Newbie electrical help please

[SCRover]

I'm so lost...on my Series IIA...initially my wipers, fuel gauge, turn signals and brake lights didn't work so I started looking in all the easy places first. It appears that the connections in the fuse box are loose so I bent the connections just a little to tighten them up (not a long term fix I know). Now all the above functions work....but when I try to turn more than one item above on at the same time...they all go out...doesn't blow a fuse or anything but I have to go back and push together the fuse connection again to get them working...does that sound screwy or what? Any ideas as to what is happening?

Thanks.

-Mark

[SafeAirOne]

The other night I spent 3 hours troubleshooting what turned out to be a poorly grounded negative battery cable. Symptoms similar to yours. Everything looked good with a meter till I put a significant load on the system, then nothing...

[albersj51]

SCrover: does the SC stand for South Carolina? If so, where in SC? I'm in Greenville.

[cgalpin]

Mark that definitely sounds like a bad ground. I'd clean and tighten all ground connections to be sure, but then clean and tighten all those other connections too.

[Terrys]

It isn't a 'bad ground', everything that runs off the two fuses has it's own ground.
It's the lousy Lucas fuse block. You're making contact on such a small portion of the end of the glass fuse, the moment you pull and current, that spot goes high resistance.
I've had more 2A series trucks than I can shake a stick at, and after 35 years of these things, I finally got smart and replace the Lucas block with a modern one which takes spade fuses, and divide up the circuits so each has it's own protection.
Here's a picture of the one I did on the '65 I'm selling.

[siiirhd88]

All of those components are normally powered via the green wire circuit off of the fuse box. A white wire coming from the ignition switch (unfused power with ignition 'on') should supply the fuse for the green circuit. A weak connection on either end of the fuse clips can cause this problem.

I too have replaced the original fuse box with an aftermarket one that uses spade type fuses.

I have had some success in the past by cleaning the fuse box connections and soldering them.

Bob
'02 Disco II SD
'80 SIII 109
'75 SIII 88 V8
'68 SIIA 109 V8

[SCRover]

Thanks all!

I think it is the fuse box because if I apply a little pressure to the fuse at the fuse box contacts...everything works as it should. I really appreciate all the help offered!!! The PO redid everything electrical (new wiring harness...the works) but looks like the fuse box was the only old part in the system. I believe it will be getting replaced.


Thanks again!!!

Albersj51...yes the SC does stand for South Carolina. I live in Anderson...work in Greenville.

-Mark