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--------------5BD266851160
I was getting frustrated and was about to send out the following, to ask
for assistance from the list, but ended up sending it only to myself.
When you attempt to detail all of the aspects of a problem so that
someone else could understand it well enough to help, it sometimes
starts to become clear enough to yourself to see the correct avenue of
troubleshooting :-).
Anyhow, since the solution was so gratifying (and relatively simple), I
thought I'd share it. Still need to know one thing, "Where is the
'passing light relay' physically located?"
David R. Conrad wrote:
>
> (Sorta long)
>
> Well, my roadster is now a daytime driver only since my intermittent
> headlight problem has become a "hard" failure.
>
> The problem started with my having to slide the switch back and forth
> until the headlights would stay on. (Got through annual safety checks
> in daytime, by watching the ammeter, as I was sliding the switch back
> and forth.) Well, as things like this go, it got worse and the
> headlights will not illuminate at all, nor the parking lights! (this
> might be a clue?).
>
> A year or so ago (maybe longer) while I was having the "intermittent"
> problem, I asked the list for help, and a kind individual on the list
> offered the advice (essentially) of disassembling the switch, cleaning
> it up, and polishing the contacts. I am sorry to say that I did neither
> of acknowledging and thanking for his advice, nor doing what he had
> advised at that time. I have unsuccessfully looked for his email.
>
> Well, I finally removed the switch, disassembled it, cleaned it and the
> contacts, and put it back together. It was pretty apparent what had
> caused intermittent behaviour, some of the countacts were really
> cruddy! When I had finished, I was satisfied that I had a, "as good as
> new" switch.
>
> When I reconnected it however, the headlights still didn't work, nor the
> parking lights/tail lights. Perhaps, the "hard" failure was something
> beyond simply a dirty/cruddy switch, and had developed independently.
>
> Being a Mechanical Engineer, I'm not particularly adept at electrical
> troubleshooting, but I went forward. Continuity checks of the switch in
> each of its three positions yielded apparently logical results. No
> continuity to the connection terminals in "off", continuity to terminals
> 1&2 when in the 1st detent, and continuity to terminals 1&4 when in the
> outer, 2nd detent. When connected, however, I read 12 volts, only on
> terminal 3, regardless of the switch position.
Well, this is where I stopped writing my "help" message.
Didn't make any sense that I had continuity with the switch contacts,
but voltage wasn't being conducted!
Upon more careful examination, that voltage at terminal 3 was not always
12 volts, but sometime 9, and even 4.
Turns out the one of the contact clips for the headlight fuze in the
fuze block, was badly corroded as well as that end of the fuze.
Then I had voltage at the appropriate terminals of the headlight relay,
but it still didn't work. Disassembled the headlight relay, cleaned it,
and found a bad connection to one of the terminals.
Then, Eureka!, my headlights worked for the first time in about 6 months
(but only on high beam). Lights go out if attempting to go to low beam.
...so where is the "passing light relay" located?? Help
Aloha, Dave
'68 1600
Kailua-Kona
Help
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Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 20:28:11 -1000
From: "David R. Conrad" <conrad1@gte.net>
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To: conrad1@gte.net
Subject: Headlights Help...
(Sorta long)
Well, my roadster is now a daytime driver only since my intermittent
headlight problem has become a "hard" failure.
The problem started with my having to slide the switch back and forth
until the headlights would stay on. (Got through annual safety checks
in daytime, by watching the ammeter, as I was sliding the switch back
and forth.) Well, as things like this go, it got worse and the
headlights will not illuminate at all, nor the parking lights! (this
might be a clue?).
A year or so ago (maybe longer) while I was having the "intermittent"
problem, I asked the list for help, and a kind individual on the list
offered the advice (essentially) of disassembling the switch, cleaning
it up, and polishing the contacts. I am sorry to say that I did neither
of acknowledging and thanking for his advice, nor doing what he had
advised at that time. I have unsuccessfully looked for his email.
Well, I finally removed the switch, disassembled it, cleaned it and the
contacts, and put it back together. It was pretty apparent what had
caused intermittent behaviour, some of the countacts were really
cruddy! When I had finished, I was satisfied that I had a, "as good as
new" switch.
When I reconnected it however, the headlights still didn't work, nor the
parking lights/tail lights. Perhaps, the "hard" failure was something
beyond simply a dirty/cruddy switch, and had developed independently.
Being a Mechanical Engineer, I'm not particularly adept at electrical
troubleshooting, but I went forward. Continuity checks of the switch in
each of its three positions yielded apparently logical results. No
continuity to the connection terminals in "off", continuity to terminals
1&2 when in the 1st detent, and continuity to terminals 1&4 when in the
outer, 2nd detent. When connected, however, I read 12 volts, only on
terminal 3, regardless of the switch position.
--------------5BD266851160--
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