headlight switch problem
08-30-14, 01:45 PM
#1
headlight switch problem
okay so I need some help here. My headlight switch is pretty much unusable, the harness connector is burned and the switch is as well. If I clean it up and put some dielectric grease it will work for a couple days then not work again. I was trying to find icemarks relay DIY but have not found it. also Im having a hard time finding a switch for a price I can afford and an even harder time looking for the harness connector. Can anyone help me out here to find a solution?
08-30-14, 02:30 PM
#3
i will check it, i took apart my cluster, and on the harness, the plug that is for the dimmer its all corroded unlike the other ones, im going to redo the wire on that and see what happens. it was corroded so much that that copper in the wire was only connected by a couple threads instead of the entire thing.
08-30-14, 05:44 PM
#5
You could also have a poor ground among other things.
Last edited by satch; 08-30-14 at 05:53 PM.
09-01-14, 10:31 AM
#6
Trunks are for corpses.
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If you're handy with a soldering iron and a multimeter, bypass the burnt out trace on the circuit board with a bit of wire. The plug and harness can handle the amps, it's the board that can't.
09-19-14, 03:29 PM
#7
an update for you guys, I decided to make my own switch board for this so I can have individual switches for the lights instead of using the main switch. (which I will leave in there so It doesnt have a big hole there. But I do need some help with knowing which wires control what.
I already have the dash lights/tail lights wired up with power on a single switch and its working very nicely, so what I need is to know why wires are for the headlights to move up and down, and which ones turn them on. The down side to this is the fact that I will not have use of my dimmer but you know what I dont use it anyways.
I already have the dash lights/tail lights wired up with power on a single switch and its working very nicely, so what I need is to know why wires are for the headlights to move up and down, and which ones turn them on. The down side to this is the fact that I will not have use of my dimmer but you know what I dont use it anyways.
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09-19-14, 10:29 PM
#9
Where does the ground wire on the headlight switch harness lead to? Sorry to hijack this thread but I'm having issues as well. My headlights turn on but everything else stays off. I found one wire that has power when the switch is in the Off position, but when turned on, I read no power. So I'm assuming bad ground. I just replaced the switch, none of my wires are burnt.
Last time this happened (couple weeks ago), I had a burnt wire. Replaced the burnt part with good clean wire and everything worked again. Now nothing.
Last time this happened (couple weeks ago), I had a burnt wire. Replaced the burnt part with good clean wire and everything worked again. Now nothing.
09-20-14, 12:34 AM
#10
Where does the ground wire on the headlight switch harness lead to? Sorry to hijack this thread but I'm having issues as well. My headlights turn on but everything else stays off. I found one wire that has power when the switch is in the Off position, but when turned on, I read no power. So I'm assuming bad ground. I just replaced the switch, none of my wires are burnt.
Last time this happened (couple weeks ago), I had a burnt wire. Replaced the burnt part with good clean wire and everything worked again. Now nothing.
Last time this happened (couple weeks ago), I had a burnt wire. Replaced the burnt part with good clean wire and everything worked again. Now nothing.
The White/Green wire is powered by the illumination fuse and it too always has constant power(if this fuse is blown then the W/G wire cannot have power and thus the dash and tails could not work). It is used to power the tail lights and dash lights. It also should never lose power. If it does then one possibility is the Red/Black wire (powers the tails) is grounded out or the Red/Green wire (powers the dash lights) is grounded out. To see if these wire(s) are accidentally grounded out you can take a meter set to continuity and place one meter lead to one of the wires and the other meter lead to a ground and if the meter rings out then that wire is grounded out. The Red/White wire can have voltage w/the lights in the off position and in the down position but when the lights pop up this wire would then have a ground on it and maybe this is the wire you are questioning.
Another possibility is the dimmer control is causing a short.
The Black ground wire runs to grounding point 10 which I think runs to a series of grounds by the steering column near the firewall (this is on an S4 not sure about the S5 location w/o looking in the FSM). You can check the Black ground wire using the meter set to continuity much like above and if it is grounded, which it should, then you would expect the meter to ring out. The Black wire is required to be grounded to get the headlights to flip up. If they do then you know the wire is properly grounded.
Last edited by satch; 09-20-14 at 12:42 AM.
09-21-14, 06:55 PM
#11
The Red wire is powered by the head fuse which always has voltage. It is used to raise or lower the headlights. It should never lose power.
The White/Green wire is powered by the illumination fuse and it too always has constant power(if this fuse is blown then the W/G wire cannot have power and thus the dash and tails could not work). It is used to power the tail lights and dash lights. It also should never lose power. If it does then one possibility is the Red/Black wire (powers the tails) is grounded out or the Red/Green wire (powers the dash lights) is grounded out. To see if these wire(s) are accidentally grounded out you can take a meter set to continuity and place one meter lead to one of the wires and the other meter lead to a ground and if the meter rings out then that wire is grounded out. The Red/White wire can have voltage w/the lights in the off position and in the down position but when the lights pop up this wire would then have a ground on it and maybe this is the wire you are questioning.
Another possibility is the dimmer control is causing a short.
The Black ground wire runs to grounding point 10 which I think runs to a series of grounds by the steering column near the firewall (this is on an S4 not sure about the S5 location w/o looking in the FSM). You can check the Black ground wire using the meter set to continuity much like above and if it is grounded, which it should, then you would expect the meter to ring out. The Black wire is required to be grounded to get the headlights to flip up. If they do then you know the wire is properly grounded.
The White/Green wire is powered by the illumination fuse and it too always has constant power(if this fuse is blown then the W/G wire cannot have power and thus the dash and tails could not work). It is used to power the tail lights and dash lights. It also should never lose power. If it does then one possibility is the Red/Black wire (powers the tails) is grounded out or the Red/Green wire (powers the dash lights) is grounded out. To see if these wire(s) are accidentally grounded out you can take a meter set to continuity and place one meter lead to one of the wires and the other meter lead to a ground and if the meter rings out then that wire is grounded out. The Red/White wire can have voltage w/the lights in the off position and in the down position but when the lights pop up this wire would then have a ground on it and maybe this is the wire you are questioning.
Another possibility is the dimmer control is causing a short.
The Black ground wire runs to grounding point 10 which I think runs to a series of grounds by the steering column near the firewall (this is on an S4 not sure about the S5 location w/o looking in the FSM). You can check the Black ground wire using the meter set to continuity much like above and if it is grounded, which it should, then you would expect the meter to ring out. The Black wire is required to be grounded to get the headlights to flip up. If they do then you know the wire is properly grounded.
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