High beams dont work (1 Viewer)

[jankens]

Hey all, new FJ60 owner and am having a hell of a time figuring out how to fix this issue. Everytime I turn on my highbeams, (1) they dont work, (2) there is a loud electrical humming noise coming from the steering column. sounds almost like it is shorting out. (3) sometimes the vent blowers will turn on or off while the switch for high beams is engaged.

Im also having to replace the bulb for the heater/AC display frequently. The bulb doesn't burst, nor does a fuse. ..It just simply stops working. Im not sure what to do or where to even begin. I can give more clarification if needed.

 

[maat]

high beams not working will probably be a rooted fuseable link, test them all and report back!

 

[jankens]

Hi, thanks for the response...How exactly would I test for this? See if fuses are blown? None are if thats what youre asking...

 

[maat]

on the positive terminal of your battery you have wires wrapped in a cotton/nylon type cover, these are fusible links. they act like fuses but instead of blowing super quick the tend to wear out gradually and what ever they are supplying power to fails or plays up. personally i think they are shlt so i removed them and replaced them with 20A inline wedge fuses like whats under the dash to make things easier. to test them i would use a multimeter and see what voltage and amperage they are allowing through

 

[Tapage]

when you pull the lever your bluish hi beam dash light light on .?

 

[darthvincor]

I had an issue too once with high beams:
When I pulled the lever, the high beams would come on. (temp high beam, for quick flash)
When I pushed the lever, it would not come on.

And it turned out, the lever was dirty on the inside and needed to be cleaned, and then it worked again.
That's another possibility.

 

[slcfj62]

This thread may help you solve the problem:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/423985-headlight-troubleshooting-thread.html

 

[godzilla3177]

I just recently had an issue with my headlights, blower, dash lights, and it started with the high beams. The 4wd indicator is on the same circuit and had a short, after a few weeks I started to smell burning wiring when it rained. There is a cluster terminal/orange plug behind the instrument cluster that eventually burnt up and everything on that circuit died. Might be worth pulling the gauge cluster and checking for discoloration..

 

[bosljeff]

Dirty on the inside? What did you do to clean it? In the column?

I had an issue too once with high beams:
When I pulled the lever, the high beams would come on. (temp high beam, for quick flash)
When I pushed the lever, it would not come on.

And it turned out, the lever was dirty on the inside and needed to be cleaned, and then it worked again.
That's another possibility.

 

[darthvincor]

Dirty on the inside? What did you do to clean it? In the column?

I'm not sure, an auto electrician did it. But he said he pulled it apart and cleaned it, and then it worked again.
I'm guessing he indeed removed the unit from the column and disassembled it.
He also said that I was lucky it was a type that could be pulled apart, because modern ones could not.

 

[stockhorse]

The humming noise is the high beam relay not throwing in properly. replace that relay and it will be all good. the relay is located at the base of the steering column just below the dash.


Re cleaning the switch, it is better to run the headlights through direct battery powered relays and use the original feed as the switching wire for the relays. This means a lot lower amp draw through the switch.

 

[Toyote]

Is there a pic of this relay in location? sorry, i am an 80 guy with a new-to-him-62 and feel clumsily out of touch with this rig so far...

And yes: visual learner here.