Pulsating headlights

[nebill49]

Well, my trusty Dodge Stratus flamed out on me, so while it's in the shop getting a new head and timing belt, my only transportation is my '69 Swepty. This is the first time I've driven the old girl at night, and I noticed that the intensity of the headlights would rhythmically go up and down as I was driving. I don't believe it to be alternator involved, as the intensity fluctuation was consistent, no matter what the engine speed was. Of course, the ammeter needle goes from not charging to charging and back in line with the pulsating. I'm thinking my voltage regulator is about to crash, any thoughts??

[WD]

My 69 did the same thing. Ran a 10 or 12 gauge wire from the battery to the core support and they worked like modern headlights. Had to do the tail lights right after that, separate ground wires from the back of the bucket run directly to the battery. The wiring in a 43 year old truck isn't the best it can be anymore, and Sweptlines have a lot of corrosion issues on top of that.

A jumper ground is quick, easy and cheap. Worth a try.

[michaelg]

My '69 is doing the same thing.

WD. How did you run the ground wires? From the battery to the head lights?

[Oldguy]

Fixed the head lights on my 66 by running a separate ground from the battery to the radiator support as already stated. The bat cable already had a wire coming off of it so just crimped on a short section with a large ring terminal and put it under one of the radiator bolts. Worked great. Mike

[michaelg]

Thanks, after reading the first direction, pretty clear. Too many cobwebs this morning.

[nebill49]

Cool, I'll be trying that on Tuesday when I get home! Thanks!!

[theregularguy]

a ground is the biggest part of wiring. if you have hardly any grounds add a bigger gauge wires were it needs it. fire wall to back of block. block to frame. frame to battery. pretty much makes it a loop. replace all the power wires with bigger gauge wire also. anything will help with these old dodges. my dodge did the same thing the last time i drove it. about 10 years ago. did what i suggested and what a difference it made. starting lighting. anything the charging system would do. it helped like a ton!