Mopar Muscle Association UK

Hi there
Have you had any ideas about an electrical headache I’m having with my ‘67 Dodge Monaco Wagon?
Flickery/non op headlights particularly when switching to high beam, I changed the old foot switch on the floor, but it still does it.
Low beam works a bit better, but still fails.
Found one of the earth(s) to the body, cleaned it but made no difference...
Tearing my hair out!
Many thanks

Can I suggest that long term you go down the relay route on your car? I converted mine so that the main lighting wires from the switch just triggers relays to operate the lights, I will dig the thread out for you.

Have you separated and cleaned the bulkhead connector? Everything goes through this and the connections get all furred up. Split them and spend an afternoon meticulously cleaning each connector until both the male and female sides are bright metal. Pack the connector with Dow Corning DC10 dielectric grease and reassemble. Earths are a big thing too. I know you have touched on it but really clean everything up on the body and make sure they are good earths. Clean all the connectors on the switches too. That's my suggestion for a start to see if things improve. Don't let it frustrate you, these things happen and the answer is usually down to bad earths, dirty contacts etc...

Cheers Steve

Thank you so much Steve for your advice & links for doing the relay conversion.
I will let you know how I get on - this is all really helpful as these are avenues I hadn't thought of myself, much appreciated.

i know yours is a C body but hear me out

on the A body there is a pull switch

pull1 = side lights
pull 2 = dipped
pull2 + floor switch = main beam
twist lft for interior light and brightness of dash bulbs


The headlight switch has a overload protection system in it. after a while the overload protection system gets faulty and assumes any load is overload.... basically the bi metallic cut out fatigues and cuts out too easily.

cold bulbs draw more current so the moment you switch on it trips off....

this happens intermittently and gets worse with age until you find you can't get the lights to come on at all.
or they come on 1-2 or 5 minutes after you pull the switch to on

new headlamp switch is the key

get a good one made by the oem and never have an issue again

however your C body won't have that pull switch it will have some kind of flip up and down thing i would think

it may however have the same daft bi metallic protection circuit in it, (chrysler were usually predictable with this stuff), which goes faulty just like the rest of them.


you can mask the issue with a relay if the relay you use uses lower current in its coils than the 2 headlamp bulbs use. you have then made it less likely to trip out due to load the instant you switch on, but your lights are still depending on an old fatigued overload protection thingy.


other candidates are

the earth lead to the bucket of one of the headlamps
the wiring to the foot switch or indeed its connector which are often melted to the point where one of the outermost female connectors can short on the switch case

Dave

as its a C body you will have limited choice in suppliers for switches

New old stock might be the only way

in which case download the parts book from Mymopar.com

and then look for a new one at www.MMPAR.com based on the exact part number for your model

if they don't list one they may well have a good second hand one or a later version from a 70s car which can have the plastic off your current switch swapped on.

they like a phone call better than a mail....real old school dudes

Dave

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-MOPAR-1967 ... rk:11:pf:0

Oucha...

Not too sure about the quality of this one....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Mopar-Afte ... :rk:5:pf:0

Think thats a standard motor products switch you have found. the fact that company still exists idicates they must be doing something right..

anyway this one might be more palletable

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-1968-Chry ... rk:12:pf:0

or this one

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-1968-Dodg ... rk:11:pf:0


or here is a massivly expensive one
http://www.hiltopautoparts.com/product/ ... ge-c-body/


and this may be the best bet

fix the one you have

Owners of C-bodies either have had, do have or will have problems with their headlight switch. This is a challenge for those with switches which are no longer available, '67 - '70 toggle/rocker switches in particular. Here is what I have found to be the culprit and how to avoid going down the "NOS Road" to repair it in such cases.

Ever had your C-body's headlights intermittently go out or Bananarama! on-and-off for no apparent reason? The tail and parking lights still work as they should, so you check all of the grounds and connections in the headlight circuit and you replace your dimmer switch, but to no avail -- your headlights still Bananarama! and/or go out. What could be causing this problem?

It is most likely the headlight switch itself since most switches also incorporate a circuit breaker system. The breaker's "points" have a tendancy to build up resistance over the years and overheat, distorting their bi-metal "arms" and eventually causing failure even though there may not be any system overload to which the breaker is responding.

"Now that I know that, I'll simply replace the headlight switch", you say. Not so simple, though, if you own a C-body for which the headlight switch has gone obsolete from all sources. This applies especially to those cars built from '67 - '70 which use a toggle- or rocker-type switch: all such switches are discontinued and have been for years. I suspect that many of us will encounter the same situation with some push-pull-type switches in the not-too-distant future. Your choices are to try to locate an NOS (New Old Stock) switch which can be time-consuming and costly, obtain a used one which may soon fail also, or do what I do: fix the old one yourself!

This repair should only be attempted by those who are already somewhat familiar with Mopar electrical systems and are comfortable disassembling electrical components which were never designed for disassembly. After you have disconnected the plug and removed the switch from behind the instrumant panel (an adventure in itself), you can usually disassemble the switch by CAREFULLY prying the piened-over pot metal "indents" away from the bakelite insulator on the back of the switch. If you chip the insulator, don't panic: it can usually be epoxied. As you separate the insulator from the body, pay careful attention to where all of the springs, detent balls and contacts go because NO ILLUSTRATION of this exists anywhere (that I am aware of). Now locate the breaker's "points", straighten the bi-meal arms if necessary, clean the contact faces and solder them together with silver solder. When you reassemble the switch, put it back together with a little dielectric grease on all of the moving parts and contact surfaces. If the pot-metal pein-over areas were snapped off during disassembly, drill through the metal case and into the insulator with a #89 drill bit and tap the holes for tiny #4-40 brass screws. Obviously, DO NOT let these scews come into contact with any of the contacts inside the insulator.

"Now wait a minute!" you say. "What if the system DOES get overloaded someday? Won't my car turn into flambe' a la Mopar?" It most surely will if you don't follow the next step. You MUST now mount an in-line breaker which matches your car's circuit load capacity (ususally 20 amps, but CHECK YOUR SERVICE MANUAL). I recommend using a modern push-in fuse holder in conjunction with a push-in circuit breaker (available from any decent auto parts store). You may have to modify the fuse holder slightly to fit the breaker into it, but be sure that the breaker's blades are completely insulated from the grouded metal of the dash. Now locate the battery (hot) wire in the plug (it is black on my '70 but, again, check your service manual). Remove it from its socket by depressing the small tab which retains it inside the plastic plug (don't cut the wire instead!). You can buy female terminals such as this one (P/N 784491) and corresponding male terminals (P/N 784490) at NAPA and crimp or solder one of each onto either end of the fuse holder' wire. Push the fuse holder's female terminal into the headlight plug. Then use a male insulator on the male terminal (P/N 784530) and a also slide afemale insulator (P/N 784531) onto the original female hot terminal, and connect them. Reassemble your system; you are now done and you haven't cut a single wire in your harness.

If you must buy several of the terminals and insulators just to get the few pieces you need, do not be upset. You have Mopars; you will use them sooner rather than later for other repair/update projects. And, of course, you can share them with your Mopar buddies, too!

http://cbodydrydock.com/e107_plugins/co ... content.13

looks like the best way

Dave

Really Appreciate all the above advice, which I am going through & trying to find a Dash headlight switch part number: 2809045 or (Older 2771175)...
Soooo expensive!!

I’ll post again when I get anywhere with it.

What a great forum & club - so supportive to fellow Mopar freaks like myself!

give American Autoparts in Redhill a call I got a new switch for my 66 fury c body off the shelf if memory serves me right it was about 35 quid
01737 780888 they do postage swell

Thanks Graham! I hadn’t thought of trying them. That’s more like it, I’ve been getting quoted stupid money.
I’ll let you know how I get on.

mine was the pull out round knob type

Hi Graham, no joy at American Autoparts - they couldn’t cross-reference the part number, Dash headlight switch part number: 2809045 (Older 2771175)
He told me a guy also on MMA UK called Tony had lots of old parts and I’ve sent him a text message. I’d be happy converting to a pull switch or universal type if it would sort it!

Hi Graham, no joy at American Autoparts - they couldn’t cross-reference the part number, Dash headlight switch part number: 2809045 (Older 2771175)
He told me a guy also on MMA UK called Tony had lots of old parts and I’ve sent him a text message. I’d be happy converting to a pull switch or universal type if it would sort it!

ok mate just thought it might be worth a try if you go down the pull switch route he did have them in stock but it comes without the pull rod/knob so you would need to source one as well