Headlight help

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phish1270

phish1270

phish1270
Joined
May 18, 2009
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Location
Iron Station, NC
I was coming home from dinner the other night; turned down a street with no street lights so I hit the floor mounted dimmer switch & turned on the high beams. Once I saw a car coming the other direction I turned the high beams off, the car passed & I hit the dimmer switch again only this time the high beams did not come on & my headlights went out. It was really dark! I took the dimmer switch out tonight, went & bought a new one & the high beams still do not work. Any suggestions? Bad ground maybe? Possible the high beams burned out on both bulbs at the same time? Anybody else have this happen? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
did your old switch short out and blow the fuse? are you getting power to the hi lo switch? what about the on off switch? do you have tail lights?
 
i wish i could help ..but mine headlight never came on ...(this friday) so im in the same boat as you hope...someone chimes in so i can fix mines also
 
In order; Ground, fuses, dimmer, headlight switch ( does the rest of lights work?) Ammeter showing normal charge?
 
The low beams work, my dash lights work, my tail lights & turn signals all work. The only problem is my headlights go out completely when I hit the dimmer switch. Ammeter is showing normal charge.
 
I'f suspect the dimmer switch as the wire from the "H" prong of the headlight switch goes to the dimmer switch. Dimmer switch then controls high or low beam. According to the 65 FSM for Plymouth that wire is light green. Hope this helps!
 
I think that is a good call; now that you said it, I remember breaking the dimmer wire under the vinyl; stomping the clutch all the time.
 
My low beams went on me on the way home tonight. All other lights work.
 
Both my low beams blew out in the bulbs.

When I was coming home last week I had the high beams on, turned them off when I came to an intersection that was surrounded by street lights, and when I came to a dark area I realized my low beams were not on.

All other lights were working at the time and still do.

I had pulled the dash about 6 weeks prior to fix the gauges- so my assumption is the dash switch grounds the headlamps, is this correct?

I'm a dummy if that is the case.
I actually ran a ground wire from the dash to the gauge cluster because 2 of the dash lights were not working, and that solved it- those little screws holding the dash in are a poor ground at best- and I didn't even realize the light switch needed to be grounded.

I replaced the dash switch, the dimmer switch, then I looked at the lights and the bulbs looked a little cloudy- pulled them and confirmed.

I'm staring at the wiring diagram and I can't believe I wasted $45 bulbs.

So am I as stupid as I think I am, or is it something else that caused these bulbs to go?

DSC05510.jpg
 
matthon said:
Both my low beams blew out in the bulbs.
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It's a line voltage spike that did a job on your low beam filaments -- the glob of molten tungsten at the end of the filament support is the giveaway. Sounds like your voltage regulation is not what it should be. Are you running relays in a setup anything like this? Or just running your H4 conversions on the stock wiring?

assumption is the dash switch grounds the headlamps, is this correct?
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No. The dash switch sends power to the beam selector kickswitch on the floor, which then sends power to the headlamp low or high beams. They are grounded permanently (via cheesy sheetmetal grounds).

I actually ran a ground wire from the dash to the gauge cluster because 2 of the dash lights were not working, and that solved it- those little screws holding the dash in are a poor ground at best- and I didn't even realize the light switch needed to be grounded.
Click to expand...

It's adequately grounded via its metal-to-metal mounting.

I'm staring at the wiring diagram and I can't believe I wasted $45 bulbs.
Click to expand...

Those are Philips Xtreme Power H4s -- the best standard-wattage H4 bulb made. But they, like any other bulb, will not withstand a high line voltage spike.
 
slantsixdan said:
It's a line voltage spike that did a job on your low beam filaments -- the glob of molten tungsten at the end of the filament support is the giveaway. Sounds like your voltage regulation is not what it should be. Are you running relays in a setup anything like this? Or just running your H4 conversions on the stock wiring?

Those are Philips Xtreme Power H4s -- the best standard-wattage H4 bulb made. But they, like any other bulb, will not withstand a high line voltage spike.
Click to expand...

Stock wiring- but I did contact Daniel and he sent me the info on the correct relay kit I need, I have not ordered it yet.
Is this the only way to correct the voltage regulation?

Those bulbs are something else, it was like driving in daylight on the way home with the high beams on. They are not easy to locate though, I had to get them from e-Bay.

I can get another type of bulb from NAPA tomorrow, but am I just wasting my money until I correct the voltage issue? (not really knowing what that is).

I threw away my other headlights as I could not ever see going back, but I was supposed to take a trip Saturday and I might need headlights.
 
matthon said:
Stock wiring- but I did contact Daniel
Click to expand...

That's me
icon_biggrin.gif


Is this the only way to correct the voltage regulation?
Click to expand...

The relay kit won't correct the voltage regulation. To do that, you need to turn your attention to the charging system. There are many different causes of flickery/spiky/"noisy" line voltage. A burnt stator winding, one or more open or shorted diodes, a faulty voltage regulator, dirty wiring connections, improper system ground, one or more worn alternator brushes. Run a 14ga wire from the battery negative terminal to the voltage regulator base, and from the voltage regulator base to the alternator housing (most of them have a "GRD" hole on the back -- use a short screw to secure the wire so it doesn't stick too far in and hit the spinning rotor). This will put the whole charging system on the same ground plane, which often makes the charging voltage a great deal steadier. See here, and if your car is a '69 or older model, install a NAPA Echlin VR-1001 or Standard-BlueStreak VR-128 regulator.

Those bulbs are something else, it was like driving in daylight on the way home with the high beams on. They are not easy to locate though, I had to get them from e-Bay.
Click to expand...

There are a few reliable vendors such as Candlepower (for whom I used to work) and Powerbulbs.com .

I can get another type of bulb from NAPA tomorrow
Click to expand...

Yeah, any easily-available #9003 bulb will work until you get the problem solved, then go back to the high-zoot bulbs.
 
Great, thanks.
I'll get the electronic regulator tomorrow, which is the only thing I have not replaced, other than the alternator.
I have been reading many threads on electrical systems, and I have wondered what alternator I actually have, and what I really need.
Maybe I can locate a starter-alternator rebuilder who can help.

As far as the bulbs, those places did not have them for a while, so I went to e-Bay- I wish NAPA carried these things!
 
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