Bad headlight switch?

[Sedanman]

I had about a week of fun driving the falcon for the first time in months, and now problems are arising. First, the dash lights went out as did the courtesy light (had not been working for awhile, figured it was the bulb but it's not). I know my parking lights were working a week ago when my battery went dead (!) - battery is fine now but somebody signaled to me in traffic tonight that my brake and tail lights are not working, nor are the parking lights.

I have a replacement switch installed that is not that old, but I suppose that could be the problem. But if it is, why do the headlights still work? I've got neck problems and really don't want to crawl under the dash again to look at fuses - they were all fine a few days back. Any ideas? I want to keep driving it as much as possible - both b/c it's been so long, and the heater is way better than my escort!

Thor

[redfalken]

I think you'll need to find someone with a good neck to check out the fuses. Look at the diagram in the shop manual and see if a blown fuse(s) makes sense.

I thought the starter was pooping out yesterday but it ended up being a loose connection to the solenoid. Thanks to Jeff for his help! It's too cold out there to change a starter in the dark.

[Sedanman]

Fuses were fine after the dash lights went out, Kenny (my tack light went out too, which is wired to the cluster, so I know it's not just bulbs). I don't have a good shop manual for '64 - does anyone know if headlights use the same fuse?

Glad you got your problem fixed - it's too cold out for anything, including scraping ice off the windshield!

[SmithKid]

Thor, years ago, I had a '60 Ranchero that the headlights were a problem on. They would go out on me if I was using high beams. Anyway, bottom line was a defective headlight switch and when I tore the old switch apart, I found that the switch had a circuit breaker of sorts built into it and I don't beleive there were any fuses. All this sums up that headlights are probably separate from other lights. However, keep in mind that this is a 30+ year old memory (appx 1974).

[Luva65wagon]

Thor,

Lots of different circuits here I'm afraid. The brake lights and turn signals also go through the turn signal switch, but not the dash light and dome light -- nor the running lights. I'm not 100% sure if the 65 and 64 have exactly the same wiring, but I've got a wiring diagram around here somewhere and I'll see what I can scout for you. The headlight switch might be a source for everything, but whether it would make some, but not everything fail, don't know.

I'll post more as I find it...