Pete,
Frank's points are very likely possibilities from the symtoms you describe.
The red wires are the parking and dash light circuits so I would also check
at the front and rear parking lamps to see if one of the contacts became
grounded. Typically the connections at the lights themselves are little
bullet connectors with a bare wire running down the center and folded over
the end and slipped into the connection at the bulb. It's possible for them
to slip out if not installed correctly, and short out. I usually solder
these. There is also a small slide switch at the bottom edge of the dash
that is used to turn off the dash lights. This switch has two small screw
terminals that hold two red wires. These are another potential location for
shorts of the wires are not carefully and securely installed.
Gerard
At 10:17 PM -0400 10/10/01, HealeyBN4@aol.com wrote:
>I am new to the Spridget list, but have a Big Healey and a Jaguar MK2.
>
>I recently bought my wife a totally restored 59 Sprite. On our maiden
>voyage, the car died. We were driving at night and I notice that we "lost"
>the rear tail lights first. The brake lights and directional signals worked
>fine. Then as we stopped for gas there was smoke coming from under the dash.
> The car started fine and we started home and she died after about 2 miles.
>We had plenty of battery, but the starter would not turn fast enough to try
>and start. We towed the car home and when I checked under the dash the
>double red wires going to the combination ignition/light switch was melted.
>The wiring harness was new with a 1998 restoration. I did notice earlier,
>that when I turned off the lights, the ignition would stop.
>
>Any ideas? Do you think that the combination ignition/light switch sorted on
>and needs to be replaced, which caused the wiring to melt? Any suggestions
>and advise would be appreciated. Thanks, Cheers, Pete Sturtevant
>
>******************************************************************************
>
>********************
>Pete Sturtevant - Massachusetts, USA
>1957 Austin Healey 100-6 BN4 1966 Mustang GT
>1964 Jaguar MK2 3.4 1966 Mustang Convertible
>
>1959 AH Frogeye Sprite (Cindy's)
>
>HealeyBN4@aol.com
>http://members.aol.com/healeybn4/ <A
>HREF="http://members.aol.com/healeybn4/";>My Webpage</A>
>******************************************************************************
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