well I was playing with some of the wires to make sure nothing was shorting out any where! I didn't find anything but I when I went to use my wipers they didn't work either so I left them on and started wiggling wires around by the wiper motor and the wipers started working I found the ground wire that goes to the firewall was loose so I cleaned the conections and tightend it up and my headlights are working like new again! I never thought to check that ground I checked the battery, both headlight grounds but not the firewall so Thanks to all the suggestions!!!

 

According to the wiring diagrams that ground has nothing to do with the headlights. So it's also the LAST thing I would have checked. Go figure.

But as long as the lights are working thats all that matters.

Glad you found the problem & congrats on the fix.

 

That's cool,glad you got her fixed.

 

That ground should not have made a difference but if the ground from the battery to the body didn't have a good conection it just made the contact instead since it goes from the engine to the body! That is just my thoughts but I could be wrong but as soon as I tightened that ground my headlights came on! THANKS AGAIN HAVE A NICE DAY!

 

jhudall, I think you just gave an example of how 'bad grounds' can make you chase your tail. Electricity will find the way, if there is one, to flow. In your case, I guess it must have been using the 'hard way around' ground found by going through the wiper motor to run 'stuff'. In other words, the electricity to run the headlights would normally go through the switch, MF switch, headlight filament, to ground. If the ground was not so good, it would then have to double back through the fenders, to the cowl to the firewall to the wiper motor body to the ground there that was "good".
I probably have not given the actual route, but the electricity had to find a way. It can sometimes go the 'wrong way' through components, and partially 'turn them on' or make them act funny. Like the radio that comes on when you step on the brake pedal. Had that once after installing an aftermarket 4-way flasher switch. You could run the radio with the key off by pressing on the brake pedal. If you think about it, the juice to run the brake lights must (may) have flowed from the brake pedal switch, through the wires to where the 4-way was spliced in, through the 4-way to the ACC feed .. I gave up trying to figure it out w/o the schematic.
Hope this helps to describe what happens when you have bad grounds.

tom

 

Six years later this thread has saved me an incredible headache.

Thanks so much!

 

Agreed! Here it is 11 years later and I'm able to correctly diagnose a bad Multi-function switch thanks in large part to this thread. I just purchased a well used '88 Ranger 4x4 extended cab with several issues to work through. This was on my "urgent" list as I thought having working headlights might be useful. Thanks to all who posted!