The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Wiring nightmare's

Well, I went to put my truck in the shop and low and behold my headlights wouldn't work. Don't have a clue why. This truck has had a lot of wiring problems ever since I bought it. I think my best bet is a replacement harness. Don't know which one to look at but something has got to change. If any one has used the replacement harness maybe you could tell me which one you got and how long it took to do it. Thanks.

Red,

So other lights (tail, parking, brake) work? If so, I would check the fuses for the high and low beams. Is there power coming into the headlight switch itself? How about the hi-lo selector switch on the floor? Be sure to check that you have a good ground too.

I had a bad headlight switch and would routinely lose my headlights. The problem was clearly in the switch. Once the switch was replace, problem solved.

I made my own wiring harness; however, I'm sure someone with experience will give you some advise on the direct replacement harnesses if you choose to go that route.

Good luck,

I agree with Andy! Check your switches first. If it is that simple, you could save yourself a lot of time and money! Despite putting in a new harness, I found out that a BRAND NEW Brake light switch was bad. Very frusterating!

Chris

The most common cause of no/intermittent headlight operation is the dimmer switch. It lives in a very hostile environment behind the driver's side tire, catching all sorts of mud/water/salt splash. Check the switch and the connections going to it before you start shotgunning expensive stuff like a new harness at a simple problem.

I like to wire headlights through a couple of relays, and only use a (new) dimmer switch to carry the very low current flow to trigger the relays. You'll be amazed at how much brighter the headlights can be, particularly if they're running on 6 volts.
Jerry

Red,

Here's a link to a related discussion, if you're planning to replace the wiring harness:

(CLICK)

Thanks to everyone for the reply. I have not checked anything. Been helping with my daughters long,long driveway. Between the constant rain it's been tough. Hopefully the first of next week I'll be able to look at it. I'm not rolling in money so the tips are a good thing for me. Stovebolt is the best because of guys like you. Thank you. It's supposed to start raining Sunday so I should have a little time.

Had to move my truck out of the shop today. Decided to just try my dimmer switch. And when I clicked it the high beam lights worked. Thank you to everyone who replied to my post. Now all I have to do is clean the switch or replace it. Talk about saving money! I'm very happy I decided to post my problem.

It's not a common problem, but I have encountered a situation occasionally where both headlights will burn out the same filament at once- - - -no light on low beam, for instance, and normal operation on high, or vice versa. Always check the voltage beginning right at the light connector plug, and trace the circuit backwards until you find the voltage loss.
Jerry

As Jerry said, always start at the end of the circuit and work backwards.
Many years ago when I was working as a Jaguar mechanic, a customer dropped off a car for work and also told the desk the headlights didn't work.
The style of the day was the 4 headlight look.
Sure enough nothing. Checked the fuses and quickly swapped out the 2 relays, nothing. All of the light controls were in a very complicated set of stalk switches on the column. Sitting in the car contemplating the big job ahead I flipped the high beam paddle and noticed the high beam indicator lit.
Went to the front and checked a headlight plug - Power.
What the customer failed to say was the bulbs had burned out one at a time over a period of time. He was too busy to bring it in until the last one failed. 6 filaments in 4 bulbs .
He had used his fog lamps at the end to get home.

I will start at the front and work back as soon as I check the switch. Either way it will will save me a bunch of money. Thanks Jerry and Jim