'57 headlight/high-beam indicator question..

[Dan87GT]

Hello.....I am installing a new set of gauges in my '57....the truck has a Painless wiring set-up installed by a previous owner....I am trying to figure out why my high beam indicator always stays on with either the high or low beams on....is the low beam filament supposed to turn off when the high beams are on?...or is the high beam in addition to the low beam filament....just trying to figure out where to start looking for an issue..


thank you...Dan

[OrrieG]

High beam indicator light wire comes off of the dimmer switch high beam wire (light green on factory harness). If it is on all the time it is probably being feed from the headlight circuit at the switch.

[Dan87GT]

Thanks for the reply!....which terminal on the dimmer switch is for the high beam indicator?..

thanks again!....

[OrrieG]

Dimmer switch is on the floor, or column if you have a newer column. Light blue goes to dimmer, low and high beam comes out of dimmer.

[mr48chev]

It can't be said any better than Orrie said it in his posts. You connect the high beam indicator light to the high beam wire coming off the dimmer switch.

[1project2many]

My only other thought is that the high beam indicator was connected to dash lighting. Does the indicator brightness vary when you adjust the dash lights?

[Rude Dude]

Indicator is off only goes on when power applied. Normally comes off the foot operated switch on high beams side.

[tmoble]

It's one of those "Painful" harnesses. Wonder if they wired it off the switch instead of the dimmer?

[Dan87GT]

Hello!....thanks for all the replies....I had a chance to investigate more today....I went ahead and replaced the dimmer switch.....I also confirmed the high beam indicator light for may gages was tied into the high beam circuit on my Painless wiring....

Here is where I am at now....

With the low beams on....I am getting ~ 9V on the high beam line....I have 12V in the power(Blue)...and 12V on the Low Beam line

With the high beams on....I get 12V on all three lines...

It does cycle thru the high/low beams when I use the dimmer switch..

any thoughts?......thank you!....

[1project2many]

Something is supplying power on both circuits simultaneously. A faulty dimmer switch could do this but it's not likely that two switches are bad in the same way. So look at the common point where both circuits are connected. One location is on the ground side of the headlights. High beam and low beam are connected through the filaments to ground. So if the ground is not connected correctly you'll see power on both circuits. Disconnect both headlights and see if high beam indicator works correctly.

[mr48chev]

The headlights are most likely grounding back through the high beam element due to not being grounded correctly. This almost always happens on dual element bulbs when the socket or plug is not grounded correctly.

Is the third wire off the plug on the headlights properly connected to a good ground?

[Russell Ashley]

Is your instrument cluster installed in the dash with the three screws in place? If not try jumpering the housing to a good ground and see if the problem remains.

[mr48chev]

I'd have to believe his problem is at the headlight end Russel. It seems that he has an indicator light that works fine but is getting feed back through the system.

As I wrote previously I'd have to believe that he isn't getting a good ground at the headlights.

Possibly due to :

Ground wire not hooked up at all.

ground wire securely fastened to a screw in sheet metal but the paint on the sheet metal is acting as an insulator. This I have seen dozens of times on friends freshly painted vehicles over the past 50 years and quite often on the ground strap to the engine block.

Sheet metal too rusted where one piece connects to the other to make good grounding contact between the nose and the cab. This is a possibility on some of the rigs that have "great undisturbed patina" Rust is rust and rust is a real poor electrical connector.
The same concept would apply to a rig that had been completely taken apart, sandblasted and each panel primed and painted with several coats of paint separately so that the paint didn't allow much electrical connection between the panels back to the cab.

If you have a couple of alligator clips and a length of wire you might make up a jumper that you can ground the lights back to the battery with and make sure everything works like it should than start the step by step process of finding out where the real problem is.

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

I'd have to believe his problem is at the headlight end Russel. It seems that he has an indicator light that works fine but is getting feed back through the system.

As I wrote previously I'd have to believe that he isn't getting a good ground at the headlights.

Possibly due to :

Ground wire not hooked up at all.

ground wire securely fastened to a screw in sheet metal but the paint on the sheet metal is acting as an insulator. This I have seen dozens of times on friends freshly painted vehicles over the past 50 years and quite often on the ground strap to the engine block.

Sheet metal too rusted where one piece connects to the other to make good grounding contact between the nose and the cab. This is a possibility on some of the rigs that have "great undisturbed patina" Rust is rust and rust is a real poor electrical connector.
The same concept would apply to a rig that had been completely taken apart, sandblasted and each panel primed and painted with several coats of paint separately so that the paint didn't allow much electrical connection between the panels back to the cab.

If you have a couple of alligator clips and a length of wire you might make up a jumper that you can ground the lights back to the battery with and make sure everything works like it should than start the step by step process of finding out where the real problem is.

I don't disagree with your diagnosis. Since he's in the process of a rewiring job I just wanted to point out that the instrument cluster needs to be grounded. I added a black wire ground to mine when I was installing my EZWire harness.

[Old Crow]

Having done a couple of those "Painless" kits, I wonder if the wiring of the headlight sockets is wrong? I know I always have to check those when I do them because the ground is not the terminal you'd expect.
Looking at the backof the connector on the headlight,, the ground is the left vertical terminal.