cornbreadfed Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 I have been experiencing my headlights going off while driving @ night, sometimes they just go off when driving and sometimes they go off after I turn on and off the high beams . New bulbs..not sure what's going on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru2 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 The circuit breaker is kicking out because of a too high current draw. Non-stock bulbs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbreadfed Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 I bought the car 9 yrs ago and haven't changed any myself till recently to see if it would fix the problem but it didn't. It's been happening for like a yr now. Not sure what's causing the issue. Could it be in the blinker and light switch from the column somewhere? Seems to happen more when I'm turning off the brights flipping turn signal and light switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Possibly a loose connection. burned contact. failing relay. Not a common problem, from my experience since 1988, or what I have seen on this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 I can not find the wiring diagram for your car, so I don't know if it uses relays for the headlights or just the light switch. From your description it sounds like the switch is not making good contact. If you want to try and clean and lube the contacts inside the switch, copy and paste the following into Google - 401B - Nu-trol Control Cleaner - . There are a lot of places that sell it. For many years I used a product called Lube-a-Trol by Tech Spray but several years ago it went No Longer Available, so I am on my last can. The 401B is almost the same thing so it should do a good job. This cleaner-lube is for electronics, potentiometers and switches and the old TV rotary Tuners. When it is sprayed it will foam up. The cleaner loosens the crud and the foam moves it away from the contacts leaving a film of oil to protect the contact from moisture. Working the switch speeds up the process. You will have to find or make a hole to spray it into the switch. How good does it work? A couple years ago I wired (from scratch) a 1937 Plymouth Pickup Truck PT50. The original Ignition Switch did not work. There was no continuity through any of the terminals. I got some Lube-a-Trol in it and worked the key back and forth a lot. The truck is still running today with the original ignition switch and headlight switch. The reason I wanted to save it is the switch and coil are connected together with a metal tube. The wire is inside the tube. The tube connects to the bottom of the coil and the coil is mounted through the firewall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbreadfed Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 I've swapped the relays under the steering column and looked for loose wires with no luck. Sometimes when I'm driving the lights just cut off..but I'm pretty sure it's done it more after turning brites off. Also sometimes right when i turn my lights on there is a delay till the lights come on or if i have to turn off and on real quick or flash the brites to get them to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 That makes it sound a bit more like something dirty / corroded in the switch, or the wires and connector right near it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 Clean the switch contacts in the cluster switch. Steering wheel will need to be removed for this. Also check all solder joints on the main wires to the switch cluster. Renew/repair if looking dry/cracked/dodgy. I had the main power wire for the lights break off mine one night on a 2hr drive home. It shorted out so I had low beams. Not great but I was greatful for having some sort of lights I could drive home with. The symptoms you describe are the same as what I had in the lead up to this issue - except for the lights randomly turning off when in use. Mine only did it between switching from Lo to high and vice versa. I ended up replacing the combination switch from a ‘91 L series and haven’t had an issue since. It was a much tighter unit too. My old one had 400,000ish km on it with a lot of night driving during my ownership (which continues). Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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