Weird Headlight Issue (1 Viewer)

[harrydunn]

Since I'm typing on my phone, I'll be brief. Long story, short--flipped the stalk this morning and all lights kicked on like normal but no headlights. Drove up the road a couple of miles for a morning soda, tried again and they kicked on just fine. I've got two aftermarket light harnesses attached to the battery but they are not tied into the headlights at all. I've never had any issues with them causing problems. Thoughts on where to start?

Thanks.

 

[blkprj80]

Check the headlight relay in the box under the hood.
If the lights aren't working, thump the relay to see if they will come on.

There is also a delay circuit somewhere that keeps your lights on until you open the door I believe. That's up there behind your left kick panel. Could be water damage up there?

 

[harrydunn]

After the lights finally kicked on, both low and high beams worked fine. We have had TONS of rain the past two weeks including last night and today.

 

[blkprj80]

Pull your left kick panel and look around for water or water damage while it's still wet. Also, check any ground connections in that area.

It looks like the "flash to pass" part on the lever doesn't go through the "light retainer relay". Next time, check to see if you can get hi beams by pulling back on the lever when the lights don't want to work.

 

[landcrshr]

Deleted my last post because I was second guessing my advice, but I think I remember now.

And as I was typing this I see blkprj80 beat me to it: lights only work with the stalk in the "flash" position?

I believe that's a switch problem.

 

[harrydunn]

They didn't work again tonight so pulled back on the stalk and still got nothing. Jiggled the relay with no effect. They turned on normally about 20 seconds later. Eh? I still need to pull the kick panel.

 

[blkprj80]

The EWD shows a ground in the left kick panel. I'm not sure exactly where it is though. That ground would take out lo, hi, and flash all at the same time.

edit: it shows that the ground ID (in a triangle) is about 2" behind the fuse block, probably screwed to the metal sidewall up there.

Hope you find it and fix it soon. Headlights that go out suuuuuck. Especially when the last thing I saw was a damn cow crossing the road in the distance... That was in a 62 chevy pickup though.

 

[harrydunn]

I pulled the kick panel back-no water damage. Can you post a pic of that diagram?

 

[harrydunn]

Man, this is baffling. When the lights finally kick on, I can flip them off and on as long as I want and they work every time which to me says the stalk switch is fine? I let it sit for an hour and they don't work. Drive around for an hour and they will kick on. Could this be a voltage issue caused by a weak battery? Just covering my bases. I did have the battery tested and it failed the load test on their fancy machine even thought the volts were fine. Doesn't seem like Mr. T would build that in to not allow the lights to kick on if your battery was weak. I've got a great local shop that I use when I can't figure stuff out. Suppose I may just drop it off. I'm gonna need my lights pretty soon with daylight savings time creeping up on us.

 

[CO_Hunter]

I have a similar situation but the switch acts up only when it is very cold, single digits. Sometimes I have to be very precise when turning on the lights to get it to sit just right for the lights to work. With the heat on and things warm up the problem goes away. I haven't tried chasing it down yet. Just posting FWIW.

 

[blkprj80]

Thanks to Birfmark!
Sorry it's sideways. I tried to grab a screen shot at a decent resolution for ya.

And my guess would be a failing relay. It, and the fusible link upstream, are about the only thing that would fail when the lever is all the way back. Can you hear the headlight relay? Have you pulled it and looked for any melted stuff?

It's fed from the Main fusible link, so if that was going out you'd have a lot of other non working things.

 

[Offroads4x4]

New turn/Head light switch?

 

[harrydunn]

I think that is where I'm heading. Does that require replacing the entire stalk or can you replace the switch on the end of the stalk? I've removed steering wheels before so I'm not worried about that. I just don't know what all needs to be replaced. Part #?

 

[harrydunn]

Sorry, yes checked relay and fuses first. Both are fine and when the headlights are working the relay obviously clicks. Is the fusible link attached to the DS inner fender?

 

[blkprj80]

The fusible link should be coming off the battery. And it can't be your problem as the other circuits it feeds must be working or you'd be noticing them as well.

Just because a relay clicks doesn't mean the relay is good. It just means the relay coil and actuating circuit (the stalk switch) are working. You may have nearly fried switch contacts inside that relay that sometimes work, sometimes not. I'd suggest finding a buddy who is willing to swap relays for a few days. If not, try a new relay as it is much easier than changing out a switch in the column that may not be bad.

Replace the relay, even if you use some cheap piece of junk from a parts house. If your problems go away, put in a new genuine OEM relay and save the other one for an emergency spare or wheel chock. Please don't keep running the non-OEM relay even if it fixes it. Switch back to OEM new for peace of mind (mine).

 

[harrydunn]

Since you correctly used "peace" instead of "piece," I'll give it a try.

I'll report back when the results become apparent.

 

[harrydunn]

New relay in from O'Reilly's. We'll see how it goes.

 

[harrydunn]

No dice. Same problem. Can somebody specify where the ground point is in the DS kick panel? I've worked up in there before for the CDL mod but just need to know what I'm looking for. Thanks.

 

[harrydunn]

Needed it fixed so took it to a great shop I use. They found some nasty-looking wiring and were able to duplicate the issue. Hate paying for repairs but I'm glad it's fixed.

 

[Kernal]

What harness is that and why did they burn up/short?