Trouble Shooting Wiring Issues After Outing New Harness In Jeep

I have a thread going on the rebuild section and am getting close to the end but have run in to some problems with the wiring. It’s a 1963 CJ5 with 4 cyl. I installed a new wiring harness from Walcks and the install went well and I feel I have it connected up correctly. I think it may be a grounding issue and want some input on what to check. I hooked a battery up to the Jeep and it does crank so it seems I’m good on that side. When I pull the lights all the way on the head lights don’t work. The passenger side running light on the grill comes on and both tail lights work and that’s it. When I turn my blinkers on the drivers side front blinker works and that it. I also have power to the Speedo cluster as my oil and temp lights work along with the lights in the Speedo cluster. I am a complete novice with electrical issues. I am going to study up on how to check for power using some type of testing equipment like a multi meter which I have. I just want some ideas and also some areas to check to make sure every thing is grounded correctly.

 

Use a test light and go to the terminal ends to check for juice, may have some bulbs burned out or bad grounds, check the coil make sure the negative side goes to the distributor, use your test light to see if you have juice on the positive post when turned uncheck points for adjustment, condensers can die and it won't run.....make sure you have a Heavey ground strap from engine to frame,clean headlight buckets to ensure ground to body, put a good ground strap from frame to body.....good luck

 

JMO - most likely you have something connected wrong. Does the harness come with a wiring diagram? If so, I suggest you make a photocopy and check every wire. Pick a wire and trace through it with a highlighter as you check the connections at each end. Continue until you've checked everything.

This kind of stuff is very hard to figure out unless you have the vehicle in front of you. And finding the bad connection based on the electrical behavior you observe is unlikely.

 

I have a diagram from walks and in the service manual. I’ll go that route tomorrow and do some testing to make sure I’m getting juice to where it needs to be.

 

As said above. For the problems you are having use a test light. It is less confusing.

 

Thanks for that info I’ll check that out also.

 

Well I got most of my problems solved I did have some wires on the blinker wire cluster that were not right and I had some wires on the terminal block wrong. I did not realize that certain wires had to be in specific places on the terminal block. If possible could someone explains how this block works. There is one issue left which has to do with the rear drivers side tail light. They are the original chrome tux lights so they have some age on them but generally speaking they are in decent shape. If I put the blinkers on without the lights on they work decent, but when I turn the lights on, the rear drivers side blinker blinks, but the filament doesn’t get very bright and you can barely tell it’s blinking. I switched the bulbs from one side to the other and this bulb did the same thing. Do you think it’s in the socket part of the assembly or could it be the wiring. It seems like it’s not getting enough power to the bulb. Remember I know very little about electrical issues. Thanks for the help as it has me moving in the right direction.

 

All of the work is being done with the engine not running. I have a battery installed in the Jeep and have been testing everything with the key in the on position. I have a few things left to do before I can actually start the engine. As far as the leads being reversed I don’t think I have it wrong but I’ll check when I’m at my shop again. I have not checked to see if my brake lights are working as I don’t have the pedals installed yet plus I have to do a little more work to my brakes. While we are talking about the brakes, there is a clip or clips on the pressure switch that holds the leads in the sockets but I only have one. I am guessing I need two so where can I get then at. ? I’ll take a picture of it the next time I get to the shop.

 

As Howard said. It sounds like you have the signal/brake and tail light leads reversed.

"If I put the blinkers on without the lights on they work decent, but when I turn the lights on, the rear drivers side blinker blinks, but the filament doesn’t get very bright and you can barely tell it’s blinking."

This is exactly what you would get if the tail light circuit is connected to the bright element and the turn signal/brake connected to the dimmer element. You can barely tell it is working with the lights on because the blinker is not as bright as the tail light the way you have it wired.

Those little wire clips on the brake switch connectors are almost always missing, to the extent many who have worked on Jeeps for years don't even know they are supposed to be there. Since you are getting brake lights the switch is connected, so don't worry about the missing clip for now.

Just switch the wires on that tail light and see what happens.

 

Thanks old pappy. Great explanation. As far as the brake lights are concerned I haven’t really check them yet but I’ll get there next week to try them out.

 

Regarding your tail lights/turn signals that "change" whether the lights are on, or not, its likely a grounding issue. Old Hall lights sometimes get rust where the bulb socket is crimped into the bowl housing. Also, the mounting studs often break out of the housing. The studs were spot welded in and made good contact with the housing. A bolt in the hole doesn't ground as well as the welded stud. Be sure to use "star" lockwashers that dig in and bite through the paint when mounting the lights. These were originally used by the factory for this purpose.
-Donny

 

You may need to charge the battery since the engine is not running. With the key in the on position, you might want to take the wires off the coil so you do not burn up your points. I have heard this might happen. Maybe some one can confirm this.

 

x2