn signal lite, the back works, that might be good enough

RICH MUISE · 2018-10-08 16:31

sorry about that, I just ran my fingers behind the grille thru an opening and felt what was a coarse sheet metal thread rather than a machine thread.

geraldchainsaw · 2018-10-08 18:32

to djfordmanjack, check out general info, has a picture of a grill

djfordmanjack · 2018-10-09 02:50

seen the pic in the other topic, Jerry. thx to Joe. I was thinking that you wanted to use a large screw in the same spot of the stud. which wouldnt work because of the quite large hole in the grill. you can possibly use a caged nut that you can slide on from the grill opening and still use the old location of the stud for a new bolt or screw. or make do with how Tom just drilled and drove seperate small screws.
Rich. you did actually touch a coarse sheet metal screw ( kind of). the screws that hold the lenses go all the way through housing and grill.
the studs and hex nuts are further to the center of the lamp.
Guenter

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parking lites