The Ford Barn

COSaint303 · 07-20-2020, 11:18 AM

Hi all - I have been working on restoring my 1930 Model A. I recently rewired the lighting and have an issue with the control/lever. When I connect the battery my cowl lights stay on but my headlights do not come on at all. When I turn the lever on the steering wheel, nothing changes. Any ideas where/how I can start to troubleshoot this? My horn doesn't work either so Im concerned that maybe the horn rod is forcing the connection points and not allowing it to move. Thanks for your assistance.

Jim/GA · 07-20-2020, 05:11 PM

1. The spider at the end of the horn rod needs to be in a vertical (ears at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock) orientation when you put the retainer on and when the light switch knob up on the steering wheel is pointing to 6 o'clock up there.

2. You will see that the rotating piece inside the light switch can turn. There is only one orientation where it lines up with the 2 ears of the spider on the end of the horn rod. Any other orientation will jam up.

3. Did you remove some of the material from the back of the black disk before assembling the light switch together? If you do not, it will jam and you will not be able to operate the light switch.

4. None of the above is related to the horn. Trouble shoot that separately.

Hope that helps.

rotorwrench · 07-20-2020, 05:26 PM

The cowl lights are really just park lamps but it does tell you that you have power to the switch anyway. If the spider is properly positioned per Jim/GA's post, you may have to check continuity in the wiring to the headlamps. A lot depends on how they are connected up. The old original connectors to the lamps were pretty well made but some of the reproduction stuff, not so much.

Like Jim mentioned, the horn is on a separate power wire feed but the grounding switch for the circuit is directly related to the light switch lever and rod assembly since it passes through there.

COSaint303 · 07-21-2020, 04:31 PM

Thank you. I made sure the spider is aligned appropriately and the switch is at 6 o'clock. It still only has my cowl lights on, although one is much dimmer than the other. maybe there is something else I am missing? The wiring kit did not come with any lubrication for the connection points/Disk, should that have some kind of lubrication? Could that be causing some of this? Thank you. I really appreciate it.

Jim/GA · 07-21-2020, 07:34 PM

Read this:

https://www.brattons.com/files/index...id/1519764721/

No lube.

shew01 · 07-22-2020, 08:33 AM

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Quote:

Originally Posted by COSaint303

It still only has my cowl lights on, although one is much dimmer than the other.

You may have multiple issues. This part sounds like a bad ground.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

07-20-2020, 11:18 AM	#1
COSaint303 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 2	1930 Model A - Light control Hi all - I have been working on restoring my 1930 Model A. I recently rewired the lighting and have an issue with the control/lever. When I connect the battery my cowl lights stay on but my headlights do not come on at all. When I turn the lever on the steering wheel, nothing changes. Any ideas where/how I can start to troubleshoot this? My horn doesn't work either so Im concerned that maybe the horn rod is forcing the connection points and not allowing it to move. Thanks for your assistance.

07-20-2020, 05:11 PM	#2
Jim/GA Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Young Harris, GA Posts: 1,818	Re: 1930 Model A - Light control 1. The spider at the end of the horn rod needs to be in a vertical (ears at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock) orientation when you put the retainer on and when the light switch knob up on the steering wheel is pointing to 6 o'clock up there. 2. You will see that the rotating piece inside the light switch can turn. There is only one orientation where it lines up with the 2 ears of the spider on the end of the horn rod. Any other orientation will jam up. 3. Did you remove some of the material from the back of the black disk before assembling the light switch together? If you do not, it will jam and you will not be able to operate the light switch. 4. None of the above is related to the horn. Trouble shoot that separately. Hope that helps. __________________ Jim Cannon Former MAFCA Technical Director "Have a Model A day!"

07-20-2020, 05:26 PM	#3
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,426	Re: 1930 Model A - Light control The cowl lights are really just park lamps but it does tell you that you have power to the switch anyway. If the spider is properly positioned per Jim/GA's post, you may have to check continuity in the wiring to the headlamps. A lot depends on how they are connected up. The old original connectors to the lamps were pretty well made but some of the reproduction stuff, not so much. Like Jim mentioned, the horn is on a separate power wire feed but the grounding switch for the circuit is directly related to the light switch lever and rod assembly since it passes through there.

07-21-2020, 04:31 PM	#4
COSaint303 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 2	Re: 1930 Model A - Light control Thank you. I made sure the spider is aligned appropriately and the switch is at 6 o'clock. It still only has my cowl lights on, although one is much dimmer than the other. maybe there is something else I am missing? The wiring kit did not come with any lubrication for the connection points/Disk, should that have some kind of lubrication? Could that be causing some of this? Thank you. I really appreciate it.

07-21-2020, 07:34 PM	#5
Jim/GA Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Young Harris, GA Posts: 1,818	Re: 1930 Model A - Light control Read this: https://www.brattons.com/files/index...id/1519764721/ No lube. __________________ Jim Cannon Former MAFCA Technical Director "Have a Model A day!"