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    #16
    With the relay coils in parallel, I don't understand why one would operate normally and the other would not. As your diagram was drawn, a single +12v to 86 would fire both of them. If the voltage input to 86 was weak, you'd have no park or headlamp operation.
    86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
    5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

    91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

    1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

    Originally posted by phayzer5
    I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

    Comment


      #17
      Originally posted by gadget73 View Post
      With the relay coils in parallel, I don't understand why one would operate normally and the other would not. As your diagram was drawn, a single +12v to 86 would fire both of them. If the voltage input to 86 was weak, you'd have no park or headlamp operation.
      I find the wiring a bit odd anyway. From the headlight switch, there's two feeds to that relay. One feed is headlight, one feed is park light. The relay would engage both those circuits and engage them independently. Why? No idea, it just sounds a bit extra unless it had to do with load since power for the headlamps normally goes straight through the switch.

      Now it's a bit more straightforwards with just a single trigger feed.

      I popped the dash pad off to inspect the light sensor. Unfortunately the lights are staying on all the time, even in light. I attempted to adjust the little knob to see if there would be any change, but nothing happened. I guess I may need to grab another light sensor for testing.


      My Cars:
      -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
      -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
      -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
      -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

      Comment


        #18
        looking at the 86 Towncar EVTM should be close enough for reference here. It appears that the headlight power source is a fuse link, and the parking lamp source is a fuse in the box. Do your park lamps work manually? If not, check the fuses.
        86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
        5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

        91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

        1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

        Originally posted by phayzer5
        I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

        Comment


          #19
          Originally posted by gadget73 View Post
          looking at the 86 Towncar EVTM should be close enough for reference here. It appears that the headlight power source is a fuse link, and the parking lamp source is a fuse in the box. Do your park lamps work manually? If not, check the fuses.
          Park lamps work fine. I've never had an issue with manually turning on the lights. Only when the autolamp circuit was engaged it wouldn't activate the park lamp circuit.


          Also, is there a particular autolamp sensor I need to get? I'm seeing stuff for Thunderbirds and stuff for Town Cars. My P/N is E1VB-14A597-A1A, but some of these other units appear similar, usually with just differences in the third character slot of the P/N.


          My Cars:
          -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
          -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
          -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
          -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

          Comment


            #20
            E1VB is 81 Lincoln, so you should be fine with one of those. I have a Turd sensor on the Continental.

            Might be worth checking power through the headlamp switch. Looks like input from the fuse panel is T/W, the pass-through to the relay is DG/Y. If you don't get anything on the DG/Y either the connection at the switch is toasty or the internal connection opened up.
            86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
            5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

            91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

            1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

            Originally posted by phayzer5
            I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

            Comment


              #21
              I ordered a NOS sensor listed for the Thunderbird. The Town Car one that I saw was used and roughly the same price. Dimensionally they appear similar, so hopefully that all works out. I don’t figure they’d made the sensor dramatically different electrically between car lines.

              Like I said before, I tried fiddling with the original sensor, but it didn’t care what level of sensitivity it was at or if light was shining on it or not, it just kept the lights on.

              I’ll look into testing the feed wire. Something tells me that your thought about a crispy or open circuit is likely correct.


              My Cars:
              -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
              -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
              -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
              -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

              Comment


                #22
                Probably the 4-pin connector off the back of the switch. IIRC, that's the one that feeds the autolamp stuff.

                Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                Originally posted by gadget73
                ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                Originally posted by dmccaig
                Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                Comment


                  #23
                  I suspect the only real difference between the various sensors is the adjustment to allow for different amounts of light that gets to the sensor through the hole in the dash. I notice the one in the Conti seems to come on a little later than I'd prefer. Eventually I'll pull the dash pad off and tweak it. It has the adjustment sticking out of the side, though the manual does imply its pretty touchy.
                  86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                  5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                  91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                  1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                  Originally posted by phayzer5
                  I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Originally posted by gadget73 View Post
                    I suspect the only real difference between the various sensors is the adjustment to allow for different amounts of light that gets to the sensor through the hole in the dash. I notice the one in the Conti seems to come on a little later than I'd prefer. Eventually I'll pull the dash pad off and tweak it. It has the adjustment sticking out of the side, though the manual does imply its pretty touchy.
                    Mine has "1/16 CCW turn is 15 minutes later". Hopefully tuning it won't take too much effort.


                    My Cars:
                    -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                    -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                    -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                    -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Might justify a 5 or 10 turn pot if its too much of a PITA.
                      86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                      5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                      91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                      1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                      Originally posted by phayzer5
                      I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Got the unit labeled for a Thunderchicken in today. Looked identical to the unit labeled for Lincoln. Plugged it in, now I actually have a functional sensor. Off in daytime, lights on in a dim garage. It seems to be within about the same amount of the delay the '97 has before it'll kick it's lights on when pulled into the garage, so I'll say this sensor is within reasonable tolerance I shouldn't need to play with it.

                        Now I just need to put the dashpad back on and clean up the relay install. Thanks for everyone's help.


                        My Cars:
                        -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                        -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                        -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                        -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Originally posted by Kodachrome Wolf View Post
                          Mine has "1/16 CCW turn is 15 minutes later". Hopefully tuning it won't take too much effort.
                          Originally posted by gadget73 View Post
                          I suspect the only real difference between the various sensors is the adjustment to allow for different amounts of light that gets to the sensor through the hole in the dash. I notice the one in the Conti seems to come on a little later than I'd prefer. Eventually I'll pull the dash pad off and tweak it. It has the adjustment sticking out of the side, though the manual does imply its pretty touchy.
                          They are very touchy, and the 1/16 of a turn = 15 minutes thing isn't accurate, least it wasn't for my car. I've got them right though, took a few days of trial and error. I ended up settling for something close to stock, because while where I was originally happy with where I set it during regular driving, I was not happy that even in broad daylight the headlights would come on when stopping for gas under your typical gas station awning.
                          1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                          1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                          Comment


                            #28
                            mine is odd, in the garage in broad daylight its on. Actually driving in the evening it will be a whole lot darker than the inside of my garage before the lights finally activate. This was an NOS sensor but it is 30 years old. Maybe I should have re-capped it before installing. The original was dinked, not sure what it's ailment is but it seems to be something in the chip. The inputs to it do what they should, the photocell is fine, it just never gives any output to turn the lights on.
                            86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                            5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                            91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                            1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                            Originally posted by phayzer5
                            I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                            Comment


                              #29
                              Ever forget to check behind yourself to make sure the normal stuff works? I didn't. Need to go find my dunce cap, I don't listen well sometimes.

                              Parking light setting is headlights. Headlight setting is headlights. Clicking on high beams with no lights on? All lights on. So 100% you cannot hook up park/headlight feeds at the relay and get fully correct operations. Come full circuit to weak coil click for that circuit but no engagement.

                              I pull the headlight connector out, and I've got a very melty connector at the back which has the feeds for the respective circuits. Parking light circuit is smoked on the autolamp connection at the back of the switch. The main large connector on the bottom is cracking apart. I'm replacing both of those connectors and I'll toss in a new switch for good measure. I'm also going to put the original connector back on for the DPDT relay and see if it all comes to life again. While I could retain the dual relay combo, I figure I'll just eliminate the bulk since I've really only bypassed the-not issue component.


                              My Cars:
                              -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                              -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                              -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                              -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

                              Comment


                                #30
                                Called it.

                                Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                                rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                                Originally posted by gadget73
                                ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                                Originally posted by dmccaig
                                Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                                Comment

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