light problems
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2013
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From: Odessa
light problems
So I have replaced the switch twice now and each time my headlight switch will work fine for about 3 months and then the running light will not come on anymore when the headlights are on. Any of y'all have this problem?
i ain't rite
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 65,554
Likes: 5,590
From: Marlboro Mental Hospital.
nope. go to napa and they should have them in stock. cut the old one off as close to the switch as you can to have good wires, then just crimp connector or solder the wires together and shrink wrap or tape them.
i prefer solder and shrink wrap tubing, and i also put relays in line powering the headlights direct from the battery, using the switch wire to trigger the relay.
the big problem is that the headlights pull rite around the amount of current the switch and connection can safely supply. if you add on lights, and use the high beams you overheat the socket and burn it and the switch up.
i prefer solder and shrink wrap tubing, and i also put relays in line powering the headlights direct from the battery, using the switch wire to trigger the relay.
the big problem is that the headlights pull rite around the amount of current the switch and connection can safely supply. if you add on lights, and use the high beams you overheat the socket and burn it and the switch up.
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2013
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From: Odessa
i have tried both and still nothing i can get it to work kind of with the old switch. i cant get to work at all with the new switch.new pig tail is in the truck now the old one fell apart when i dropped it.
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From: Odessa
im gonna buy another switch the one i have is about 3 months old so im thinking maybe it has burnt as well. but if i cant get that to work has anyone tried to run an override with a switch to turn the lights on and off?
Lead Driver
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 8,476
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From: Madison, WI
What do you mean by an "override"? If you're thinking about wiring in some other switch, you're just moving the problem. You'd have to fab a pigtail for that switch, and you'd have to incorporate the dash light dimmer, the parking and headlights, and the dome light.
The problem you're encountering is from the god-awful design of running the full current of the headlights through the switch. Do you by any chance have non-stock headlights that draw more power than stock? In any event, the solution is to off-load that current to a set of relays. You can buy a plug-and-play harness for this; you plug one headlight connector into the harness, plug the connectors on the new harness into the headlights, connect the grounds to an existing ground screw, and Bob's your uncle. Or you can build your own harness. The better quality ones not only off-load the current from the switch, making it much safer and no longer susceptible to problems like you're having, but with heavy-duty relays and larger-gauge wires and good quality connectors, they allow a higher voltage to get to the lights themselves, so they throw more light down the road.
The problem you're encountering is from the god-awful design of running the full current of the headlights through the switch. Do you by any chance have non-stock headlights that draw more power than stock? In any event, the solution is to off-load that current to a set of relays. You can buy a plug-and-play harness for this; you plug one headlight connector into the harness, plug the connectors on the new harness into the headlights, connect the grounds to an existing ground screw, and Bob's your uncle. Or you can build your own harness. The better quality ones not only off-load the current from the switch, making it much safer and no longer susceptible to problems like you're having, but with heavy-duty relays and larger-gauge wires and good quality connectors, they allow a higher voltage to get to the lights themselves, so they throw more light down the road.
i ain't rite
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 65,554
Likes: 5,590
From: Marlboro Mental Hospital.
i use relays out under the hood. run power from the batteries direct to the relay, then to the headlight.
then take the headlight wire coming from the switch to trigger the relay.
this turns the dash switch from a high current circuit into a low current circuit.
then take the headlight wire coming from the switch to trigger the relay.
this turns the dash switch from a high current circuit into a low current circuit.
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From: Odessa
What I was thinking was to make it to where the headlights and running lights are always on. And to control them with a simple switch not the bigger switch I don't ever dim my dash lights so I was thinking about trying to bypass the stock switch/dimmer all together
