Park Lights "On" With Headlights

[Wildaugust]

There was a thread on here not too long ago where some of us were discussing the way the Park Lights on pre-'69 cars and trucks were wired. The fact that the Park lights turn "off" when the Headlight switch is pulled all of the way out to the Headlights "on" position, was mentioned.

This got me thinking. My other project is a '69 F-100 and it just happens to be wired that way too. The Park lights turn "on" when the switch is pulled out to the first click, but then turn "off" when the switch is pulled all of the way out to the Headlights "on" position. I started thinking of a way to keep the Park lights on with the Headlights and I came up with this idea. I suppose there are other people who have done this, but I haven't seen it. The only suggestions that I found recommended just using a jumper wire on the rear of the Headlight Switch Connector, between the Headlight terminal and the Park light terminal.

Obviously, jumping the Headlight terminal to the Park light terminal at the switch would keep the Park lights on with the headlights. However, to my way of thinking, it would also allow electricity to flow in the other direction, meaning power would be flowing to the headlights while the switch is in the Park light position. This wouldn't be good IMO, because the headlights would be getting power when the switch is pulled out to the first click. Power would be flowing to the headlights through the Park light terminal, possibly overloading that part of the Headlight Switch. The entire load would be on the Park light circuit, including the fuse for the Park lights, possibly blowing it as well.

In order to prevent this situation, you could use a relay to "jump" the two circuits. This way the Park lights could remain on with the headlights, but the headlights would still be isolated from the Park lights when the switch is only pulled to the first click. Also, if the relay were to fail, the Headlights and Park lights should still work the way they always did. If you are already using Headlight Relays, this should work without any issues. If you don't have Headlight Relays, the extra load of the Park lights, approximately 2 Amps, will be added to your Headlight circuit. This extra load could be enough to make the circuit breaker in your Headlight Switch cycle on and off. If that happens you will need to use Headlight Relays in order to use this idea.

Here's the idea that I came up with for my truck. This circuit should work with most classic cars and trucks where the Park lights turn "off" when the Headlights are turned "on". It likely will not work if your car has side Marker lights at the front.



I thought I'd share my idea in case it may help someone wanting to do this, or just be of interest.

 

[300rag]

Another option is to interconnect the front park lights with the tail lights, since they are on in either position..

 

[67Monaco]

I would think you want to wire the relay to feed power from the battery not the headlight wiring or switch. That would prevent the back feed. Leave 86 where it is but run a new feed from batt+ to 30. It would also prevent overloading the original circuit to blowing fuses all the time.

 

[Badvert65]

I believe that the "park light off with headlight" lighting is accomplished in the headlight switch. Simply swapping to a newer switch will make things more 'normal'.

 

[mr. fix it]

Nicely laid out! Thanks for sharing!

 

[commando1]

Why do we want to keep the parking lites on when the headlites are on?

I ask the questions others only think.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Why do we want to keep the parking lites on when the headlites are on?

I ask the questions others only think.

Looks cool.


They probably changed it to make it clearer that the indicator was blinking.

There are now cars that turn off the headlight on one side when the turn indicators are on.


Alan

 

[commando1]

Looks cool.
Alan

That's the reason I was afraid of.

 

[Wildaugust]

I would think you want to wire the relay to feed power from the battery not the headlight wiring or switch. That would prevent the back feed. Leave 86 where it is but run a new feed from batt+ to 30. It would also prevent overloading the original circuit to blowing fuses all the time.

Yes, it could be done that way and it would probably be the best way of doing it if you're not already using headlight relays. The Headlight Switch would be fully capable of supplying power to the two Park light bulbs by themselves if you are using Headlight Relays.

I was looking for an alternative to just jumping the wires on the back of the switch, as was suggested on another site. Here is the way you suggested and definitely the way to go if you're not using Headlight Relays. It just involves running one more wire and a fuse. I plan on doing this in a Ford, but it should work in pretty well any car from that era. In some makes of cars the Park lights are on a different fuse than the Tail lights, so interconnecting them could possibly overload a fuse. With some cars or trucks you may not be able to find a switch from a later model that would fit in the dash and look right.

Here the Park lights are fed from the battery.

 

[commando1]

If you made that circuit drawing, I'd be interested in what software you use.

 

[Wildaugust]

Why do we want to keep the parking lites on when the headlites are on?

I ask the questions others only think.

Well, on the site where I saw the suggestion for using a jumper wire, they were touting it as added safety. Truthfully, I doubt if it makes much difference. Honestly, I think the main reason for doing it is just to add "that personal touch", so that your car/truck has something different from the next guy's ride, which is probably the reason for 90% of custom accessories and tricks anyway.

 

[Wildaugust]

If you made that circuit drawing, I'd be interested in what software you use.

Stan, it's just "Paint" on the computer. The background is scanned. I scanned and saved some different colors for backgrounds. I just choose a color for my background and then choose the colors for lines, circles and text. Then I draw it. It works quite well for a simple drawing like this, but it would take too long to do something more complicated. I have a CAD program now, but I'm still trying to figure out how to use it.

 

[commando1]

Nice. Looks like a dedicated program. Good job. Clean, simple, and understandable.

 

[BJS racing]

Or you could go to the head light switch and remove the park light wire from the P terminal of the switch and tie it into the tail light wire on the R terminal. That would be much more simple than adding in a relay for what you are looking at doing.

 

[thrashingcows]

I know I don't particularly like thelook of the park lights going off when the headlights come on. Having them stay on all the time is on my long "to do" list.

 

[300rag]

Another option is to interconnect the front park lights with the tail lights, since they are on in either position..

Or you could go to the head light switch and remove the park light wire from the P terminal of the switch and tie it into the tail light wire on the R terminal. That would be much more simple than adding in a relay for what you are looking at doing.

Pretty much my intent, just not worded as eloquently. :beermug:

 

[rumpfox]

why not just replace the relay with a dieod very simple. don't over think this as ofen happens with electrical stuff.

 

[commando1]

why not just replace the relay with a dieod very simple. don't over think this as ofen happens with electrical stuff.

Been a million years since EE101 but aren't diodes only good for AC?

 

[BigCRig]

There was a thread on here not too long ago where some of us were discussing the way the Park Lights on pre-'69 cars and trucks were wired. The fact that the Park lights turn "off" when the Headlight switch is pulled all of the way out to the Headlights "on" position, was mentioned.

This got me thinking. My other project is a '69 F-100 and it just happens to be wired that way too. The Park lights turn "on" when the switch is pulled out to the first click, but then turn "off" when the switch is pulled all of the way out to the Headlights "on" position. I started thinking of a way to keep the Park lights on with the Headlights and I came up with this idea. I suppose there are other people who have done this, but I haven't seen it. The only suggestions that I found recommended just using a jumper wire on the rear of the Headlight Switch Connector, between the Headlight terminal and the Park light terminal.

Obviously, jumping the Headlight terminal to the Park light terminal at the switch would keep the Park lights on with the headlights. However, to my way of thinking, it would also allow electricity to flow in the other direction, meaning power would be flowing to the headlights while the switch is in the Park light position. This wouldn't be good IMO, because the headlights would be getting power when the switch is pulled out to the first click. Power would be flowing to the headlights through the Park light terminal, possibly overloading that part of the Headlight Switch. The entire load would be on the Park light circuit, including the fuse for the Park lights, possibly blowing it as well.

In order to prevent this situation, you could use a relay to "jump" the two circuits. This way the Park lights could remain on with the headlights, but the headlights would still be isolated from the Park lights when the switch is only pulled to the first click. Also, if the relay were to fail, the Headlights and Park lights should still work the way they always did. If you are already using Headlight Relays, this should work without any issues. If you don't have Headlight Relays, the extra load of the Park lights, approximately 2 Amps, will be added to your Headlight circuit. This extra load could be enough to make the circuit breaker in your Headlight Switch cycle on and off. If that happens you will need to use Headlight Relays in order to use this idea.

Here's the idea that I came up with for my truck. This circuit should work with most classic cars and trucks where the Park lights turn "off" when the Headlights are turned "on". It likely will not work if your car has side Marker lights at the front.

View attachment 52871

I thought I'd share my idea in case it may help someone wanting to do this, or just be of interest.

for your 69 F-100, there is a tech article on "FORDIFICATION",on how to keep the park lights on with your headlights, apparently, it's a desirable setup, and you may not be the "first on your block" to have done it.

 

[300rag]

Been a million years since EE101 but aren't diodes only good for AC?

Diodes are DC use as well. Think LEDs, and how they are polarity sensitive. Diodes in AC "convert" it to crude DC.