Went to drive home from work, went to turn the lights on and everything came on except the headlights, fog lights are ok. Yesterday I had the same problem only they came on after going down the road a mile. I'll start checking fuses in the morning but was wondering if this was a common problem or not.

Thanks for your help!

 

It's probably the headlight switch making poor contact due to age or corrosion. Replace it and you should be fine.

 

Is this a dealer only part or can I get it at any part store?

 

I'll take a guess that Napa or a similar parts place would have a replacement. Ford probably used the same switch on all F-series trucks so it should be a common part.

 

After making a few phone calls and running a few errands I noticed that the starter sounded a little different. Checked the voltage and was only seeing 11.4 volts. Had the parts jockey check the alternator on the machine and confirmed what I had suspected this afternoon, the alternator was bad. $180 bucks later my headlights worked again, I just wish it had died some where other than autozone. They had the alternator there so I guess that was a good thing.....

Autozone said the Alt was 110amp, is that correct??

Thanks again for all the input.

 

In retrospect I should have checked my voltages first thing. Man, am I dense or what?! The whole thing certainly looked like the switch though, I wonder why all the other lights came on but the headlights? The truck never had a warning light or a single instance of slow start till this afternoon. Any idea's?