I have had 2 problems crop up concerning lights.


Problem 1. I was traveling with other club members, and was told my bottom 2 rear lights were flickering (slightly) on and off. This was in the daylight with lights off and not on the brakes. I will check the grounds and the make sure the switch on the brake pedal is properly adjusted. Anything else?


Problem 2. I noticed while putting the car in the garage with the headlights on, the headlights were flickering, like a loose connection. Again, I will check the ground, but any other suggestions?


Might these problems be related?

 

By "flickering", do you mean a regular bright-dim-bright dim only noticeable at idle?
I had an alternator with a failed diode in the bridge act like that. The changes from bright to dim happen so fast at higher RPM that your eyes can't make out the changes in brightness.
A flicker caused by bad grounds would be irregular, and be independent of engine speed. Can you make the lights flicker with a tap on a bumper, for example?

 

Grounds, voltage reg, alternator, bad cell in the battery. Ive seen all of these cause the flickering. Start with a load test on the battery. If you can open the cells get a hydrometer on all 6. Check running voltage with a VOM. See if the voltage dances. Do the alternator and VR tests. But if you have not gone through all the grounds nows the time.

Your on the right track with the tail lights. Check the bulbs n sockets too.

Report back with the fix.

 

I noticed the headlights while pulling into the garage, so I was at idle. I will check if rpm has any effect when it is dark.


Thanks

 

Okay, the headlights flicker as I pull into the garage. The flicker speeds up as the rpms increases, and either goes away, or is flickering faster than I can see it.

 

Have you preformed the services I described above specifically the VR and alternator testing?? Sounds to me like its gona be the alt or VR. The Alt may have a bad diode in the bridge asm.

What style of charging system do you have? Is there a VR mounted to your fire wall or not?

 

My wife and I have been dealing with her father and Alzheimer's, so my free time has been limited and I have not been able to check everything yet. The alternator is relatively new, but with today's junk, it may be defective. I have a voltage regulator on the firewall.

 

Im not one for replacing parts w/o troubleshooting especially when your likely replacing a good old school USA made part with you know what.
If you do what I suggest (as time alots) you will likely find that its the VR or the Alt. But you could very well fix it with good grounds.
I can give you the process for properly troubleshooting both but it sounds like you will be better off taking it to a shop or higher end parts house that test these assemblies? Call around to see if you have a starter alternator rebuild house in your area. They can test the Alt and VR on the bench. Just unbolt both and bring them in. They will be able to rebuild the OEM Alt if originality & numbers match is a concern or offer you other alternatives. I have replaced most of my analog (manual points) VRs with the solid state VRs. And use the Delco cover.

 

I have several same components on other cars that I can swap in temporarily to troubleshoot. If I find something bad, I will go the rebuild route. I agree that so many of the replacement components are JUNK!