Help with headlights
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Help with headlights
I have a 85 F350. The other day I noticed when I turned my headlights on, that they didn't come on. The clearance/marker/taillights came on, but my headlights didn't. Once I put on my parking brake, everything came on and worked fine for the next few days. Yesterday it did it again. Everything comes on except the headlights. I thought it was my switch, so I bought a new one from autozone. No luck, same exact problem. I'm not sure if I have a loose wire somewhere, or if my new switch I bought is bad too. I tried to trace my wiring, but it looks like a birds nest. Any suggestions would be great
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Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Northeast, OK
The way the headlights are wired puts all of the current through the switch, and frequently fries the wiring. So replacing the switch won't solve that problem. You need to take a really close look at the wires going into the switch for melted insulation, shorts, etc. I believe a pig-tail is available to replace your wiring, but even if you do that you should seriously consider installing the headlight relay kit that many of the vendors carry. When you do that the only current the switch carries is the very small current needed to pull the relays in, so the wiring nor switch should go bad again. Plus your lights will be brighter.
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Ok, I appreciate the help. Minor familiar with the "pig tail". So is that the name of it? If I go to a parts store and ask for a pig tail, will they know what I'm talking about? Also, is it easy to rewire the pigtail? I'm hoping its a quick "plug & go".
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From: Virginia
Wait a minute. Get down in the floor and fiddle with the high/low dimmer switch. They have a habit of going bad and getting corroded connections down in the floor area. The power from the headlight switch heads down to that switch, and then the switch selects high or low bulb circuits.
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Franklin, I replaced my high/low beam switch a few months ago, but I know the wiring (I think it's 3 wires) that connects to the switch isn't the greatest. It has to be a short somewhere, I just don't know how to find it
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