69 Charger.
The problem is the car runs fine with its lights on for about 10-15 minutes then something appear to be heating up and shutting off the lights, all of the lights. They will come on an off actually.
After the car cools down the lights work fine for about 10 minutes again.
The headlights are on a circuit breaker in the headlight switch.
BUT. All of the other lights are fused.
The engine harness is the original harness that is a total mess. I am quite surprised it runs so well. There are splices and wire nuts everywhere from the horns to the alternator and about 6 at the bulkhead.
The front light harness is original too and has a couple wires that are very poor.
Oh. Boy.
There are two super critical connections at the bulkhead. And a handful of others that have limited protection.
Super critical are the power feeds. One from the alternator, the other from the battery. All of the power flows through one or the other depending on the situation.
They join together at the main splice inside the car.
The car is running an electronic distributor that was converted over last year. They stated they took the insides out and changed it to electronic.
There is no ecu box and its still retains the original voltage regulator. I had no idea that was even possible.
They probably used a Pertronix Ignitor 1 or 2. If so, there will be a power supply wire going to the distributor. My guess is they tapped into the ignition run circuit, on or near the ballast resistor.
The alt was putting out about 16 amps with a battery that has been sitting all winter with only a 10 mile drive on it to my garage. [quote]
You mean it was charging for 10 minutes at 16 amps? That's not bad, but its good either. Put the battery on a slow charger and it will be better for everything,
And then the lights were on, so that's another 12 amps or so.
Plus the ignition and field circuit. 3 - 4 amps.
So the alterator would have been putting out around 32 amps.
[quote]The headlight switch was very hot to the touch when they arrived.
The dimmer switch is new.
That's not good. Too much current or poor connections.
Too much current could be due too high of voltage in the system.
Measure the vltlage at the alternator output stud and a few other locations such as at the ignition run connector on the ballast, and battery. (While the engine is running)
My question is what do I tell him to order for an engine harness with the distributor he is running.
If its the petronix, you'll just need to add a power wire.
Secondly what on this car would heat up and make the lights go out.. Would the headlight switch do that if it gets too hot/overloaded.
I am afraid he will buy the harnesses (which he must for safety at least) and will still have the light issues.
Thanks for any advise!
Take the bulkhead connectors off. Make a diagram of the colors/size location. Or better, check it agains the factory diagram. Then one by one, remove the female terminals and make sure they are not damaged around the crimps. Clean each one, Make sure the barb is raised and reinstall. Gently tug to be sure they don't back out.
Wouldn't hurt to check the condition of the fuses.
General Power Schematic for late 60s
