All lighting went out

[mopardude76]

I have a '76 Duster with an early 360 and took of from a stop sign a little heavy and everything went black. Still have power to the vitals but no lights whatsoever. Before they went out they almost flashed a bright blue, almost like the voltage just shot up. Checked ground, all fuses and for any burnt or bare wires but found nothing. Any suggestions where to look next would sure be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Darthomas]

What is/was the ammeter doing ?
Only headlights died?
Radio OK?
Sounds like you lost ground on the voltage regulator and alternator went into full charge.

 

[67Dart273]

The headlights and the tail/ park/ dash lamps are COMEPLETELY separate circuits. The light switch is fed from these two separate sources. You MAY have a charging problem, and MAY have blown up your lamp bulbs. Very first thing to do is check battery running voltage

Is battery boiling / smelling when running?

 

[mguner]

Could the battery have shifted and pulled the ground from the core support?

 

[Darthomas]

Even if there's no battery this shouldn't happen. For sure on mechanical regulators, and I think it's supposed to be safe on early electronic regulators, too.

 

[440BBRAM]

Even if there's no battery this shouldn't happen. For sure on mechanical regulators, and I think it's supposed to be safe on early electronic regulators, too.

Had the same type problem. turn out to be the High beam floor switch.

 

[mopardude76]

The headlights and the tail/ park/ dash lamps are COMEPLETELY separate circuits. The light switch is fed from these two separate sources. You MAY have a charging problem, and MAY have blown up your lamp bulbs. Very first thing to do is check battery running voltage

Is battery boiling / smelling when running?

I found out that something happened in the alternator with the fields and it put out enough voltage to take out the regulator and it literally blew all the light bulbs that were on at the time. Not just burned them out but they all exploded inside the housings. Even the headlamps fell apart in pieces when I pulled the rings off to replace them. The bulbs in the dash are the only thing I haven't replaced yet, but you can hear the broken glass rattle in the gauges when I hit a little bump. Just insane. Thanks for the help.

 

[RedFish]

That sort of thing happened quite often back when 6 volt systems were tangling with 12 volt systems or simply upgrading to 12 volt systems. Most common in my experience was VW Beetles. Upgrade to 12 volt and blow every bulb.