Hey guys how yah doing, I have a 1988 F-350 lifted with 35 inch tires. with a 460 btw.

Recently, my regular headlights have stopped working, But my high beams work? the regular lights only work when they want too, i did some tests, and found out that the switch is alright, i borrowed one from a 1989 f-150 and tested it, same problem, would you guys be able to point me in the right direction? I also know that when i have my plow lights on, the regular and high work, if that helps any. Also my brake lights and the turn signal lights work, its just the headlights.
Thanks guys.
BTW, im somewhat mechanically inclined so if you guys need to know anymore information to help out, just ask.

 

You have a problem in the low beam red-blk circuit or you have a relay problem in the plow light setup.
Don't know what plow unit/lighting system you have but it probably includes a couple relays to switch from truck lights to plow lights automatically when the plow is plugged in. The low beam relay is probably bad, switches when it wants to.
If it has them they are probably down behind the header in front of the washer fluid tank, probably wrapped up in black tape to keep them dry, but that's just a guess.

Myself I put a switch in the trigger wire so I can choose what lights I want to use when I want to use them. I use the plow lights while plowing parking lots, truck lights when running the road between lots. Plow lights tend to suck for road use.

 

The factory wiring is simple. The red/black wire goes from the main switch to a splice and to both low beams, and than to individual grounds. Since the high beams are working, the grounds are OK since they ground in the same place. You said that the switch is OK, so that pretty much lives your plow light mods/connections as the possible problem.

 

Hey guys, thanks for the reply, but my plow setup, is a meyers plow setup with a trigger to switch it from plow lights to truck lights, the high/low beams on the plow lights are switched by the same switch on the floor if that helps.


Like i said the switch is o.k. i think, but when i went to touch the switch it was hot as a mother ****er, almost as hot as a flame on a lighter, is that normal?

And what could have caused this?

 

A very hot switch means that you have a bad connection at the switch. It could also mean that there are a lot more amperes going through that switch than it was designed for. Installing some relays for the low and high beams would cure this problems and would give you brighter headlights.

 

Thanks bud, But before i go trying to make the lights better, I want it fixed first because it is my daily driver, and i have to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to drive to work, so u say that would cure the problem?
Now i know somewhat about motors, but electronics im screwed, what is a relay and how would i go about doing so?

 

Plow wiring.

I had the same problems with my '97 F350. I bought it without the plow lights, but they left the wiring in that caused the headlights not to come on. I had to completely remove the plow wiring to get it working again.

 

You say the lights work right, high and low beams if you switch to the plow lights. yea meyers plows, at least the older models, included that switch. So then I would probably suspect that switch, its switching the high beam back to the truck but not the low beam side.

And yea getting hot, really hot, in switch is a sure sign of a bad connection in it, heat is caused by the resistance the bad connection is creating. Probably find its melting the switch internally making it stick or hang up.

 

One thing you might try if its the same as the Meyer plow unit I had, the plow lighting connection is done right at the head lights.

Unplug the plows harness from the head light, unplug the trucks head light connector from the plow harness, plug the trucks head light connector back into the head light directly. Now the plow harness has been bypassed and the head lights should work right if the plow's switch/harness is the problem.
Once you've repair the plow harness you can simply plug it back in again.

 

UPDATE: The low beams on the truck dont work, the high beams on the plow dont work. I checked to see if the foot switch on the floor was lose but that seemed alright, the part that is getting hot on the switch is the ceramic circle thing, which from what I understand is supposed to get hot.

Any tips?

 

Alright, located the problem, fixed the connection to where the plow lights are hooked into the truck lights, now I have no high beams. haha. Any help there? No high beams onthe plow lights or truck lights.

 

2002 f 350 light problems Ok changed the multi function switch ,tested the light switch changed relays and fuses same problem. Disconnected every ad on . High beam light on dash always on, put on low beam looks like high beam ,put on hi beam looks like very lo beam , fog lights will work all the time (shouldn't with high beam ) my lighting problem might be just a coincides with hooking up a plow . Oh by the way when the plow is hooked up it is the same, lights go out on the truck but same high low problem on the plow.
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