Parking Lights

[Chris]

Since I bought my car, the parking lights / front turn signals did not work.

Today I got some time underneath the front of the car and found two issues with them that I son fixed.

The drivers side light -  The contacts that meet the bulb did not reach.  The fix for this was to simply push on the wires from the back side to give the contacts a little more reach inside the socket.

Passenger side light -  The socket was broke and the plastic piece inside the socket that insulates the two wires and keeps them apart was destroyed.  I went to Autozone and looked in the electrical section and found a replacement socket with the two contacts inside (1157 socket I believe).  I found a socket that allowed the contacts and plastic insulator to slide out and used these to rebuild the socket on my car.  You need to rebuild these since the socket on the car is pressed into the reflector and I've never been able to figure out how to seperate them therefore it was just easier to replace just the inner parts and leave the socket intact.

They both work great.  Now if I can just figure out that darn interior light..  ;D

Chris

[Joe65SkylarkGS]

Nice fix dude. I had a similar issue. But what I also did was jumped a few wires so when I switch the headlights on, the parking lights stay on instead of switching off. Because I like them on with the headlights too.

[bobbybuick]

Nice fix dude. I had a similar issue. But what I also did was jumped a few wires so when I switch the headlights on, the parking lights stay on instead of switching off. Because I like them on with the headlights too.

i just noticed today working on parking lights they go off with headlight on can you tell me the fix without butchering the wiring harness .I noticed this is an old thread thats how i found it on a search

[bobbybuick]

looks like you could just install a diode from the lt blue wire (headlight) to the purple wire (parking).at least thats what im going to try

[elagache]

Dear bobbybuick and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

looks like you could just install a diode from the lt blue wire (headlight) to the purple wire (parking).at least thats what im going to try

It has been so long that I have to admit I completely forgot that I made this modification.  I don't think you need to use a diode.  I just cross-connected the parking light wire to the headlight wire.  I don't remember why I was monkeying around with the headlight switch connector but there was some damage I also had to repair.  Here is a photo of the switch and connector as I found it:



Here is the slice I made:



Finally here is completed modification:



Since I had forgotten I had to double-check.  Indeed the parking lights stay on when the headlights come on.

Let us know if you discover anything unusual in your "mods."

Edouard

[bobbybuick]

thank you for responding .it looks like you just combined the park and headlight load wires and connected them to the headlight terminal? is this correct?
if so you have no parking lights in the park position of the switch  ?

Dear bobbybuick and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

looks like you could just install a diode from the lt blue wire (headlight) to the purple wire (parking).at least thats what im going to try

It has been so long that I have to admit I completely forgot that I made this modification.  I don't think you need to use a diode.  I just cross-connected the parking light wire to the headlight wire.  I don't remember why I was monkeying around with the headlight switch connector but there was some damage I also had to repair.  Here is a photo of the switch and connector as I found it:



Here is the slice I made:



Finally here is completed modification:



Since I had forgotten I had to double-check.  Indeed the parking lights stay on when the headlights come on.

Let us know if you discover anything unusual in your "mods."

Edouard

[campfamily]

i just noticed today working on parking lights they go off with headlight on can you tell me the fix without butchering the wiring harness .I noticed this is an old thread thats how i found it on a search
[/quote]

Isn't that the way our cars are supposed to be ( no parking lights when headlights are on)? That's what my car does.

[Loren At 65GS]

 You are correct that the parking lights are only on with the head lights off.
It may stem from old laws about driving with parking lights on. I recall a news article some years back when we first moved to Nebraska. In the article, Omaha police were ticketing drivers whose new vehicles had the parking lights on with the headlights on. It was such a big thing, that it ended up in court. As I recall, the defendant's case won based on the fact that newer cars were built with the feature of the parking lights and head lights on together as a safety feature.
 I haven't looked in a wiring diagram to see for certain the best way to accomplish the modification. What I do see is that power for the park lamp circuit and the head light circuit has to remain the same at the switch in order to have each function as they were originally designed.
By simply combining the two circuits, control is lost to run park lamps independently if the power for both circuits comes only from the park lamp terminal at the switch or the headlight terminal at the switch.
 Now to make the park lamp circuit function with the headlights on also, it requires the headlight circuit to power the parking lamps also when the light switch is pulled out to the second stop of the switch.
 What I see, even through my current chemo induced foggy brain, is the connections at the switch must remain as they are but with a modification done downstream using a diode to control the flow of power. For those reading this that do not understand electrical well, a diode is like a gate. it allows electricity to flow in one direction but not in the other.
 So, placing a diode in the headlight circuit to open the gate when the switch is pulled out to the second stop, original headlight only position, allows power to feed both headlights and park lamps. If the switch is pulled out to the first stop, the park lamps only work because the diode will not allow power to flow through the gate to the headlights. Hope that is somewhat clear.
 I sketched a diagram of this but need to clean it up a little before posting. It should be bench tested to insure it actually works as desired.   
  Loren

[WkillGS]

looks like you could just install a diode from the lt blue wire (headlight) to the purple wire (parking).at least thats what im going to try

....
using a diode to control the flow of power.
....
first stop, the park lamps only work because the diode will not allow power to flow through the gate to the headlights.
....
  Loren

 Sounds like that will work. Instead of a jumper wire, a diode would be placed between the parking light and headlight terminals.  Oriented properly, it would act as a jumper wire to power the parking lamps when switch is in 'headlight' position, but the diode will not conduct to the headlights when the switch is in 'parking light' position.

[campfamily]

OK, that makes more sense now....this thread is about changing the default "no parking lights on when the headlights are on" to mimic a later model car, where the parking lights stay on with the headlights are on. I'm on board now. I was concerned that perhaps my car wasn't working properly.

I vaguely remembered that cars up until the mid to late 60s were like this, but I was questioning myself after reading this thread. I also seem to remember that cars in the 50's and before had white parking lights, rather than yellow, and the switch to yellow was quite a big thing.

I used to live in England a long time ago, and I remember back then that most folks drove with only their parking lights on in the city, and didn't turn on their headlights until they were out in areas without many streetlights. Plus, the European parking lights were really cool, with a small bulb in the bottom of the headlight housing that made the headlight "glow" rather than emit a bright beam of light.

Keith

[Loren At 65GS]

looks like you could just install a diode from the lt blue wire (headlight) to the purple wire (parking).at least thats what im going to try

....
using a diode to control the flow of power.
....
first stop, the park lamps only work because the diode will not allow power to flow through the gate to the headlights.
....
  Loren

 Sounds like that will work. Instead of a jumper wire, a diode would be placed between the parking light and headlight terminals.  Oriented properly, it would act as a jumper wire to power the parking lamps when switch is in 'headlight' position, but the diode will not conduct to the headlights when the switch is in 'parking light' position.

  Much simpler idea there, Walt.

  Loren

[bobbybuick]

yea ,that what i discovered if you read my reply earlier , but i was just going to place it at the connector without cutting anything.from headlight to parking in that direction, at the connector, or lt blue to purple 

You are correct that the parking lights are only on with the head lights off.
It may stem from old laws about driving with parking lights on. I recall a news article some years back when we first moved to Nebraska. In the article, Omaha police were ticketing drivers whose new vehicles had the parking lights on with the headlights on. It was such a big thing, that it ended up in court. As I recall, the defendant's case won based on the fact that newer cars were built with the feature of the parking lights and head lights on together as a safety feature.
 I haven't looked in a wiring diagram to see for certain the best way to accomplish the modification. What I do see is that power for the park lamp circuit and the head light circuit has to remain the same at the switch in order to have each function as they were originally designed.
By simply combining the two circuits, control is lost to run park lamps independently if the power for both circuits comes only from the park lamp terminal at the switch or the headlight terminal at the switch.
 Now to make the park lamp circuit function with the headlights on also, it requires the headlight circuit to power the parking lamps also when the light switch is pulled out to the second stop of the switch.
 What I see, even through my current chemo induced foggy brain, is the connections at the switch must remain as they are but with a modification done downstream using a diode to control the flow of power. For those reading this that do not understand electrical well, a diode is like a gate. it allows electricity to flow in one direction but not in the other.
 So, placing a diode in the headlight circuit to open the gate when the switch is pulled out to the second stop, original headlight only position, allows power to feed both headlights and park lamps. If the switch is pulled out to the first stop, the park lamps only work because the diode will not allow power to flow through the gate to the headlights. Hope that is somewhat clear.
 I sketched a diagram of this but need to clean it up a little before posting. It should be bench tested to insure it actually works as desired.   
  Loren

[bobbybuick]

yes see reply # 4 .i think i have some 5 amp diodes here ill give it a try and report back 

OK, that makes more sense now....this thread is about changing the default "no parking lights on when the headlights are on" to mimic a later model car, where the parking lights stay on with the headlights are on. I'm on board now. I was concerned that perhaps my car wasn't working properly.

I vaguely remembered that cars up until the mid to late 60s were like this, but I was questioning myself after reading this thread. I also seem to remember that cars in the 50's and before had white parking lights, rather than yellow, and the switch to yellow was quite a big thing.

I used to live in England a long time ago, and I remember back then that most folks drove with only their parking lights on in the city, and didn't turn on their headlights until they were out in areas without many streetlights. Plus, the European parking lights were really cool, with a small bulb in the bottom of the headlight housing that made the headlight "glow" rather than emit a bright beam of light.

Keith

[elagache]

Dear bobbybuick, Keith, Loren, Walt, and mid-60s Buick caregivers with a "spark" for electrical work (pun intended.) 

Sufferin' succotash, . . . . Do you guys actually expect me to remember how I do these things? 

Okay, so I rushed back and checked.  Biquette indeed has the parking lights working when the should and they stay on when the headlights are on.  Also, the headlights don't come on when the parking lights are selected.  I looked over my pictures and I didn't use a diode.  Instead I connected the taillight wire to the parking light wire.  Here are some additional pictures.  The reason I plunged into this is that I had a damaged taillight connector:



So instead, I power the front parking lights with the same connection to the switch as the taillight:



Since the taillights are on whether the switch is in the parking light or headlight mode, you get the same effect as the diode without having that extra component.

It works fine on my trusty wagon.

Edouard 

[bobbybuick]

I think the tail light is a different circuit and a different fuse .