Headlights

[D.Yaros]

55 CDV w/Autronic Eye:

What kind of problem am I facing here, minor, major, what?  In going over my newest purchase yesterday, I noticed the headlights do not work.  Permit me to describe what happened.

It was day tiime, the car was in the garage with the overhead door open.  When I pull the headlight swithch out I notice the lights flash on/off.  I could hear a click from the Autronic Eye box, as I did have the hood open at the time.

I am not all familiar with Autronic Eye systems.  Does the Autronic Eye prevent the headlights from coming on in broad daylight?
Does the Autronic Eye prevent the lights from coming on because the hood is up?
Do I need to hit the floor dimmer switch or override swithch to get the lights to work?

While I do not think it is related, I should also mention I could not get the fog lights to work either.  Parking lights/turn signals work fine.

Any guidance/direction anyone can provide is appreciated.  Thanks-

[Doug Houston]

First, there should be a switch, probably with the headlight switch. This switch will turn  the Autronic eye system on or off.  You should get headlights, regardless of day or night. The "eye" system does not turn lights off at all.

On the Autronic eye system, the foot control switch does nor carry headlight current. It operates on a small relay in the black box under the hood, and somewhere in the car, there is a "power relay", which turns the lights to high or low beams. I seem to remember that the power relay is on the interior side of the firewall, near the foot switch.

The Autronic eye works thusly:  Headlights on, no oncoming lights. Your lights on High beam. Eye head on dash suddnly sees lights coming, and causes the power relay to kick your lights into  low beam. If the \approaching dude doesn't lower his lights, a gentle touch on your foot switch, and you override the eyeball, and give him your highs.

I haven't fooled with one of these things in a long time, but I seem to recall that, if you turn the Autronic system off, your foot control just operates you hi-lo beams as conventional.  The sensor head on the dash has a photomuliplier in it, which is the light pickup. The box under the hood has a high voltage power supply in it to supply the phototube, and the vacuum tubes in its circuitry. The photomultipliers should be easy to get, if yours goes bad. There is quite a little book about servicing the Autronic Eye-ball system, published by Guide Lamp Division, GMC.

Those gadgets work prtty nicely when they're working properly. The only heartburn I have with them, is that they don't dim lights soon enough to make me happy. I installed one on the first '56 Cadilllac I had, and I now have amother system to put on the '56 Cadillac I now have. Once I get  it working properly, I'll probably never use it.

One amusing thing about them: There is an amber filter in the pickup head. Thus, the phototube is most sensitive to yellow light. If the system is on and working, and you are appreoaching a flashing amber traffic light, your lights will go up-down,up-down, as the light flashes. 

[D.Yaros]

Doug,

Thanks for the info.  I shall keep it in mind when I delve into this problem further.  At least now I will know where to start looking, even if I do not know for what it is am looking!

[J. Gomez]

Dave,

The Foot Dimmer Switch has two positions, Low-beam and Automatic. When the Foot Dimmer switch is set to “Low-beam” the Autronic-Eye is disconnected from the headlamp (however it is not turn-off). The Auxiliary Foot switch functions only when the Foot Dimmer is set to Automatic.

The clicking noise you descried is from the power relay being trigger by the Autronic-Eye. The flip-flop between high and low beams could be cause by several factors the amplifier and/or phototube are too sensitive and/or out of adjustment.

One quick test set the foot dimmer switch in Automatic mode and then place a light source in front of the phototube, this should trigger the low-beam. If the clicking persist additional testing would be required.

BTW The fog lamps are wired on a separate switch that is mounted in front of the headlamp switch.

Good luck..!

[Glen]

The “flip flop” Jose mentioned could be normal when in the garage.  The reflection of the head lights from the garage wall could cause the lights to dim.  The dim lights are to weak to keep the Autronic-Eye in dim so it returns to high beam where the cycle repeats. 

To check that, put a piece of cardboard in front of the eye to block the light and see if it then stays on high beam. 

Glen

[D.Yaros]

Jose/Glen,

Thanks to  both of you for your insights.  I have yet to touch the footswitch, so that is indeed on the list.  I was also gratified to hear being in the garage could be a factor.

Unfortunately, I am in WI, and the weather here is still a bit foul.  Consequently, I am waiting for it to warm up before I tackle this situation head on.

I really did not think the fog lamps not working had anything to do with the headlight problem.  However, being new to Cads and Autronic Eye setups, never knowing, and desiring to err on the side of caution, I mentioned it.

Again guys, thanks for all the tips!

[D.Yaros]

Does anyone have the Part # for the 55 Cad headlight switch?  I do not have access to a parts manual, yet.

[J. Gomez]

Dave,

See attached file..!

[D.Yaros]

Jose,

Once again, you come through for me.  Just the info I wanted/need.  Thanks!!!

[paul]

Pul the headlights and clean the contacts. Somtimes when a car sits for many years a light oxidation can cause the low or high beams not to come on. Its a easy thing to do and dosent cost anything but a little time. Check your grounds on either side of the rad support. . 

[D.Yaros]

Well, I was able to tackle the headlight problem today, as local WI temps were in the low 70's.  I am also able to report the problem is solved.  I report the results, in the event someone may, sometime, benefit from my experience.

After reading the shop manuals I was able to garner some understanding of the function/relationship of the 2 foot switches.  This understanding resulted in being able to get hi beams in one mode when depressing the AUX switch; still nothing when the AUX swithch was released.

Remvoving the blue wire on the multi-plug inside the Autronic Eye box to disconnect it from the system (as described in the manual) yielded nada.  In fact, it left me with no lights, no matter what mode the dimmer swithch was in.

I next looked at the power relay mounted on the fender well, from where the cliking sound was emanating.  I removed each lead, one-by-one, and cleaned the the connectors on the end of each wire, and then the corresponding terminal on the power relay.  In doing so, I did note some seemed pretty corroded.

Bottom line here:  Cleaning the power relay leads and terminals made the system happy, and all is working now!