Michael, There are very few fuses in your Hornet. Most likely it's a relay that has tripped. Frayed wires are a big problem with old Hudsons as the insulation falls off the wiring and causes grounding problems Worst case-fire. If possible do yourself a favor and get a new wiring harness. Most likely there may be other frayed/grounded wires as well. The relays you need to check are 1) on the headlight switch itself, 2) on the reinforcement bracket behind the gauge cluster.

Michael, you probably are disconnecting your battery whenever you're finished driving your car for the day. But if not, I'd suggest you do!

New wiring harnesses are quite expensive, and if you don't have the funds, you may want to consider re-wiring the car yourself -- bit by bit. The critical places to check (besides visually, under the hood and dashboard) would be at the places where wires pass through openings in metal. Here, the rubber grommets wear out, exposing the wires to the sharp edges of metal which then slice through the insulation and bare the wire, and it shorts out on adjacent wiring or the body itself. Do take some some to carefully examine these points and, at the very least, get in there with some electrical tape to temporarily cover any bare wire.

Yup, this 'fuse thing' (Circuit Breaker) behind the gage cluster is a bi-metallic strip that simply bends and dis-connects if it gets too hot. It'll reset in a few minutes but hang on 'cause i't's gonna do it again. My Hornet would do it at night with the high beams on but not with low so that might get ya home, but memorize the road ahead so you can pull over and get stopped.

Hey, these things are 50 years old, and you can't carry the current you used to can ya?

You can fix it by running the wires to relays on the cowl that feed the lights directly from the 'battry' then all your switches and circuit breaker is doing is carrying low amperage.

First of all, thank you for the responses. I do have a quick disconnect on the battery making it easy to cut power to the car. I am not sure if I made it clear in my first post but all of my exterior lights are working, headlights, reverse lights, turn-signals, etc. it is all of the internal lights that went out. I hope to be able to update you all next weekend after I have a chance to work on it again. Thanks.

Michael, check around the glove box area. I think the factory interior light circuit powers up in that area from a one into 2 bakelite connector pig-tail coming off the light switch. That is a beautiful, well kept car ! I hope you are reconsidering selling it. If not, someone will get a good one!!!!

[quote="Doug Wildrick" post=9532]Michael, check around the glove box area. I think the factory interior light circuit powers up in that area from a one into 2 bakelite connector pig-tail coming off the light switch. That is a beautiful, well kept car ! I hope you are reconsidering selling it. If not, someone will get a good one!!!!

Thank you Doug. It means a lot coming from you. The good news is that I am getting to know my neighbors and one of them is an ex-mechanic classic car enthusiast. He has been helping me track down my electrical problem. My greatest frustration with the Hudson is that I feel like I cant maintain it in the way it deserves to be. Having a neighbor with some experience is a good start. The critical missing piece that I am still looking for is a local good mechanic to do the work on the Hudson that I can trust. It has been a frustrating search. Thanks again.

Michael,

I replaced my wiring harness for my 1950 and it was the best investment for the car and for safety. I never had a problem since (and I run 6 volt), I added some accessories such as back up lamp, electric fuel pump, spotlight, fog lamps). There are 2 circuit breakers usually. One behind the steering column and usually one on the light switch. That takes care of most everything if there's an overload. THere are inline fuses for the radio and the heater fan as well as the light switch (I believe, from memory -- I think those are usually 14 A fuses). Good luck! (where is your location BTW?)

[quote="Michael Sandberg" post=9530]First of all, thank you for the responses. I do have a quick disconnect on the battery making it easy to cut power to the car. I am not sure if I made it clear in my first post but all of my exterior lights are working, headlights, reverse lights, turn-signals, etc. it is all of the internal lights that went out. I hope to be able to update you all next weekend after I have a chance to work on it again. Thanks.

It sounds like the dimmer part of your headlight switch needs to be cleaned. I don't remember if you have a separate dimmer on the dash.

[quote="Tim Hubler -- West Richland WA" post=9540] (where is your location BTW?)

South East Minnesota. Byron MN to be more specific

Michael, I am a bit confused, is it he interior lightslike the dome light or is it the dash / instrament lights? If it is the dsh lights check
the reostat switch under the dash (right of collum) that controls them. It is a rotary resistor style switch and can lose contact. Try twisting it back and forth to see if it helps. Further check with a test light see if there is power to the switch. It would odd that all bulbs would blow at once.

[quote="Jim Spencer" post=9555]Michael, I am a bit confused, is it he interior lightslike the dome light or is it the dash / instrament lights? If it is the dsh lights check
the reostat switch under the dash (right of collum) that controls them. It is a rotary resistor style switch and can lose contact. Try twisting it back and forth to see if it helps. Further check with a test light see if there is power to the switch. It would odd that all bulbs would blow at once.

Sorry for the continued confusion. The door lights are not working (lights on the door jamb that turn on when the door is open); the front dome light that is operated by a switch on the light and the rear dome lights which are operated by a switch on the passenger side door column; and the dials on dash, speedometer, clock. Interestingly enough the trouble lights on the dash work.

Michael,

You have access, so go look at the wiring diagram for 52 models posted in the library under ALex Burr literature. When I look at that, it seems everything is tied back into the lighting switch. Actually, from there, the electrical feed comes from the light switch auxilliary circuit breaker, the one under the dash near steering column. That is not the best scanned copy, but someone has posted ones with better resolution on here. The other issue is there are several points at which a connection may have come loose, even including a ground. Check all you switches and connectors. In the end, you'll best be served by spending the money and time to replace the wiring harness in my opinion.

THere is a switch on the passenger side B pillar that turns the rear top courtesy lamps on/off. check that out for those lamps.If the contacts become corroded, they lights won't work. Similar for the courtesu door lamps in the pillars.

Good luck!

Michael.

From what you said originally, it seems like all of these lights were working before something caused them to stop working, maybe grounding of the frayed wire you found. If the cause was the grounding of the frayed wire, then supplying electricity to the frayed wire should cause all of the lights to work again. You could try attaching a wire to the live terminal of the battery, and then briefly rub the other end of the wire on the bare part of the frayed wire. If you don't get a big spark, attach it more securely and try the various lights. I also share the opinion that you should not jump quickly into installing a new wire harness, and instead search for spots where broken insulation could cause a wire to ground, and tape these spots. In addition, the metal in wires rarely causes a problem. It is corroded connections at terminals, and inside electrical devices that typically cause lights to not work or to be dim. If you take apart and shine up switches, terminals, and circuit breakers (or replace them), your system should work well. At that time you could make a decision about replacing some or all of the wiring.

Per

Tim, you might have pinpointed where it is bad at. He said the interior courtesy lights worked ,correct?. I would look where it picks up power at the split. The door switch circuit probably has no power but the "B" pillar sw.works. This would mean the circuit breaker is working and not cycling,the door sw. has just come unplugged or become open now? It could have arced, then moved to a neutral place, and not touching?, .Just a guess, Disconnect the batt., Being real careful not to pull the wires out too far, pop the pass.side door sw.out-[easily done with a pocket knife]- and look to see if both wires are plugged in. look at the wire condition, then without letting the loose door switch touch ground, hook up the battery ,take your simple test light and check to see if there is power ?.. Michael, you can do this,, it is very simple . A light use test light is less than 9.00 at the auto parts places.--Import

[quote="Tim Hubler -- West Richland WA" post=9560]Michael,

You have access, so go look at the wiring diagram for 52 models posted in the library under ALex Burr literature. When I look at that, it seems everything is tied back into the lighting switch. Actually, from there, the electrical feed comes from the light switch auxilliary circuit breaker, the one under the dash near steering column. That is not the best scanned copy, but someone has posted ones with better resolution on here. The other issue is there are several points at which a connection may have come loose, even including a ground. Check all you switches and connectors. In the end, you'll best be served by spending the money and time to replace the wiring harness in my opinion.

THere is a switch on the passenger side B pillar that turns the rear top courtesy lamps on/off. check that out for those lamps.If the contacts become corroded, they lights won't work. Similar for the courtesu door lamps in the pillars.

Good luck!