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Hello everyone my recently purchased 1975 ford f250 I have some flickering issues with the headlights. It seems that they flickering after they get warm and hot especially after running the brights for a while. I replaced a headlight with a new one but they still do it. Also I cleaned the plugs for the lights they had a lot of oil grit and corrosion on them I cleaned the very well and they still do it. When they flicker they both flicker at the exact same time so its something like the alternator or voltage regulator. But the truck charges fine and it looks like the previous owner to the truck replaced the voltage regulator because it is a Napa brand one any help is appreciated? Thanks
Replace the headlight switch with a QUALITY one, not the cheapest on Amazon or the cheapest at the local parts house. The headlight switch has an internal circuit breaker and that sounds like your problem.
Do you have original sealed beam headlights or newer Halogen type headlights? If they're seald beams, then it's probably one of the things mentioned above. If they're Halogens, then they need more power than the switch can handle and you'll need to install a couple of relays to handle the extra load. You can make your own relay harness or they're sold pre-made and are plug and play so it's really eas to install. Something like this is what you'd need.
They all do the same thing, but some are shorter than others for different vehicles. Just make sure you get one that's long enough to reach both headlights. I installed one and haven't had any issues since.
Replace the headlight switch with a QUALITY one, not the cheapest on Amazon or the cheapest at the local parts house. The headlight switch has an internal circuit breaker and that sounds like your problem.
Yes that most likely my problem I notice when the brights flicker the little blue indicator light on the dash for brights flicker at the same time? Also where would you suggest I buy a quality original one I haven't bought a lot of parts for this truck yet don't know where to get the good quality parts yet?
I would highly recommend installing custom relays for the high beam and low beam circuits if you want to fully eliminate the problem for good and make it super reliable like I have done to all four of my Ford Trucks (last truck was converted relays in 2016 with my second 70 F250)....
Just by replacing a new headlight switch and new dimmer switch will not totally eliminate the flickering problem (the article link will explain why) as I have learned that with my first 70 F250, and I run larger superior grounding all interlinked together - as a new headlight switch and new dimmer switch did not eliminate the problem....
At the time before LED lighting was available, I installed a pair of 55w H3 auxiliary lighting for emergency whenever I was on the road at night driving the camper rig and they came in handy although not very bright with low visibility when the flickering and cutoff factory headlight syndrome would occur with no warning (while driving on far north roadways of Canada and Alaska with total darkness and no street lighting in rough terrain is not fun when headlights go out) - however the H3 lighting was enough to barely see and pull over to a safe turnout or trailhead of sorts in a fully loaded camper....
A Canadian trucker in Northern British Columbia admired my camper rig back in 2012 and asked me if I had any flickering problems with the headlights and I confirmed it as intermittent and 'not as bad' after replacing both the headlight and dimmer switches while adding larger ground wires to them and di-electric greased every connection and plugs....
That is when I was first aware of adding two relays to the headlight circuits (one to run low beam and one to run hi beam) as this Canadian trucker mentioned he had to resort to it, as he converted his family's 70 Ford Truck to finally eliminate the flickering problem for good.....
Once my vacation time in Canada was over and returned home, I come across this posted article after researching on the FTE forum as I certainly took note and initiated this task at hand and glad I did !!!!!!!! https://www.ford-trucks.com/articles...ghter-brights/
(The only required material I did not use was the beer as instructed in the link since I do not drink alcohol)
I went with the custom wiring my own task route since I have access to tons of automotive wiring, conduit, and welding lead wiring I use for superior grounding - although there are pre-fab relay and wiring kits available out there (for like $30 USD), as I only paid for the relays, fuse holder, and plug sockets (totalling $25 USD), however I had a lot more flexibility on how I wanted to wire everything up and where !...although it did take a bit more work.
What was real cool about the first conversion on my first 70 F250, was that I can now run BOTH low beam AND high beam circuits at the same time when I installed an added custom switch for the high beam circuit to enable it.
Adding relays to the factory headlights was the second best thing I done to my four old Ford Trucks other than installing Pertronix ignition kits !
Since running custom relays on all four of my Ford Trucks starting in 2013, I have NOT had a single problem with factory headlights flickering or going out AT ALL with all four of my rigs, not a single relay defective or any fuse blown out either !
Kept the factory headlight wiring intact on truck, then tape covered and zip tied factory headlight plug harness which will no longer be used :
Adding custom plug and wiring harness to passenger side - 14 gauge power wiring, 12 gauge ground wiring :
Custom wiring shown on new dimmer floor switch - 16 gauge circuit wiring with black 6 gauge ground wire mounted to top bolt of floor switch housing :
Factory plug shown no longer used - which I will note that the factory hi beam indicator in the dashboard speedometer area is now inactive, however I have a custom illuminated switch mounted on the lower end of the dash that I use for a hi beam indicator that I can clearly see -
Mounted a four fuse holder terminal block on fender well for the 30 amp relays :
Chose this set up in case any fuse would blow so I could immediately plug into another ready to go terminal -
(which I have yet to ever resort to doing, or had any single fuse ever blowing out on any of my four Ford Trucks to this day)
Lo beam and Hi beam 30 amp relays mounted on firewall cowl :
(which were clearly marked with touch up marker later on - Lo beam relay on right)
Now it's a 5 relay setup since the custom LED lighting was installed in Dec 2019...KC lightbar, W white driving lights, and A amber driving lights....
My 1975 F250 Ranger XLT has this exact same 5 relay setup of factory Lo and Hi beam relays, and the three LED custom lighting relays :
You will be doing your truck a huge favor with this relay upgrade ! ....hope this helps the thread starter and others when they eventually end up with this flickering or shutoff lighting problem, as three of my four trucks have had - as the fourth truck that was my most recent acquisition which did not have the flickering or shutoff problem, I installed the custom relays anyway just for good measure.
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