1963 - Some lights stopped working

[Eugene Nickel]

Hello,

The brake lights, dash lights, clock, interior courtesy lights and the brake lights on my 1963 Roadster suddenly stopped working. The radio, fan, front & rear turn signals, headlights and cigarette lighter all work fine. Seems the bottom three fuse connectors in the fuse block are dead, no voltage, while the three fuses all checked good. I've already cleaned the contacts in both wiring connectors in the engine compartment that link to the fuse panel. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Eugene

[Michael H.]

Re: 1963 - Some lights stopped working

Hey Eugene -

Looks like you'll have to check the wiring diagram and do a continuity check on each circuit. The wiring diagram may reveal the common link that explains why all those circuits went out.

[William C.]

Re: 1963 - Some lights stopped working

I believe that the wiring diagram will show all three fuses are fed by one feed wire behind the fuseblock.

[Jack H.]

Another consideration to ponder....

The 1963 Corvette was again unique in its 1-year only use of the '095 headlight switch. Despite clear documentation in the 58-60 AIM books calling out '096 HL switches, the current version of the NCRS 58-60 JG book calls for these straight axle cars to have '095 HL switches with 'correct/original' snow white ceramic insulators surrounding the dimmer potentiameter. So, there are lots of folks out looking for the holy grail (an 095 HL switch with white vs. brownish ceramic for their 58-60 vs. what in my book is correct; an 096 with brown tinted ceramic).

Anyway, these HL switches have a built-in 'feature' -- an internal circuit breaker function that's designed to let you know when you've got a major wiring harness short circuit. When the circuit breaker kicks in, expect to lose the circuits the HL switch controls and see the 'funny' (can be dead serious when you're on the road at night!) come/go with the circuit breaker's heat/cool state.

Now, a circuit breaker function on an old/original part CAN malfunction too. So, there 'might' be a bona fide intermittent short circuit in your wiring that you're fighting or you 'might' simply have a tuckered out HL switch. If you're not skilled in electrical wiring fault finding, I suggest you seek the services of a competent auto electric shop.

[Eugene Nickel]

Re: Another consideration to ponder....

Thank you to those who made suggestions. The fix was to remove the fuse block and clean the male and female connections on the back side. The connections of the large gauge red wire that feeds the lower two fuses were in particular very tarnished. After a good cleaning the fuse block was reinstalled and all electricals are once again functioning properly. Life is good.

BTW - We received our passes and tickets from Chevrolet for the 50th Anniversary Celebration in Bowling Green in today's mail.

Thanks again, Eugene

[Mark F.]

Removed the fuse block?

Eugene:

What is involved in removing the fuse block? Does it come away cleanly from the main harness? What are the steps is pulling it out?

Mark

[Eugene Nickel]

Re: Removed the fuse block?

Hello Mark,

First I disconnected the battery then the two wiring harness plugs on the engine side of the firewall that link to the fuse block. On the passenger side the 3 way Flasher and radio anti-static capacitor hide one 1/4" screw while the lowest fuse hides the second. The fuse block will pull straight out which seperates it from the engine side connectors. Fearing brittle wiring in harnesses 40 years old I moved the fuse block very slowly and only enough for me to get to the back side. Once I had the large gauge red wire removed from the fuse block connector I used two needle nosed pliers to slightly bend the male connector outward so to be able to clean the back side. Once finshed I used finger pressure to return it to it's original position, reconnected the wire and reassembled the fuse block. If memory serves me correctly the fuse block movement is limited by the main dash harness and the engine side connectors have limited movement because of a wiring harness that runs straight down under the front floor panel board.
Be forewarned there isn't much room to work in - sure wished I was left handed for this project. A second heads up is to make sure you don't get fibers of the firewall sound deadening material caught in the male prongs of the two firewall connectors when reassembling. Otherwise you get to disassemble everything, clean the contacts and reinstall - I did.

Eugene

[Mark F.]

Thanks, Eugene. Great description. *NM*