Electrical Issues

[ND67]

I have a few electrical issues with my 1965 that I can’t figure out. I think they may be related but not sure.

First, the battery (new) will not last more than four days if I leave the car parked. Since I drive it only on weekends I end up having to jump it every week. The only thing running is the clock.

Secondly, and this is the hard one, every few times I drive the car it hesitates and misses when I try to accelerate. So if I’m sitting at idle the car runs fine, when I put it in 1st and give it gas it goes along ok but when I shift to second or third and really give it gas the engine will falter. I let of the gas and the car idles fine.

I’m wondering if this could be a poor ground somewhere but I have no ideal how to check. To make this more challenging, the 2nd problem doesn’t happen every time I drive the car. On Saturday I took the car out and ran it hard. It ran great. On Sunday I jump in the car and get to the end of my street and it starts faltering.. sort of like a car with bad or old fuel.

I can’t figure it out. Can someone tell me how many and where the ground straps are (or should be). Also, the positive battery post has felt around it but the negative does not. Could it be that the neg batt cable is close enough to the metal battery retainer (top of battery) to be causing problems?

I have a Voltage Meter but not a light. I’m no electrician but if there is something I should check please advise.

Thanks,

ND67

 

[JohnZ]

First things first - something is drawing current (besides the clock) and killing the battery. Disconnect the negative cable and place a test light or digital VOM (set on amps) between the battery terminal and cable end. Note the draw on the meter, and start pulling fuses until the draw stops - that circuit is the one that has the problem. Use a wiring diagram to see what's running off that fuse and start checking each item for a short.

The "faltering" could be any one of many things, but it's probably electrical. Start with the basics - check and clean all connections, especially grounds. Inspect the inside of the distributor cap and the rotor, check the surface of the points for pits, and make sure the little black ground wire from the points to the inside of the distributor is in good shape. Check the point dwell and timing, and make sure the high-voltage coil lead is fully seated at the coil and distributor. Check the connections at the coil and the ballast resistor. Carefully remove the two engine-side connectors from the fuse block (don't break the lock tabs) and inspect for corroded terminals. Borrow a known-good coil and see if that makes a difference.

The oiled felt washer on the positive battery terminal is there to prevent corrosion; the ground side doesn't use one. Clean the connections at the battery and the starter solenoid, and clean the battery ground cable connection at the starter mounting bolt. Also remove and clean the two screw connections at the horn relay - that's where power gets from the battery to the rest of the car. Disconnect the battery ground cable while you're doing all this so there's no power on anything.

 

[ND67]

Thanks John. I'll try your suggestions. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks,

ND67

 

[ND67]

Okay. I found the circuit that is giving me problems. All the others showed a measurement on my VOM (set to amps) except one. This is the courtesy lamp, taillights and license plate lamp.

The problem seems to be related with the inside rear taillights and the license plate light. The outside taillights work fine. The inside taillights don’t work at all nor does the license plate light. I’m not sure how this can be as the wiring diag. shows that all four taillights share the same ground and pos. wire, or at least I think I’m reading this correctly.

The other confusing thing is that there appears to be a ground wire (16B) underneath the blower assembly. I can’t find it. Which side of the firewall is this wire on?

Finally, how do I check each component? If the license plate light has a short in it how do I find it?

I’m learning.. thanks for the help!

ND67

 

[atmmac]

To be perfectly honest it sound like it could possible be a faulty voltage regulator. Try replacing it with a new one if it is old. I had a similar problem with my impala. As far as the faltering it is most likely your carburetor. This too happened to me. Have it rebuilt. Most likely the accelerator pump inside your carb has failed and the extra gas can not be pumped into your motor to get it to go. It will sound like it is about to stall when this occurs but when you let off the gas it will return to normal. Good Luck i hope this helps.

-Andy

 

[ND67]

Hi Andy,

The Carb. was just rebuilt. Actually, I think the voltage regulator is new but I will check.

It seems that something is just not grounded and I can't seem to find it.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[Ron Miller]

Hey see you're on line, so thought a quick note.

Something not grounded won't cause the battery to run down, and from what I understand you've checked, the circuit showing a current draw (with the ammeter between the battery post and battery ground cable) is the circuit causing the battery run-down, not the one which has no current draw.

 

[ND67]

Ron,

So I think you're saying that I have the correct circuit. I set my VOM to the amp setting (it only has one) and began to pop the fuses out one at a time. I checked after each fuse and the meter showed a reading. I replaced that fuse and went to the next.

The last fuse I checked had no reading, the meter sat at zero. After finding this I checked the components that are run off this circuit and noticed that the inside tail lights don't seem to work.

What I don't know is when the two inside taillights are supposed to work. For example do the come on with the running lights or just when the car is in reverse? They have a white center in the lens which leads me to believe they are reverse lights. When I turned the lights on and put the car in reverse they didn't work.

What else can I check?

 

[Ron Miller]

You're right, the fuse you pulled that stopped the current draw (when your amp meter showed zero) should be the one that is pulling down your battery.

As far as the two inboard taillights, if you have a clear or white lens in these two spots, that's an indication that your car should have backup lights, as that's what the clear lenses are used for. In '65's without backup lights, these two inboard lights are red and function as taillights and stop/turn signal lights in the same manner as the outboard rear lights.

I'm not looking at a wiring diagram at the present, but I'm sure there are more items drawing power from this fuse than just the backup lamps. From here, it's just a matter of checking to see what is drawing power to cure your current draw problem.

Hope this is of some help!

 

[JohnZ]

What you're looking for is the fused circuit that DOES show a draw (with the ignition off and the doors closed); the only one that would show any draw at all would be the one that feeds the clock, and that one only intermittently. None of the rest should show any draw at all.

Check the glove box light too - that's a frequent draw, as it's on battery power, hot all the time whether the ignition is on or not.

 

[Subfixer]

John Z beat me to it. I believe the glove box light runs off the circuit you described. I had the same problem. I had to buy a new switch/socket to make it work properly again.

As far as your backup light problem, Check the switch on the transmission (assuming it's still there). Your licence plate light probably just needs a new bulb, but the bulb socket could be bad also.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Also sounds silly but all the door should be closed other wire the interiour light will draw.

Check in on the post below about another fellow with electrical problems

 

[JohnZ]

The license plate light probably isn't grounded. There's a short black pigtail wire with a ring terminal on it that comes out of the taillight harness adjacent to the license light opening - put the ring terminal on the forward license light housing screw, between the metal housing and the U-nut on the body panel, and the lamp will work (unless the bulb is bad).

 

[ND67]

Guys,

I think we're making progress.

John - last night I re-checked the circuit with both doors closed (to make sure) and still have a draw coming from the courtesy light/taillight circuit.

Subfixer – I crawled under and checked the back-up light switch. It appears to be fine, actually looks new and has a small plate protecting it. I wiggled the wires and they seem firm. I also checked the glove box light; it is also new and works fine.

I finally removed all the taillight lens covers and pulled each bulb. One of the inner taillight bulbs was covered in black goo. It could have been from moisture after a recent rain storm I got caught in several months ago.

Could this be the source of my constant battery drain? Neither of the inner taillights work so I guessed that the moisture/goo shorted out the light socket which shorted out the opposite side light socket. Could this be true?

Question, is it possible to change just the light socket without changing the entire taillight? Also, how do I get behind the taillight? I can’t see how to remove the nuts that hold the taillight in place. Remove the exhaust tail pipe?

You folk have been very helpful… any additional suggestions appreciated. I’ll keep you posted.

Nick

 

[Ron Miller]

As mentioned earlier, if you have backup lights (as you apparently do) then the two inner lights have clear lenses, and the only time these two lights are supposed to be on is when the ignition is on and the car is in reverse. So, they really shouldn't be the source of your problem as far as draining down the battery. I'd look elsewhere, are you sure the glove box light goes off when the glove box door is shut?

 

[ND67]

Ron,

Thanks for your response. Yes. I checked the glove-box light several times. It works fine and goes off when the door is shut.

The car does have reverse lights, clear lens, I checked them but the car was NOT running, does it need to be for them to work? I simply turned the lights on, checked the outer taillights, had someone step on the brake to check that, then put the car into reverse and checked the inner taillights. The inners didn't work at all. I didn't think the car had to be running to have the inners work.

This is killing me.

 

[Ron Miller]

No, the car doesn't have to be running for the backup lights to work, but I'm pretty sure (going from memory) that the ignition switch has to be on, and of course the shifter in reverse.

I'm gone to get my wiring diagram, be back with you. Patience, we'll figure it out a step at a time.

Rlm:cool

 

[Ron Miller]

According to my assembly manual, the two wires from the backup light switch run up the firewall under the hood and plug into the wiring harness just prior to going thru the firewall. So, you can eliminate the backup lights as a suspect in draining your battery by unplugging these two wires and check again as before with the amp meter to see if you still have current flow from the battery. Chances are that you will, I doubt that the backup lamp circuit is responsible for this problem.

From there, it's a matter of checking all items on the circuit to see which one is pulling current.

Your wiring diagram apparently shows (as mine does) the two inner taillights wired the same as the two outer ones. This would be correct if your car didn't have the backup lamp option, but with backup lamps, they are wired thru the backup lamp switch. Hope this helps clarify some of these things to you.

And, as JohnZ mentioned earlier, the license plate lamp is fed directly from the same wires as feed the two outer taillights. Note that these taillights have two elements in the bulb, so there is one wire feeding the taillight and another wire to the same light feeding the stop/brake lamp. So, if your taillights are working, check to see if you have power to the license plate light. If so, as John mentioned, you apparently don't have the light grounded, or the bulb is bad.

Let me know . . .

Rlm:cool

 

[ND67]

Thanks Ron.

I'll follow up on your suggestions.

Nick

 

[Vetsvette2002]

Nick,
Have you gone into the garage at night with the lights off? In the dark, if a bulb is lit somewhere, you'll see it. It could be a door switch that is out of position. It could be the switch was rotated to the courtesy lights position. Don't ask how I know about that.
Don