[DeTomaso] Need Help:)

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/8/13 9 32 6, fredhen at online.no writes:


> Now I need some good advice from you guys :)
> 
>>>You'll get some from me, although I can't guarantee how good it will be!

> >I'm no electrician but I took a chance  to change the fuse box with one
> from pantera electronics :) so far, so good.
> 
>>>Jon makes beautiful stuff!

> >but I have one problem. headlight buckets will not shut down:( ??if I 
> take
> them down manually, they come up when I turn on the lights.
> 
>>>Okay, that sounds right at least?

> >I can not remember but it also appears as if the light switches works 
> the
> opposite.  since I can not remember properly which way to turn the lights 
> on
> and which way the switch should be when they are switched off, 
> 
>>>When the switch is to the left, the buckets should be down, lights off.  
 In the center position, the buckets should be down, side and taillights 
on, headlights off.   When the switch is to the right, buckets are up and all 
lights are on.

When you move the switch from the right, back to the center, headlights 
turn off and buckets come down.   All the way to the left, all remaining lights 
turn off.

> >now the
> lights possibly are on when the switch say they are off 
> 
>>>You should be able to see the lights glowing inside the fenders, if they 
are on when the buckets are down.   However, all the outside lights should 
also be on at the same time.

> >and no lights when
> switch is on.
> 
> >>>No lights at all?   Or just no headlights, but all other lights are on?

Don't forget that the headlight switch works all the lamps, whether the 
ignition key is on or off, but the headlight buckets will only move up and down 
with the key in the 'run' position.   That is actually helpful for 
troubleshooting lighting problems, because you can raise the buckets with the key 
on, then turn the key off, and turn the light switch on and off and test the 
various lights without the buckets moving up and down.

But if you don't remember that the key has to be on to move the buckets, it 
could drive you crazy trying to figure out why the lights turn on but the 
buckets don't move. :>)

> >all help and tips receive with great thanks:)
> 
> Freddy no electrician:(
> high up in the cold north.
> still over a meter of snow: (
> 
>>>I suck at electricity too, and am grateful to have smart people living 
near me who can help me sort out issues like this when they come up for me or 
Lori.

All I can suggest is to first look at the headlight wiring diagram that 
Bill Taylor has so generously created and Mike Dailey hosts on his website, 
here:

http://www.panteraplace.com/page107.htm

The relevant diagrams are in the "D" section.   

Note that Ford changed the wiring scheme for the headlight doors very 
slightly for the last few hundred cars, of which yours is one (good thing you 
supplied your serial number) and Bill Taylor's diagram does not reflect that 
change   (perhaps Bill would be good enough to conjure up an updated addendum 
for those later-series 1974 cars?).   If you are following the earlier 
wiring diagram perfectly, that might explain some of your problems?

A brief description of the basic connections to the early relay appears in 
TSB #7.   The description of the change appears in Ford's TSB #14 (I think 
you have all of those on CD from the POCA store, right?) but when I look at 
the diagrams in TSB #14, I am very, very confused.   Ford didn't do a good 
job of explaining what the difference is between the early and late relay, nor 
do they do a good job about describing how ALL the wires are connected.   
They do describe how to bust open an early relay and convert it to the late 
style, so if you busted yours open and did the opposite (add a bridge between 
two circuits instead of removing it), that would then allow you to wire 
your car the way all the previous Panteras were wired.   

Or so it seems to be.   The Bill Taylors and John Buckmans of the world 
really need to step in here and run with this problem...I am way out of my 
depth!

Mike