The lights went out

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   This is you you all to get a kick out of.
I took possession of my 49 not to long go.  Been working hard to take the Bubba mods off and repairing a lot of things that time broke (breaks, fuel system, ect).  So I have been working my confidence up to take the 10 mile drive into work. 

I pull the old girl out of the barn this chilly 47 degree morning and headed out on a moonless morning drive.  I got within 2 miles, hit a bump, all the lights went dark with the exception of the turn signal kit that is on the jeep.  Its dark.  I finished the 2 miles with the left blinker on so I can kinda see whats in front of me at a much slower speed.  

I got into the office, overheard a few conversations like "you would not believe the crazy sight i seen this morning.  Some guy was driving a jeep with the blinker on and no head lights"

So moral of the story.  I still have work ahead of me before any more non-daylight adventures.

Also, it is Dam cold that early.  I need to get cracking at making my soft top.

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Westernbronco Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 02 May 2014 Location: Michigan Status: Offline Points: 44	Post Options Post Reply Quote Westernbronco Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: The lights went out Posted: 19 Sep. 2014 at 10:26pm
	This is you you all to get a kick out of. I took possession of my 49 not to long go. Been working hard to take the Bubba mods off and repairing a lot of things that time broke (breaks, fuel system, ect). So I have been working my confidence up to take the 10 mile drive into work. I pull the old girl out of the barn this chilly 47 degree morning and headed out on a moonless morning drive. I got within 2 miles, hit a bump, all the lights went dark with the exception of the turn signal kit that is on the jeep. Its dark. I finished the 2 miles with the left blinker on so I can kinda see whats in front of me at a much slower speed. I got into the office, overheard a few conversations like "you would not believe the crazy sight i seen this morning. Some guy was driving a jeep with the blinker on and no head lights" So moral of the story. I still have work ahead of me before any more non-daylight adventures. Also, it is Dam cold that early. I need to get cracking at making my soft top.

fireguyfire Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 20 Mar. 2014 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 30	Post Options Post Reply Quote fireguyfire Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 Sep. 2014 at 11:07pm
	Great story; sounds like a ground issue

Daniel_Buck Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 01 Apr. 2012 Location: Gilroy Status: Offline Points: 1200	Post Options Post Reply Quote Daniel_Buck Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 Sep. 2014 at 11:10pm
	I got pulled over for driving mine at night with no headlights. And I mean NO headlights, there weren't any physically present on the jeep haha!! The officer's got a kick out of it, and I just got a fix-it ticket, so it was all good. :D
	2a #40500

Oilleaker1 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 06 Sep. 2011 Location: Black Hills, SD Status: Offline Points: 4412	Post Options Post Reply Quote Oilleaker1 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Sep. 2014 at 12:16am
	The best comeback I ever heard of is to walk around to the front of the Jeep and pull out a Zippo lighter. Flick it, hold it against the headlight and say----------By golly officer you are right!
	Green Disease, Jeeps, Old Iron!

Westernbronco Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 02 May 2014 Location: Michigan Status: Offline Points: 44	Post Options Post Reply Quote Westernbronco Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Sep. 2014 at 1:18am
	That is a great comeback.. LOL. I will have to remember that. Its not a ground issue. More like a short. The Electrical Bubba found this Jeep. I have never seen so many wires for something so simple. The fuse for the lights was blown. I put a new fuse in and it blew instantly. I will have to get some pics when the light is better. But to give you an Idea, under the dash there is a bank of breakers, a fuse panel, a terminal strip, and more loose wires than I care to count. Running to the back of the Jeep, there is 2 weather tight boxes with terminal strips in them for the tail lights. Needless to say they are all coming out. It was next on the list anyway.

Carlsjeep Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 15 Jan. 2011 Location: Taylorsville Ky Status: Offline Points: 2642	Post Options Post Reply Quote Carlsjeep Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Sep. 2014 at 5:31am
	I have a set of driving lights just behind the front bumper for just that issue. The Jeep head light switch has a circuit breaker on it and if anything shorts out the lights go out. I just have to flip the switch for the driving lights until the other lights come on. I have always been leery of getting out on a trail near dark or after dark and the lights fail. Edited by Carlsjeep - 20 Sep. 2014 at 5:33am
	Life is only as good as you make it.

waytay Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 19 Sep. 2014 Location: maine Status: Offline Points: 45	Post Options Post Reply Quote waytay Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Sep. 2014 at 6:08am
	if your interested jc whitney has complete wiring harnesses for jeepcj2a
	watay

scoutpilot Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 30 Dec. 2008 Location: Asheboro, NC Status: Offline Points: 4373	Post Options Post Reply Quote scoutpilot Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Sep. 2014 at 10:08am
	For the headlights and parking lights, there should be only the one circuit breaker/fuse mounted on the switch. The dimmer switch is the only other device in the line. More than that is overkill and unnecessarily complicates a simple system.

Westernbronco Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 02 May 2014 Location: Michigan Status: Offline Points: 44	Post Options Post Reply Quote Westernbronco Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Sep. 2014 at 1:28pm
	Thanks scoutpilot for the diagram and yes, the previous owner made this very over complicated. Like I said. Bubba got a hold of the wiring. There is no foot dimmer. The light switch runs all. No breaker on the back side. Just glass tube fuses on the fire wall. If you pull the switch out to the first position you get running lights and low beams. Pull out to the second position you get high beams w/running light. Here is the best part. The head lights are keyed to the ignition switch. The switch runs a series of relays (3 out of 5 have power supplied but nothing on the other side). I'm working on getting some pictures on here. Its a new to me laptop. I don't have the right program on here for resizing pictures to get them small enough.

scoutpilot Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 30 Dec. 2008 Location: Asheboro, NC Status: Offline Points: 4373	Post Options Post Reply Quote scoutpilot Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Sep. 2014 at 1:33pm
	There are versions of this for PC and MAC. http://www.webresizer.com/

F Bill Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 05 Dec. 2005 Location: central Texas Status: Offline Points: 7752	Post Options Post Reply Quote F Bill Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Sep. 2014 at 1:59pm
	It really sounds like you need to just go for it and rewire.. While fuses are a good idea the glass ones are old tech and may not hold up on the trail. If you are not into originality just buy the right gage wiring for each circuit and some good connectors for the end and have at it. Otherwise, I'd be looking at the Walcks or other specialty harnesses...JCW harnesses would scare me......but I haven't actually seen one so I might be wrong. Check out the faq section in my signature for a post by Sean on wiring... He has some great diagrams for our jeeps you can look at. (And also some turn signal stuff)
	If you haven't checked out the tech FAQ section, go to: http://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/tech-faq_forum57.html for a lot of great stuff you need to know!!

Westernbronco Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 02 May 2014 Location: Michigan Status: Offline Points: 44	Post Options Post Reply Quote Westernbronco Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Sep. 2014 at 5:02pm
	Thanks scoutpilot. I will have to give that a try later on this evening. F Bill - after further looking at what I have, I am going to do a complete rewire. Most of the harness is in pretty rough shape (outside of what Bubba has worked on). There is some of the original harness that is left on the headlights and running lights. I am skilled enough to make my own. I make machine panels at work from time to time. I will look at the post, see if I can save a little time for wire size and fuse size. I was hoping to do this when i get ready to rework the body. But I think I will have to do something short term so I can enjoy it for the rest of the warm weather. Here is a quick Pick of the good side Post removing the homemade plow mount and some weird electric / hydro controls that were mounted where the tool box floor should be. The dash is pretty hacked up, along with the floor. The back of the tub is very week as well. The original color was red. I am the 3rd owner. The second owner is a good friend of mine. He got all the original paperwork that was available (about a 2" ring binder worth). There will be more to come. Need to brush up on my body work skills for this old girl.

Flatfender Ben Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 13 July 2014 Location: Nyssa OR Status: Offline Points: 2657	Post Options Post Reply Quote Flatfender Ben Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 Sep. 2014 at 5:50am
	That's a great looking jeep. What size tires are those? Good luck with the rewire.

Westernbronco Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 02 May 2014 Location: Michigan Status: Offline Points: 44	Post Options Post Reply Quote Westernbronco Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 Sep. 2014 at 1:10pm
	They are 7.50 x 16's. They rub like crazy, and they really hurt the turning radius. But I'm going to get my use out of them. I am actually thinking about getting a second set of rims and tires. Something with more offset so I can run a bigger tire when I want to go wheeling. Small pizza cutters for bombing around town. But I am a long ways away from that.