I have a '72 F250 4x4 and I am having some trouble with the headlights. I have owned this truck for about 3 months and the guy that I bought it from had tampered with all the wiring on it. I was driving along and hit a bump then the lights for the gauge panel (which never worked before) came on. Right after that the headlights and all of the driving lights started flickering and making a poping noise around the switch. I replaced the switch and it still does the exact same thing. If you turn on the dome lamp when the headlights are on, it will flicker too. Could this be a possible short in the hot wire? No fuses ever burn up when this happens.

Please Help!!
Jordan

 

Don't know about the popping noise (you'll have to pull the cluster and look for bare/cracked wires) but the flickering is probably a bad voltage regulator.

mike

 

Since you have replaced the switch that pretty much removes that from the equation, but I would start looking at the plug and immediate wiring. Seems there is something loose floating around. It all centers around that switch, but since its been replaced it has to be somewhere near. It may take a wiring diagram to figure what has been crossed.

Larry

1967 F100 352/c6
1969 F100 428CJ/4 spd
1959 B model Mack
and a few hot rod FORD cars too

 

Popping and dimming lights in unison can result from a shorted wire. The popping sound is the arcing of the wire against a ground somewhere and at the same time the lights dim because of the voltage drain through the popping short. Try to determine where that popping sound is located.

 

 

>Try to determine where that popping sound is located.

Usually right next to the black burn mark in my experiences
Sorry couldnt resist

Sparky

 

How right you are Sparky. I once saw a real good one where a lightning strike came in on the feed to a building and arced in a disconnect switch.

 

You might want to check the high beam switch on the floor. I had a similiar problem, sometimes the headlights would go out too though, and that was the culprit.


https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/displaythumbnail.php?&photoid=6900&.jpg

 

go to www.powerlineman.com and look around till you find a file called "transformer failure". And I get to play with that every day.
Greg