Hi!

I have 1966 Dodge Dart 4-dr w/Slant six. It's the wife's daily driver.

yesturday, when she switched on the headlights they didn't come on but, after hitting the dimmer the the brights do....just not the headlights in regular mode... and the parking lights and tailights all are working...but, the dome light isn't. All the gauges work.. fuses look good...

Bad dimmer switch? relay or other?

Thanks,
Brian

Don't just look at fuses bust out a multimeter and test the appropriate ones. There is no relay, its just battery/switch/bulbs. So either one of those or wiring somewhere along the way.... The lights themselves you can unplug and test by running wires seperately to a battery.

Hi Brian, I've got a workshop manual from a '65 Dart over here, If the wiring/ electrical system is the same I can scan some pages for you and e-mail them, maybe that will help.

I worked a lot on the wiring in my Dart, and I can tell you it's not at all that hard. You might want to take a battery and place it on the ground in front of the pedals, get 2 wires and test if the lights will go on if you put some volts on the 2 wires going to your headlights at the dimmerswitch ( this way you make a shortcut, makes it easier to determine where the problem is.) If they are still not working, it might be a defect relais ( Is this the right word in english, not sure?).

Hope you understand what I mean,..

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1965 Barreiros Dodge Dart. 225 / 4 speed.

ok, I see, it's relay, not relais. Just saw you also mentioned it yourself.
I should read better,..

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1965 Barreiros Dodge Dart. 225 / 4 speed.

Hey, Guys!

Thanks for the response. I haven't found a manual for the '66, yet and so, have little info (other than the net) So, yes those pages on the elec. sys. could be helpful

Don't have multi-meter either! but, I guess I'm going to have to break down and buy one! Don't quite know what readings I'm looking for though, other than some "juice' !

No relay huh? OK There are two small "metal boxes" on the firewall that the headlight wiring leads in/out of then to the main "relay"? also, on the firewall. ( I could take a picture) Maybe, relay is the wrong term...

I asked about the dimmer switch because, It seems to me I once had a similar problem on another car where the low beems didn't work and the hi-beams did..and replacing the sitch solved it...

Also, this just happened suddenly. No previous problem. was working fine.

Thanks for your help!

Brian

hermetic-one@comcast.net

Can't find my manual,....
Wouldn't have a clue where it is,....

To make it up to you, I made this drawing, if you try this first then you will know where abouts the problem is located.

If the problem turns out to be more complex, I'll try to think of something else.

Keep us posted!

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1965 Barreiros Dodge Dart. 225 / 4 speed.

I would look at replacing the dimmer switch, or at least removing it and squirt a LITTLE lube up inside and work it until its smooth again. Your dome light might just be burned out I doubt if its related to your headlight problem. To be on the safe side though, check your brake lights. Your dome light might be on the same circuit. If your circuit is good and the bulb is still intact, check your door switches. Sometimes you can just rotate the stub and that will clean off any corrosion and they will work again.

In my '65 car the interior light wires are coloured yellow and pink.
Find the wires going to the dome light ( have to go under the headliner somewhere,...) and test with a 12v source, easy,... I guess.
Good luck!

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1965 Barreiros Dodge Dart. 225 / 4 speed.

Hey, Guys!

Thanks for your help!

""Dutch Dart" Thanks for the drawing!

"Relay" thats the word I was trying to think of! Duh!

I'M sitting here reading the manual on my new Digital "True RMS" autoranging multimeter" !!

I can't wait to run out to the garage and try it out!

I'll report back.

Thanks, again!

Check the dimmer switch. I have never seen relays on a '66.

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Chuck Rivers, Webmaster