This is the first time I've had to leave my car somewhere else overnight. the vehicle in question is a 1970 dodge dart. The symptom is this, little to no juice to start, when jumped idles ok, and charging system appears to function properly. If I turn on the headlights at idle the engine dies. This is a new development.

accompanying symptoms are:
-brakelights have been found to not necessarily be off when brake pedal is released.
-right hand headlamp was recently damaged extensively and bulb exploded.
-both headlamps are aftermarket suicide beams courtesy of the previous owner
-neither sidemarker light works
-it's oregon, so it's raining, a lot

I have one day (9-21-10) to fix as much as I can, I picked up a placeholder sylvania ($6) from Bimart for the right side, and will be ordering a relay kit from Dan and GE sealed beams tomorrow (9-21-10).

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-Christopher

"Gray Ghost"-1970 Dart.
"Frederick II"-1994 Geo Metro.

Out of curiosity, have you tried keeping the RPMs a little higher (above 1000 RPM) when turning the headlights on? I ask because I believe most batteries take roughly 20 minutes to recharge, and it is my understanding that at idle most of these cars run headlights primarily off the battery.

As for the brake light issue. I had the same issue. The cause for me was the brake pedal not returning fully. If this is the issue it generally means you have air in the break line and need to bleed the breaks. However, you may want to check the master cylinder reservoir cap. I found that mine was loose enough that brake fluid was spilling out, I haven't had an issue since tightening the cap.

Also, if the issue with your brake lights isn't the pedal not fully returning, then you could just adjust your brake light switch. On my '66 Dart the switch is mounted near the brake pedal, very hard to miss.

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'66 Dodge Dart

I don't have my '70 FSM handy, but if the headlights and ignition are fed from a common point, there could be a high resistance connection upstream of that point. What is the barrery voltage at idle, the alternatior output voltage at idle, the voltage at the feed side of the ballast resistor with the ignition "on", and then the ballast feed voltage with the headlights also "on"?

Ken

Check adjustment of brake light switch. It doesn’t take much to bend that bracket holding the switch out of alignment. Result; the peddle won’t make contact with the switch when at rest, and lights stay on.

Your battery may be in a state of under charge from brake light staying on. Clean the battery terminals & clamps. Give it a good charge, or drive the car for an hour during daylight so no lights are burning if you don’t have a charger. If after giving the battery a good charge, and you find it won’t hold a charge, the battery needs to be replaced.

When you get a chance, clean & remake all lighting ground connections, clean three prong connector feeding headlights, and side marker & rear lighting bulb sockets.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Thanks for all the responses, I think I can do all that, so long as the weather holds off today. I'll report back. It's gonna be a long day, my guess is I'll be wishing I had more time at the end of it.

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-Christopher

"Gray Ghost"-1970 Dart.
"Frederick II"-1994 Geo Metro.

well, i just got back, it was in fact the brake light switch, and the battery posts were a tad dirty, nothing to write home about. the sylvania is in, so i'm half legal, now just waiting on a relay kit and GE nighthawks to complete the project. thank you so much for the help.

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-Christopher

"Gray Ghost"-1970 Dart.
"Frederick II"-1994 Geo Metro.

Fred Meyer stocks the GE Nighthawk headlamps.

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Joshua

oh, well then, it's off to freddys tomorrow. the difference between the cheap sylvania and the suicide beam is huge, I can't believe I haven't gotten in a wreck before.

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-Christopher

"Gray Ghost"-1970 Dart.
"Frederick II"-1994 Geo Metro.