Lights in grille

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Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
514
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Location
Santee, SC
My Car
72 Mach I Q code
61 Impala
67 Chevelle
78 Bradley GT II
What makes the Lights in the grille come on ? 72 Mach I

parking lights and turn signals are in the lower set of lights.

So, the question is...when do the amber lights in the grille come on ?

 
They come on with the parking lights. They don't blink or anything.
Thank you, I must have the wrong headlight switch, no power to them with park lights on.

I'll try a different switch...I have a few extras

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi Don,

the lights (Ford jargon: sport lamps) come on with the headlamps. They are off with only the parking lights on. They have no serious function (i.e. as fog lamps or so). They are there just to look good...

Michael

(by the way, the trunk lid rods are in and do a nice job!:))

 
71-73 sportslamps get their power whenever the low or high beams are engaged (second detent on the headlight switch)...not only when the parking lamps are lit (first detent).

BTW, Firefox doesn't recognize the word "detent"...hahahaha!

 
ON MY 72 THESE LITES DONT COME ON EVER. DO THEY TAKE A SPECIAL BULB? SEEMS LIKE IT SHOULD BE A SINGLE FILLEMENT BULB AS ONE WIRE IS HOT AND ONE IS GROUND. BULB HOLDER HAS 2 CONTACT POINTS IN IT

 
#94 bulb you should be able to get from OMS. Then check the harness and connectors for cracks. The old tape came loose on one of my headlights after i washed the grill and caused the light to flicker. Messy to replace 40yr old black tape. Was like new in 15 mins. Took me an hour to get the slimey black adhesive off my hands.

 
ON MY 72 THESE LITES DONT COME ON EVER. DO THEY TAKE A SPECIAL BULB? SEEMS LIKE IT SHOULD BE A SINGLE FILLEMENT BULB AS ONE WIRE IS HOT AND ONE IS GROUND. BULB HOLDER HAS 2 CONTACT POINTS IN IT
In my refurbishment efforts, I've found about 50% of these sockets are bad and do not allow current to flow.

 
the 71-73 sockets on the grill suffer from corrosion. It is possible to take them apart and rebuild them but it isn't easy. The socket is impossible to find. I had to take a set from the 73 mach 1 and re purpose them to work on my 72.

just FYI the 73 versions besides having 3 connections because they double as turn signals, also sit deeper then the 71-72s, the sockets look the same until you put them next to each other and you find out the 73 socket is about 10mm longer which moves the light bulb back into the housing more then the 72 and 71.

When i converted the 73s i found to 72s i figured out how to pop the connectors out of the sockets and clean them up i had to pull them out anyway to wire them into my engine harness correctly.

they kind of look like RC car battery terminals but they are thinner, so you can use a micro flat head screw driver to bend the side ears in on the socket connectors and slide the connector out of the sockets.

now you could also use a Rust remover like rust off or rust away it uses Acid the acid eats the rust only and leaves the good metal. leave it in the acid for a few hours then spray the whole thing with electrical cleaner and use some dielectric grease to keep the water from corroding it again.

 
the 71-73 sockets on the grill suffer from corrosion. It is possible to take them apart and rebuild them but it isn't easy. The socket is impossible to find. I had to take a set from the 73 mach 1 and re purpose them to work on my 72.

just FYI the 73 versions besides having 3 connections because they double as turn signals, also sit deeper then the 71-72s, the sockets look the same until you put them next to each other and you find out the 73 socket is about 10mm longer which moves the light bulb back into the housing more then the 72 and 71.

When i converted the 73s i found to 72s i figured out how to pop the connectors out of the sockets and clean them up i had to pull them out anyway to wire them into my engine harness correctly.

they kind of look like RC car battery terminals but they are thinner, so you can use a micro flat head screw driver to bend the side ears in on the socket connectors and slide the connector out of the sockets.

now you could also use a Rust remover like rust off or rust away it uses Acid the acid eats the rust only and leaves the good metal. leave it in the acid for a few hours then spray the whole thing with electrical cleaner and use some dielectric grease to keep the water from corroding it again.
Are you saying the metal blades, when folded upright, will pass out of the back of the connector? I thought the blades were wider than the plastic holes for the wire pins.

I tried to disassemble the plastic pieces, but determined they are glued together during manufacture. It appears the same socket may have been used on 70's trucks, but on the tail-lights.

 
They did on the 73s I got. The plastic you can't pop apart easy, it is possible but can end in a big failure, you can treat them. Like a plastic model by freezing them sometimes you can pop the glue on the seams with a flat blade.

I didn't take pictures of the 73s and it took me a while maybe and hour to carefully pop the connectors I have a bunch of jewelers tools that helped me. But I was able to get the connectors apart without breaking them , then I popped the old wires out of the connectors and opened the crimps soldered them to my engine harness bent the crimp back and opened the ears on the connectors and popped them back into the sockets. It really wasn't easy and I figured If I failed I would wreck them and then go find a 71-72 version. But I got lucky and the 73s are on my 72

You can't really tell other then the lights look slightly dim because the bulb is set further back in the running lights housing.

For me it was a one off type thing I know you rebuild harnesses I don't know how cost effective it would be to do it for every single socket you come across.

 
73H code, this is the kind of detailed information that you cannot get anywhere else for our cars. Thank you for sharing, and awsome effort on getting it to work. One question, have you ever tried the LED lights in place of the incandescent? I ask because you mentioned that yours are slightly dimmer due to deeper set sockets and also because i bought some LED lights to replace the tails lights in my 72. I figured brighter would be better, and lower power drain is always better in our cars! Though i havent installed them yet because i can figure which way to twist the sockets to get them out of the white plastic housings in the trunk, and then i started to think that they have been in ther working for 40 yrs, maybe i should leave them in place heh heh

 
Well, today I disassembled a light socket. The metal tabs that the bulbs fit against are simply a press-fit into the hole. You can grab one (on the sides) with a needle nose pliers and pull it straight out. What's left down at the very bottom is the standard pin used elsewhere on the wiring harness: a pin with a small locking tab. It's a bitch to detent the locking tab, but once you do, the pin pulls right out of the socket. The metal insert that was pulled out with the needle-nose pliers simply rubs against the pin.

Woohoo! I can now repair these suckers!

 
So i just pull the socket straight back to remove from the white plastic reflector assembly?
To hard to pull straight out

Tilt / pull one side of the socket

and work it out

 
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