I replaced one 'burned' switch & connector on my '94 Aero when the lights stopped working years ago. The new no name switch kept tripping the thermal cut off. I took it apart & rigged it to stay on. It's done fine since but I'm sensitive to any heat in the headlight switch.

My 'new' '97 headlight switch is original I believe & gets really hot, more than my replaced '94's switch does now. The metal switch shaft will about burn me. It needs my attention as soon as possible. I know some people here say it's good to add in relays to remove the headlight 'load' from the switch itself. That makes good sense & is the way many or most cars are designed.. But check this out:

I recently left the parking lights on (no headlights!) by mistake when I parked the van for an hour and a half. When I got back the switch shaft was wayyy hot.

I've long thought the CAUSE of the Ford switch heat was the built in dashboard light resistor. when i turn dash lights either to full brightness (no resistance used) or full off (no resistance used) the switch shaft always cools down, even on this '97. yeah, it could just be bad connections in the parking light circuit, but I feel like it's the dumb, in-the-switch resistance coil used to dim the dash lights.

I never at night want my dash lights at full brightness. I usually have them at about 50% I'd guess, even less on long dark highways. Due to this potentially dangerous/bad design I sometimes have to turn the dash lights off on the highway to let the switch cool down. I'd like to find a remote or universal dimmer control to mount in a cooler place and see if that helps this switch heating problem.

Ford USA has held on so long to some of these last vestiges of the infamous Ford-in-the-USA's electrical problems that I think may've began in the 1960s or 1970s if not earlier. The Euro Fords have long had pretty decent electical systems, not sharing any parts with the USA Ford's systems which used to be known for having problems (or so I heard).

I know Ford has long been a bargain brand but I hope they can put a little more quality into these few areas where they're cheap to a fault. Of course my vans are 10 years old or more, so surely Ford has replaced some of these older designed part by NOW haven't they??? What say you wise people out there??

 

Don't hold your breath about seeing better parts in the newer cars, just different. They will always do what's necessary to cut costs, so don't count on them to put in any more margins than they can get away with.

A lot of the newer cars I've driven have electronically controlled interior lighting, so that nothing gets turned on/off directly by a switch or relay anymore. Note that many dome lights will fade to black, indicating some kind of electronic dimmer being used. Hopefully they did something similar with instrument panel lights to replace the rheostat design.

If you haven't installed relays in your headlight circuits yet, you should as soon as possible. The 92 and newer vans use the H9007 bulbs, which I think has a higher powered filament for the low beams than the old sealed beam lights. It is still the greatest current draw of any of the circuits that the headlight switch assembly controls. The relays will also take the load off of your multi function dimmer switch in your steering column.

 

XLT4, I like your bit of sound advice. Do you have or can post any links for a diagram or illustration, to use for the correct type (rating) of relay to use, and how to mount or install them in the wiring system?

Many thanks in advance if you can do this at your convenience.

 

While you could build your own relay, a kit like this is really the best way to go. Installation is fast and easy, and the fit is very professional. When you use these, you don't need to cut or splice any factory wiring, and replacing parts is easy if something should ever happen to those relays.

http://www.gosracing.com/fd_acc

This is the kit I installed in mine, and in addition to preventing the switch from melting and overloading, it actually made the headlights notably brighter.

 

Thank Y'all. Keep the ideas coming.

 

Ed, Handyman,

I'm sorry but I have never made any diagrams of this, so I can't easily show you what I did. I tried posting pictures to this forum before, but was unsuccessful. I'll try to put some pictured in my site soon.

The part that Bear River referenced would be an excellent choice for anyone who wants this type of protection and upgrade without the hassle of shopping for all the parts and cutting and splicing wires. (Although, I think your local Radio Shack has the relays, fuse holders, wires, and all the other little knick knacks you'll need to make your own harness.)

The first time I did this, I did make it easily reversible. I found a connector set in the harness that made the connection between the switches and the headlights (and other circuits). I went to the salvage yard and found the exact same connector set, and made a jumper for all the wires except for the head light circuits. I connected the wires from the switches to the relay coils, and the wires going to the headlights to the relay contacts. So the sources for the relay contacts were from the battery, through fuses, using 10 gauge wires. This set up could be easily removed from the circuit by simply taking out the "jumper", and reconnecting the original connector set. But I eventually had to change it again when I switched to HID lights, so it's no longer reversible.

 

How does this relay kit work does it use the wires that feed the headlights now as the trigger for the relay coil?

Then the switching contacts of the relay go to the battery the other side of the contact goes to the lights?

Also what about the high beams does this kit cover that too?

 

Yeah, its really cool, you just plug one of the original headlight plugs into the socket on the kit, and then plug the two new plugs in the kit into the headlights. There is one relay for the high beams, and one for the low, and they get their power directly from the battery. So they use the original headlight circuit as a trigger only.

 

Nice I always thought it required splicing behind the switch and then running wires back through the firewall.

I will definately do this now.

 

Yeah that's the thing to do! I could wire it my self but I'll just get the kit. Thanks Bear River for the link. If it helps save the combination switch thats even more valuable than the cheaper headlight switch. Way to go!

 

makes your headlights brighter also
double bonus points

 

dang people are really going to hate me now... 80w reg lights WITH relays? lol i see some hella bright lights in my near future

 

DCRB,

If you're using 80/100W lights in your van now with the stock wiring, you're lucky that you haven't yet set your light switch on fire. Also, I would stay away from any light bulbs that have been dipped in blue paint. (Whether you call it ion crystal or cyberwhite, it's all dipped in a colorant, and it's detrimental to visivility.)

 

Yeah, for the highly touted blue or white lights are detrimental to visibility. Its funny, Sylvania claims that their silverstar bulbs are so much brighter. True be told, they are, but a lot of the light gets filtered out, so they are about the same brightness as regular bulbs. They just look brighter. Regular halogens are much safer, and don't blind oncoming traffic as badly. The yellow light spectrum allows the eyes to adjust properly, and doesn't flood the retina.

 

A few years ago the headlight switch went dead on my 1994 Aerostar. I bought a switch from NAPA and noticed immediately that the switch was very hot. Made me nervous but the lights worked. Less than a year later the new switch died. This time I went to see my friend at the Ford dealer. He sold me a new headlight switch but told me to make sure the connections on the plug are tight to the terminals on the switch. I cleaned up a few of the connections that looked burnt and then I used a pair of needlenose pliers to close the gaps on the female terminals in the plug. Maybe I closed the gaps too much as it took alot of effort to put the plug back on the switch. But it's now been 3 years and the Ford switch is still working great and there's no heat coming from it.