Dash lights ground?

[Guest]

I went ahead and bypassed the light switch and only the heater control panel lit up. The lights for the dash board did not. Could this we a possible grounding issue? Bulbs look fine. Any other info would be great.

[jopizz]

Your dash lights use the dash panel for the ground. I would run a wire from the body to the dash panel and see if they light.

John

[Guest]

The metal dash frame is out of the car at the moment along with the dash pad.... Let me try plugging lights into cluster and see if things change

[jopizz]

That's a good reason why they don't work. Just touch the light sockets to the body of the car.

John

[Guest]

Thanks a lot. That worked perfectly. One last question... For now at least. What does the green wire with the inline fuse behind the ignition do? Looked at the diagrams but no success. When I pulled the dash I noticed the wire was broken.

[jopizz]

That's the fuse for your brake light switch.

John

[simplyconnected]

Dan, I suggest you re-wire all your fuses so they are in a convenient location for you.

Ford put inline fuses kind of close to the devices they protect like the one by your radio, heater, clock, etc. The only other holder is on your Headlight Switch. None of them are conveniently located, especially if you happen to be on the road.

You can either extend the wires and label each inline fuse holder or you can buy a small fuse panel. Now that your dash is out, this is a perfect opportunity to do this.

I believe the Brake Light fuse holder next to the Key Switch was only used on 1960 Squarebirds. Regardless, all the diagrams should show that fuse.

I'm glad to hear you got your dash lights working. This might be a good time to change all the bulbs, including your GEN and OIL indicators. The most important one is the GEN light because it 'tickles' your generator armature to produce a small 'starting' magnetism. - Dave

EDIT: I just looked, and our 1960 Thunderbird wiring diagram DOES show that fuse. It's even highlighted. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can save it to your hard drive.

[tbird430]

You nailed it John.

And that brake light switch fuse (green wire) is not printed info in any FoMoCo 1958-60 service manual.

-Jon in TX

[simplyconnected]

And that brake light switch fuse (green wire) is not printed info in any FoMoCo 1958-60 service manual...

Jon, 1958 & '59 Squarebirds don't have this fuse. It is only in 1960 models.

I found documentation for this fuse in Ford's 1960 Thunderbird Electrical Equipment Installation Manual; a wiring diagram on Page FS821-1, and a couple illustrations showing it, one on page FS201-1 and another on page FS741-3.

The 1960 Service Manual looks like a copy of the 1958-1960 Service Manuals. Ford shows individual circuits but they really don't show an electrical diagram of the whole car. The Squarebird electrical diagrams we have in the TRL are not from Ford, but an aftermarket company.

There are a lot of downfalls with Ford electrical diagrams, that is why the aftermarket copies are attractive. - Dave

[jopizz]

'58's and '59's have a brake light relay in the trunk. That was removed in '60 and a fuse installed.

John

[simplyconnected]

Thanks a lot. That worked perfectly. One last question... For now at least. What does the green wire with the inline fuse behind the ignition do? Looked at the diagrams but no success. When I pulled the dash I noticed the wire was broken.

What did you end up doing with this, Dan?

[Guest]

The green wire did go to the radio. I went ahead and re soldered the inline fuse. The dash lights just need to be grounded to the dash to work. When I had the dash out they did not work because they were not attached to the bezel.