Bad head light switch?

My front park lights on My 64 Caddy work in the parking position. They also blink. When I put the head lights on, They go out. I know I can run a jumper from the head light to the park light, but I can't see it being anything else. Any ideas?
 
first check would be to make sure the harness is tight on the pins. if thats good then change the switch. they get hot and will bun out
 
Sounds to me as if you are experiencing a bad electrical ground. Check where the wiring harness connects to the lights and there should be a black wire that is grounded to the nearby metal. Check there for a poor contact/corrosion with the metal.
Chuck :)
 
Not sure about the blinking issue, but check the tail lights to see if they do it too, we maybe able to help more. Im not sure what year they started keeping parking lights and headlights stayed on at the same time, I want to say around 64-65 but may be way off. Before that I know the older cars (at least to 1960), when you turn on the headlights the parking lights SHOULD go off.
 
In 1964, the parking lights go out when the headlights go on. Also, the parking light on many cars will go out when the directional signal is activated, as it is intended, on the side that is supposed to blink. If both parking lights go out, then there is a grounding problem in the parking light housing. If you wish to keep the parking lights illuminated with the headlights, that will require that you jumper across the parking light / tail light circuit in the headlamp switch.
 
Yes, Paul is right. In 1964 and earlier, the park light worked indepently from the headlamp. When you turn on the headlamp, the park lights go out. It was late 60's before they made the park light to stay on when the headlamps were switched on.
 
Would that be post '67 that they started keeping the parking lamps on when the head lights came on? I had thought something was wrong with my headlight switch as well, but I replaced it and they still do the same thing, on in the park position, off when the head lights are on.
 
To echo the others, I can confirm on my '64 Sedan Deville the front parking lights are OFF when the headlights are on.

From a quick browse around Google, companies seemed to make the parking light with headlight switch around '68/'69. Wikipedia vaguely says "the late 1960s"

I've had a '60 with the parking lights rigged to stay on with the headlights but it appeared to be an aftermarket deal.
 
1967 was the introduction of the Federal Highway Safety act that changed a lot of the way things worked on the automobiles. From memory, all cars had the parking lights on with the headlamps in 1968. (based on my old memory cells)
 
they made that change when the side markers come out in 68. the markers lights are tied to the park circuit so they come on on the first click. i just keep forgetting there are people who never got to ride daily in a real car
 
telling your age

they made that change when the side markers come out in 68. the markers lights are tied to the park circuit so they come on on the first click. i just keep forgetting there are people who never got to ride daily in a real car

i did and loved it! and a lot of people dont remember you could push start a automatic when you got it to 35 mph. put it in drive with the key on and push away. stopped in 71 with safety switsh.
 
Nope... It stopped when the transmissions designs were changed, and the front pump was no longer mechanically connected to the drive shaft. Like everything that changes in an automobile, it also changes the old methods that will no longer work. Try finding the battery in some of the new cars. They hide them everywhere except under the hood. Same for the transmission dip sticks, they have gone away also. Some cars don't even have a drain plug for the engine oil any longer! You suck the oil out through the oil dip stick tube.
 
i just keep forgetting there are people who never got to ride daily in a real car

This is exactly the attitude that has the Antique Automobile Club of America concerned about their declining membership. Just because some of us, an increasing number of us, weren't even born yet when you could still go into a Packard or Studebaker or Hudson or Nash dealership, doesn't mean that we don't appreciate cars, or have fond memories of the cars from our youth, at a degree that's any less than your's. The old coots of this hobby apparently want to deny how old they're getting by criticizing anything that's newer than they are. Well here's some news, cars from the 1960s, the 1970s, and even the first half of the 1980s are antiques now, whether you want to admit it or not. But please, feel free to complain to one group of people about how the old car hobby is dying, but then tell the new generation of the hobby how their cars are all junk, and continue to be clueless about why the hobby is dying.
 
This is exactly the attitude that has the Antique Automobile Club of America concerned about their declining membership.
feel better :applause:
point taken and we need a tongue in cheek icon I guess. you really made my day.

here I get to drive daily a 70 suburban and a 13 avalanche I remember vividly when both were new. the head lights on the 70 are still far superior to the 2013. but I do really think it's great that there are people out there that are interest in owning a car older then they are and are willing to take a little ribbing when they discover things work different then they are use to. you put me in a 20's car and I'm the same way. it's important that we keep the old stock running because I don't feel that in the next 43 years some one will be bragging about driving a 2013 and a 2055 on the same day.
 
Back
Top