Headlight switch wire toasted (left low and high beam does not work anymore)

[khan654]

Hi,

First, I am the worst person to work on electricals. so please be patient with my questions. I should stop but my brain does not want to...

My low beams on 911SC were not working. I tried replacing fuse (Cheapest fix). Did not work..
So I tinkered with head light switch, looks ok too. Then I rad, the turn signal switch connectors might be the issue.
It has 2 copper strips which were separated. I pushed them together, the low beam worked.
So, after sometime, the left beam wire going to headlight switch got really hot and melted. I am hoping I dont have to replace the whole wire but the driver side low and high beam does not work at all now.

The only thing I can do is order new Turn signal switch which is around $300. I am going to remove the switch today and see if I can see what is up with those 2 copper strips.

Does anyone have a working close up picture of 2 strips so I can try to adjust it? I heard those switches are not fixable once gone bad.

Any suggestion or critique helps

Thanks.

[HarryD]

You will need to replace the melted wire. Try to get the correct color to help others in the future.

For your switch, this thread is very helpful: https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/248149-turn-signal-switch-quick-fix-pictures.html

All this said, if you are not comfortable working with the car electricals, find a local shop to do it for you. It is easy to make a bad thing worse (as you have already discovered).

[khan654]

Originally Posted by HarryD

You will need to replace the melted wire. Try to get the correct color to help others in the future.

For your switch, this thread is very helpful: https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/248149-turn-signal-switch-quick-fix-pictures.html

All this said, if you are not comfortable working with the car electricals, find a local shop to do it for you. It is easy to make a bad thing worse (as you have already discovered).

Thank you for that link.
I agree.. but each time I ask someone to fix something they ask what car is it.. as soon as I say it is a 911. The price doubles automatically. Hate that..
I bought a relay from JWest hoping that will decrease the load on those small gauge wires and it won't get hot anymore. For now, they only get hot when I pull the headlight switch for low beam.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by khan654

Thank you for that link.
I agree.. but each time I ask someone to fix something they ask what car is it.. as soon as I say it is a 911. The price doubles automatically. Hate that..
I bought a relay from JWest hoping that will decrease the load on those small gauge wires and it won't get hot anymore. For now, they only get hot when I pull the headlight switch for low beam.

Are you running stock headlights with the standard 55/60W bulbs? Are they seal beams or H4s?

FWIW, as much as it hurts, sometimes you need a pro to do the right thing.

[khan654]

Originally Posted by HarryD

Are you running stock headlights with the standard 55/60W bulbs? Are they seal beams or H4s?

FWIW, as much as it hurts, sometimes you need a pro to do the right thing.

They are sealed beams from Wagner. Driver side light went out, replaced it with one from NAPA.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by khan654

They are sealed beams from Wagner. Driver side light went out, replaced it with one from NAPA.

Ok. So you should not have an over current problem. The melted wire comes from too high a current. Check your headlight grounds (brown wires).

[khan654]

Originally Posted by HarryD

Ok. So you should not have an over current problem. The melted wire comes from too high a current. Check your headlight grounds (brown wires).

Located at?

Headlight switch or at the front inside headlight housing or near the fuse panel?

Thanks

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by khan654

Located at?

Headlight switch or at the front inside headlight housing or near the fuse panel?

Thanks

Not sure there are any grounds except at the headlight bucket. There may be one off of the headlight relay as well.

[khan654]

I installed a thick wire going from 5 pin adaptor to Headlight switch. That stopped the heating + tinkered with Turn signal switch to adjust so low beam works.

Also installed JWest Relay at the battery. All working good now with no overheating.

The wires to and from dashboard to fuse box are very thin for some loads. Especially headlight, when it takes direct load.
Anyone doing a rewiring should replace with thick gauge wires to solve any type of overheating

[myamoto1]

Originally Posted by khan654

Also installed JWest Relay at the battery. All working good now with no overheating.

This! It's a fairly straight forward install, with lots of pics and descriptions in the forums here on how to do it.

[khan654]

Originally Posted by myamoto1

This! It's a fairly straight forward install, with lots of pics and descriptions in the forums here on how to do it.

Yeah I agree, pretty easy. JWest wires are thick compared to factory. That helps