headlights and dashlights

[nutseynut7]

Dont use my corvette much at night Last night coming home from a cruise the headlights and dash lights would flicker and dim then brighten. Any ideas if alternator or what else it could be. its a 1971 350:confused

 

[Ripp 73]

Did you notice that the flickering was following the RPM? My 76 gets really dim when I am sitting at idle, but get her up and the lights run bright. I would like to keep them constant, but I have other problems that need to be handled first. If the flickering is inconsistent I would check the cable that runs to the interior light dimmer. Just my two cents though.

 

[red70vette]

You need to describe the problem better. From the sounds of it it could be a loose wire or a bad ground. Does it flicker when you hit a bump? Does it go out and stay out for a couple of seconds?

There are several possibilites here:
1. Broken wire
2. Loose ground wire
3. Headlight switch problem
4. Alternator
5. voltage regulator

 

[titan81]

Check ground and check current flow through wires.
It sounds like your shorting somewhere and/or the ground isnt staying
in contact.

 

[JohnZ]

If the lights were cycling on and off rapidly, you have a dead short between the switch and the lamps; there's no fuse on the headlight circuit, for safety reasons. The headlight switch has an internal self-resetting thermal circuit breaker that opens the circuit, then cools and turns it on again, shuts it off, etc. so you aren't suddenly completely without lights at night.

 

[Ol Blue]

It's been so long ago that I'm not exactly sure of this, but it seems to me that I had a similar problem and it turned out to be the dimmer switch on the floor was bad. It was so hot that it "almost" melted the wire connectors.

Ol Blue

 

[nutseynut7]

had the problem with dimmer switch and replaced it beleive it or not just spraying belts seems to have corrected problem for now will respond if it comes back by the way my amp guage would flicker that also stopped

 

[Stallion]

If the lights were cycling on and off rapidly, you have a dead short between the switch and the lamps; there's no fuse on the headlight circuit, for safety reasons. The headlight switch has an internal self-resetting thermal circuit breaker that opens the circuit, then cools and turns it on again, shuts it off, etc. so you aren't suddenly completely without lights at night.

What do you mean, a "dead short"?

 

[JohnZ]

A "dead short" is where a full 12-volt feed touches ground, with no load inbetween; with no load, there's no resistance, and the wire is suddenly carrying full battery current in that "loop" back to the battery, which blows the fuse in the feed side of the circuit. If the feed side of the circuit isn't fused or protected by a fusible link, the wire will fry until it melts and breaks the circuit - can result in a fire.

 

[brusso]

had the problem with dimmer switch and replaced it beleive it or not just spraying belts seems to have corrected problem for now will respond if it comes back by the way my amp guage would flicker that also stopped

If spraying the alt belt helped, then it's time for a new belt.