Electrical question

[MaddMatt]

HI Folks,
Driving home from the airport last night, and on two seperate occasions the headlights just turned themselves off. Both times I had high beams on, and both times they came right back on.

Anybody ever run into this before? It's an '89 62. The PO mentioned that it has a headlight upgrade, and when they're on the high beams are extremely bright.

What should I look for to see if the headlights have been "upgraded"? Or, more likely, what should I look for to see if the headlights have been incorrectly upgraded?

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
-Matt

 

[NocalFJ60]

I have had the same problem a couple of times in my 60. Annoying! The lights would just go out and I would have to turn the switch off and back on. I traced it down to the connectors under the steering wheel. The wires seem to be stiff and the push connector would just come apart barely. If it is the same in the 62, check and make sure the connector is tight.

Hope it helps.

goodluck

 

[toy60]

I believe I have the answer
I had this problem on my 84 60 series and I finally found the problem to be a broken solder joint on the multifunction switch on the steering colum. I removed the switch (Plugs in at the bottom of the dash and resoldered all the connections. Hasn't happened in over 6 months so I think I may have hit on the problem.
There is no relay on the lights all the power seems to come thru the switch and it uses quite heavy wire. If you have upgraded the lights be carefull with the current draw thru the switch. Better to put in a relay.

Good luck!!!

 

[Tinker]

Ditto toy60! I removed the headlight/windshield wiper-washer switch & found a wire had come unsoldered from the brass. Re-soldered it & it worked perfectly again!

 

[cahilc]

...
Driving home from the airport last night, and on two seperate occasions the headlights just turned themselves off. Both times I had high beams on, and both times they came right back on ...

Sounds like you have what I call a *hot* short. Everything works until the circuit heats up then it shorts out. After the circuit cools a bit, it may be re-activated.

Yikes !!! Fixable, but intermittent circuit problems are not a recommended beginner kinda problem.

Start with finding and inspecting anythin *non* stock. PO cut and splice any connectors ? Any thing loose ? If in doubt, electrical grease your connectors. Better yet seach this board for past notes and fixes on this kinda problem.

Check out nocalfj60 & toy60's recommendation !

HTH,
Cahil