I can't figure this one out

Bish Wheeler · #1 (**permalink**) 01-22-2002, 01:14 PM

I have Lucas running lites/turn signals. The "turn signal" part of the left lite burned out so I pulled it and bought what looked like the same bulb. Installed it and found that the filaments seemed to be reversed (the running lite was the bright one and the turn was the dimmer one) so I went back to the store and bought a different # bulb....same thing. Well, I thought there must be some special bulb and to check it I pulled the bulb on the other side and inserted it. It worked fine. BTW, you can't put the bulbs in backwards. I can't find any info on these things, does anyone know what bulb (replacement) will work correctly. Enzo was baffled too, but said it may be a special Lucas bulb which he will be happy to get me, but it will take 8 weeks. I may have to rewire the lites to work with american bulbs.

THanks,

Bish

Rich · #2 (**permalink**) 01-22-2002, 03:59 PM

Bish,

Go to Daniel Stern's web site. He found me 12V light bulbs for my 60's vintage 6V Lucas PL headlights. Nice guy too.

http://lighting.mbz.org/

Rich

Okiesnake · #3 (**permalink**) 01-23-2002, 08:58 AM

The electrical contact base in the bulb housing is spring loaded to ensure proper contact with the bulb elements. The little base "floats" inside a slot. That "floating" base can be turned 180 degrees around so that the effect is that the wire leads are now opposite from what you expect them to be. When I wired my car, I assumed that all of the lamps were wired the same. I tested one lamp on a battery to determine which wire was for the turn signal, or brake lamp(brighter element) and which one was for the running lamp (dimmer element). As it turned out, they where not all the same (2 out of 6 where different). To fix the problem I just switched and rewired the leads on the two wrong bulb housings.
It may be possible that your car has always been incorrectly wired or that when replacing the bulb, the "floating" base got reversed.

aggie76 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-23-2002, 11:25 AM

You should also look for a bad ground connection to that socket. I had a similar sounding problem once on another Lucas-equipped British sports car.

Bish Wheeler · #5 (**permalink**) 01-23-2002, 04:51 PM

Thanks guys. I'll get my meter out and see what is going on. When I figure it out I'll report back.

Bish

Zderf · #6 (**permalink**) 01-23-2002, 06:28 PM

Bish... I had the same problem. But, when I installed an FE in place of the BT, everything started to work.

Do ya still love me?

Zderf

Bish Wheeler · #7 (**permalink**) 01-23-2002, 06:35 PM

As a very well known and beloved entertainer, while speaking to a wonderful character named Rochester said, "Now cut that out".

BT'S rock!

Bish

Bish Wheeler · #8 (**permalink**) 01-23-2002, 06:40 PM

Zderf,

I just got a set of Hella's from Finish Line. There are quite a few different instructions for hooking them up. Did you have any "wierdness" when you installed yours?

Bish

Neal Jackson · #9 (**permalink**) 01-23-2002, 07:11 PM

Bish,

As Okie says, just check the terminal posts on the bulbs. If they are even and not staggered (one high and one low), then they can easily be reversed, resulting in the wrong filiment lighting. Just remove and rotate the bulb 180 degrees and the correct filiment should light.

Bish Wheeler · #10 (**permalink**) 01-23-2002, 07:27 PM

Thanks Neal,

The posts are staggered, (one high and one low), that's what makes it so confusing. Stay tuned!

Bish

Okiesnake · #11 (**permalink**) 01-24-2002, 07:31 AM

If you want, you can push the floating base in and then rotate the base 180 degrees. Be careful not the break the off the ears of the contact base. It would probably be safer to simply switch the leads into your wiring harness.

Bish Wheeler · #12 (**permalink**) 01-26-2002, 09:46 PM

Well I figured it out! Somehow the contacts did a 180 in the socket, don't know how, they seem tight as a Nun's Habit, but they did. Reversed the wiring and all is now as it should be. Thanks for all the help.

Bish