Dash lights '55 Tbird

[Dick Rupp]

On my '55 bird, 6 volt, my dashlights are barely visible at night. I do have a new switch in and new wire harness and they are still barely visible.

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[cokefirst]

On my '55 bird, 6 volt, my dashlights are barely visible at night. I do have a new switch in and new wire harness and they are still barely visible.

Have you turned up the rheostat on the headlight switch? Did someone replace the dash lights with the #57 12 volt bulbs?

 

[Dick Rupp]

Have you turned up the rheostat on the headlight switch? Did someone replace the dash lights with the #57 12 volt bulbs?

It doesn't matter which way I turn the rheostat it doesn't change the lighting. I put new bulbs in when I installed the wiring harness. I will have to check the bulbs. Thanks

 

[292ci]

On my '55 bird, 6 volt, my dashlights are barely visible at night. I do have a new switch in and new wire harness and they are still barely visible.

Dick, cokefirst makes a good point. I am still suspicious of the new rheostat switch if it’s making no difference at all. I would try bypassing the switch and see if there’s any difference or, substitute a switch that is known to be good. Unlikely but worth eliminating.
Apart from that if your bulbs and their connections are correct it’s likely an earth (ground) connection needs to be made good. Your new harness should have cured it but worth checking thoroughly the ground point itself is making a good connection. 6v system is sensitive to poor ground issues. Hope it’s something simple. Good luck.

 

[doug7740]

Dick,

You can by pass the rheostat by attaching a jumper wire from terminal "R" to terminal "I" on the headlight switch. If the rheostat is by passed the dash lights will have full illumination without the benefit of dimming control.

Doug
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[fordrodsteven]

You can by pass the rheostat by attaching a jumper wire from terminal "R" to terminal "I" on the headlight switch. If the rheostat is by passed the dash lights will have full illumination without the benefit of dimming control.

A good way to verify if the rheostat could be the culprit but first you must insure good grounds.

 

[cokefirst]

A good way to verify if the rheostat could be the culprit but first you must insure good grounds.

This is just another thought but do the turn signal indicators work? If they work and are of normal brightness, the instrument cluster is grounded. If they are dim also, then it may well be a bad ground. The correct bulb number for the 6 volt system for the dash lights is a #55. 12 Volt vehicles use a #57.