HRBrat Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Hi All, I've got an 87 BRAT with about 200k miles on it that i've been daily driving for the past 5 years. Great truck! Recently i drove off during an evening, hit the high beam switch, and the lights just went out. Dash lights still on, but both high and low beams on both sides go dark. Pop it back to low position and the low beams come back on. Fuses in the box by my left knee are good. I popped the plastic off the column and cleaned out the areas around the column switch. Sprayed some contact cleaner into the visible contacts that the selector uses, and still no dice. The wiring of the column switch looks like a pain in the rump roast, so before i try unhooking it and either taking it apart to fix something or get a junkyard one to replace it, i figure i should see if anyone knows of any alternative spot the problem could be. Maybe an inline fuse somewhere? If anyone has any thoughts on possible causes or experience with swapping out the column switch i'd be grateful for any advice. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptoe's photos Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) No mention of whether you run bog standard light inserts or upgraded to anything at all. I got this same problem a year or so after fitting LED to the inner of the quad lights on my Brumby, then blew something major in the worked, worked hard EA81 and still has this problem to be resolved. I have a spare headlight switch, spare stalk switch to throw in one day. Exactly the same, driving along merrily on low beam, hit the really dark patch, ask for high beam, and get left in the flippin' darkness. Needed to turn lights off, then back on to get low beam. Edited February 14, 2023 by Steptoe's photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRBrat Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share Posted February 14, 2023 Interesting. Yeah, mine is completely stock headlights with no modifications. Luckily my low beams come back on immediately when i switch back from the high beam selection on the column switch. Junkyard switches look easy to come by, but it looks like the wiring involved to switch them out would be a pain. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupart Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 Hi, i have a 84 gl wag that did a something like this, only i lost all the lights. turned out to be a ground wire under the dash. it was black had a large brass ring lug located on a harness near the floor by the steering column left side of it. i had to take out the ecm to access and find this ground wire, once i did locate it and made it good ground all was well again. since you have the low beams this may not be your issue, but there are grounds at the back of the headlight fixture that may be, each side has a ground to body, they can look good but have rust under the bolt attachment. fairly easy to check and might be the problem. btw the headlight hi/lo & turn switch is not too hard to do, remove the steering wheel, and it is right there and slips off the shaft, it is held by 2 small screws in the bottom of the column covers under the wheel. at least this is how my tilt column style is done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobydube Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 If you haven't fixed it yet, replace the headlight switch because it controls several different lighting features and indicators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm2 Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Is there a relay that switches the high beams on? The relays on these things get old and unreliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRBrat Posted February 23, 2023 Author Share Posted February 23, 2023 I ordered a junkyard column switch that should be here in a couple of days. I'll update to let you know if it worked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptoe's photos Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 waiting , waiting, waiting on the result.....oh, you only posted up an hour ago 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRBrat Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 Update! So the junkyard column switch arrived. I removed the steering wheel. Disconnected the battery. Cleaned the rather nasty junkyard switch. Removed the sparkling clean but maybe malfunctioning switch. And swapped in the junkyard one. I put the steering wheel back on just enough to release the ignition lock, reconnected the battery, and put the ignition in the on position. The dashboard lit up, but I didn't have any headlights in the high beam or low beam positions. I was just about to test the directional signals when i smelled something and saw a faint whiff of smoke coming from the column switch. I hurriedly turned off the ignition and removed the key. Oddly the right turn indicator then started flashing despite the key being out. I'm kinda confused about that. It stopped when a moved the indicator lever on the column switch. I then disconnected the battery and retreated! So, i'm kinda confused. Maybe the junkyard switch was junk. I had less functionality than i did with my original column switch. Maybe the problem is something else? I'm also not sure how the directional signals could come on with the key out of the ignition. I thought all of those circuits were dependent on the ignition circuit... Maybe something is shorting from the ignition cylinder to the column switch? I'd appreciate any thoughts or ideas. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 Things could certainly be getting some sort of power from the ignition switch being worn - but it shouldn’t cause smoke! Is everything in good working order forward of the high/low beam switch? And is the dial switch working properly? There are a few elements here that could be at fault/contributing to the larger issue. Always not fun! Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRBrat Posted March 1, 2023 Author Share Posted March 1, 2023 I haven't traced the wiring from the column switch to the actual headlights. May be a problem in there somewhere. The dial switch was still working properly until i swapped in the junkyard switch. No headlights in any position with that one. I started smelling things before i checked on the parking light position though. Haven't had any ignition switch issues that i'm aware of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 any indications someone in the past tried to add HID lamps or other modes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRBrat Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 Lamps are stock. It's an Alaska vehicle though, and it's got a built in battery charger, block heater, and battery heater that were all aftermarket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czny Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Blast from the past: https://offroadingsubarus.com/headlight-relay-modification/ https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/110898-dl-square-headlight-upgrades/?hl=%2Bheadlight+%2Bconversion#entry930708 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRBrat Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 Thank you for those links! I'm always a little hesitant to jump into electrical projects, and having guidance from those who've been before is super helpful. It'd also be really nice to have a bit more light output from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czny Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 5 hours ago, HRBrat said: Thank you for those links! I'm always a little hesitant to jump into electrical projects, and having guidance from those who've been before is super helpful. It'd also be really nice to have a bit more light output from them. You're welcome! Good luck with your fixes! I did the relay mods for Lo & Hi beams, quad headlights/halogen lamps inboard with LED lamps outboard. LED lamps do not generate enough heat to keep them from icing up. I changed the outers to halogen last fall to fix that icing problem. We do get freezing fog & freezing rain here in western Montana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptoe's photos Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 an importer of LED systems here in Australia had the manufacturer make them to his specifications so the lights would be compliant with Aust Design Rules. When I asked him about a similar situation, he, the electrical design engineer, suggested that some relays can build up an oxide of sorts on the terminals due to not enough load going through to power the LED - not enough power load/demand. Swapping or changing relays may fix the problem. Watch this space for when finger is extracted for next step in the task Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.