Electrical gremlin
#1
Electrical gremlin
Once in awhile at night my headlights go out. tonight they went out four times. Just the headlights,all the instrument cluster and marker and tail lamps stay on during this gremlin. Each Time I pulled over and flashed my hazard and the Headlamps came back on within 30 secondsThe plugs on the back of each lamp passed the tug test and the grounds on the innerfender looked great.
Sounds to me like maybe my headlight switch is dying. Of course when I got home a jiggled and tugged on the switch it did not respond as planned and the light stayed on.
And one time they went out when I hit button to go to hibeam,hit the button again for lowbeam and nothing until a few seconds passed.
Something that turns off my headlight and leaves me in parking light mode,what guesses do y'all have
Sounds to me like maybe my headlight switch is dying. Of course when I got home a jiggled and tugged on the switch it did not respond as planned and the light stayed on.
And one time they went out when I hit button to go to hibeam,hit the button again for lowbeam and nothing until a few seconds passed.
Something that turns off my headlight and leaves me in parking light mode,what guesses do y'all have
Last edited by jmtbiggin; 11-27-2015 at 08:38 PM. Reason: CSS
#2
The headlight switch has a self-resetting circuit breaker that could be doing its job; you say the grounds look good, how about the connections to the headlamps themselves?
If all of that is in good shape, I would discount the possibility there's a melted wire behind the dash (tan & white I believe) as that thing overheats and melts as a result of too much heat which results from bad connections at the headlamps combined with barely-adequate wiring Ford gave us.
Instead of that, I'd focus on the dimmer switch on the floor....
If all of that is in good shape, I would discount the possibility there's a melted wire behind the dash (tan & white I believe) as that thing overheats and melts as a result of too much heat which results from bad connections at the headlamps combined with barely-adequate wiring Ford gave us.
Instead of that, I'd focus on the dimmer switch on the floor....
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Call me Mr. Vegas, but I'd be willing to bet one of your headlight bulbs is drawing too much current. As previously mentioned, the automatic circuit breaker in the headlight switch is doing its job. Take an amperage reading on the bulbs if you'd like, but I'd probably just swap them both out and see what happens.
As far as the dimmer switch, a typical failure there is pitting on the contacts creating extra resistance in series with the bulbs, and thus lower current flow. That would be the opposite of what you are experiencing if the auto CB is cycling. I'd lean first towards a faulty bulb.
Speaking of the old-school foot-operated dimmer switch on the floor, have you heard some manufacturers may be going back to that, instead of the newer style switch on the steering column? It has to do with lawsuits. Too many people were getting their foot caught in the steering wheel.
Rimshot, please!
As far as the dimmer switch, a typical failure there is pitting on the contacts creating extra resistance in series with the bulbs, and thus lower current flow. That would be the opposite of what you are experiencing if the auto CB is cycling. I'd lean first towards a faulty bulb.
Speaking of the old-school foot-operated dimmer switch on the floor, have you heard some manufacturers may be going back to that, instead of the newer style switch on the steering column? It has to do with lawsuits. Too many people were getting their foot caught in the steering wheel.
Rimshot, please!
#7
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The floor dimmer is only a pass thru switch so if the low beams go out because the main switch tripped then no hi beam either.
Now it would not hurt to check the wiring at the dimmer but my guess is if you find corrosion at the plug it will also find its way up inside the wires and this will raise the resistance and pop the breaker. They only way to find the corrosion inside the wires is to open them up.
After you find the cause of the high resistance replace the head light switch as the breaker gets weak from tripping all the time. It could be it is just weak too.
I remember a 68 Ford wagon we had that would trip the breaker only when pulling the travel trailer. Replaced the switch and never an issue again. Weak breaker in switch.
Dave ----
Now it would not hurt to check the wiring at the dimmer but my guess is if you find corrosion at the plug it will also find its way up inside the wires and this will raise the resistance and pop the breaker. They only way to find the corrosion inside the wires is to open them up.
After you find the cause of the high resistance replace the head light switch as the breaker gets weak from tripping all the time. It could be it is just weak too.
I remember a 68 Ford wagon we had that would trip the breaker only when pulling the travel trailer. Replaced the switch and never an issue again. Weak breaker in switch.
Dave ----
#13
The quick way to see the problem is perform a voltage drop test.
Ohms test won't tell much. With headlights ON place one voltmeter probe on the negative battery post and the other on the ground blade of the headlight.
Ideally you'll see Zero volts but whatever the voltage, is the amount being LOST in the corrosion and connections. 0.2 volts is the limit, same for positive side. This voltage drop will roast switches. Clean grounds and connections = Happy electrons.
Ohms test won't tell much. With headlights ON place one voltmeter probe on the negative battery post and the other on the ground blade of the headlight.
Ideally you'll see Zero volts but whatever the voltage, is the amount being LOST in the corrosion and connections. 0.2 volts is the limit, same for positive side. This voltage drop will roast switches. Clean grounds and connections = Happy electrons.
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