I'm not very knowledgeable about automotive electrical problems and could use some advice/opinions from you guys. Here's the situation:
I pulled my 56 President out of a 3 week hibernation last week to give it some exercise. It starts and runs normally, but with the engine RUNNING, 1) the discharge light stays on, 2) there are no directional signals, no heater blower, no radio, and no temp or gas gauge (not sure about the oil light). When any of the accesories such as the radio, fan, and directional signals are turned "on", they don't work but the discharge light gets brighter. The headlights, interior light, glove compartment light and brake lights all work fine. With the engine running, the discharge light occasionally dims, with a click from somewhere up front, I think from the voltage regulator.
With the engine OFF and the key turned to the accessory position (either left or right), everything works--fan, radio, gauges, etc.
Here's some other info that might, or might not, be relevant: (1) sometime this summer I dropped a screwdriver across the battery and grounded the terminals. The result, besides the ZAP!! was symptoms as descreibed above, but they self-corrected after a restart. (May have been a couple of restarts). (2) The wipers have only worked intermittently since I bought the car a little over a year ago. A new switch didn't help and leaving the wiper on results in smoke curling out of the wiper motor, so the wipers stay OFF. Correcting this problem is scheduled for this winter. (3) The horn doesn't work. Well, actually it does work when the horn ring and sponge thing is off and I ground it manually. Another winter project. (4) Finally, a couple of times this week, the problem seemed to fix itself, i.e., the light went out and all accessories worked normally, but shutting the car off and restarting it put it in the failure mode again.
Since all this started, I read through the relevant sections of the shop manual; checked for loose connections at the ignition switch, generator, and voltage regulator; repolarized the generator as per the shop manual; and cleaned the points in the regulator. Before I start replacing parts willy-nilly or just take it to a shop, maybe you guys could give me some advice. Might it be something simple like generator brushes? Maybe the problem is at the ignition switch since the accessories are wired through it? A short somewhere? Generator? Voltage regulator? As far as I can tell, all parts except maybe the wiper motor are original and 52 years old.
Any and all advice appreciated.
Frank Philippi
Ocean Pines, MD
I pulled my 56 President out of a 3 week hibernation last week to give it some exercise. It starts and runs normally, but with the engine RUNNING, 1) the discharge light stays on, 2) there are no directional signals, no heater blower, no radio, and no temp or gas gauge (not sure about the oil light). When any of the accesories such as the radio, fan, and directional signals are turned "on", they don't work but the discharge light gets brighter. The headlights, interior light, glove compartment light and brake lights all work fine. With the engine running, the discharge light occasionally dims, with a click from somewhere up front, I think from the voltage regulator.
With the engine OFF and the key turned to the accessory position (either left or right), everything works--fan, radio, gauges, etc.
Here's some other info that might, or might not, be relevant: (1) sometime this summer I dropped a screwdriver across the battery and grounded the terminals. The result, besides the ZAP!! was symptoms as descreibed above, but they self-corrected after a restart. (May have been a couple of restarts). (2) The wipers have only worked intermittently since I bought the car a little over a year ago. A new switch didn't help and leaving the wiper on results in smoke curling out of the wiper motor, so the wipers stay OFF. Correcting this problem is scheduled for this winter. (3) The horn doesn't work. Well, actually it does work when the horn ring and sponge thing is off and I ground it manually. Another winter project. (4) Finally, a couple of times this week, the problem seemed to fix itself, i.e., the light went out and all accessories worked normally, but shutting the car off and restarting it put it in the failure mode again.
Since all this started, I read through the relevant sections of the shop manual; checked for loose connections at the ignition switch, generator, and voltage regulator; repolarized the generator as per the shop manual; and cleaned the points in the regulator. Before I start replacing parts willy-nilly or just take it to a shop, maybe you guys could give me some advice. Might it be something simple like generator brushes? Maybe the problem is at the ignition switch since the accessories are wired through it? A short somewhere? Generator? Voltage regulator? As far as I can tell, all parts except maybe the wiper motor are original and 52 years old.
Any and all advice appreciated.
Frank Philippi
Ocean Pines, MD
And there's no turn signals and no heater.
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