1961 fuse problem I broke down

[Ron Gaal]

and went to Canadian Tire and bought fuses they don't work!
its kind of a coincidence that the brake,interior lite and dash lites go out at the same time. Please advize as to my next move. Thanks

[Rob Dame]

Re: 1961 fuse problem I broke down

I thought you were gonna break down and buy a test light. Do they share a common ground? Rob

[William C.]

Re: 1961 fuse problem I broke down

You are now back to the issue of do you have a power delivery problem between the battery and the fuseblock, or between the fuse and the feed to the switches. Knowing that (IE the test light) will start you on the next step, finding and fixing the problem. Electrical problems are primarily small steps of isolating parts of the circuit and stepping thru the isolated sections to find the problem, no easy outs, and no short-cuts.

[Ron Gaal]

Re: 1961 fuse problem I broke down

I did buy a test light but the ground cord is not long enough to reach the frame
I would not no were to begin to look for a common ground!!

[Ron Gaal]

got the interior dash lights working

the brake and tail lights still not working...to get the others to work I took the fuseout and put back in can there be abit o corrosion on thfuse block clips that hold the fuse in??

[William C.]

Re: got the interior dash lights working

Yes, that was one of the reasons for the test light.

[Rob Dame]

Re: 1961 fuse problem I broke down

Clip the end of the test light to the radio case

[William C.]

Re: got the interior dash lights working

YOu have a 5 amp and a 15 amp fuse in the lighting circuits. Clean the contacts that hold the 15 amp fuse and see where you are.

[Terry R.]

Re: 1961 fuse problem I broke down

Their is a black ground wire on one of the attaching screws for the gauge housings. Terry Robertson

[Larry S.]

Re: 1961 fuse problem I broke down

Don't get mad,or insulted.

But I think if your having troubles finding a ground for the test light you may be better served finding a vette shop to diagnose your problem and repair it,

The electrical system in our cars has grounds all over the place,and if one of the grounds are bad it will also cause problems.

When I am trouble shooting an electrical problem one of the first things I check is the grounds take them off clean them and reconnect them. then I go after the live feeds.

Also the electrical system is not protected like a new car with a fuse-able link on the main power supply. I say this because over the years I have heard many horror story's of a C1 vette burning up because of NON fused circuits getting shorts. Just recently some one sent me a link to a story of a fellow out for a drive and his engine wires started to smoke,He pulled over to see what was going on,turned the car off but left it in gear (we all do that dont we) only to have the wires burn together between power and the starter solenoid and the car was trying to start as it was cranking down the road.

You can also purchase a wiring diagram for the car to help you trace out the wires. There is a fellow named Don Olson who sells colored wiring diagrams they are real easy to follow.

Best of luck with it