High Beam Headlights and Fog Lights on the Blink. Bad Fuse? Bad Relay? Any help?

[mmm]

My high beam headlights and fog lights on my still new to me 1989 Carrera 3.2 seem to be acting up.

The low beam headlights and parking lights all seem to function more or less normally for the most part, I think. However, the high beams and fog lights seem to be acting up.

With the headlights off (and parking lights either on or off), if I go to flash my brights by pulling back on the stalk, I get nothing from the headlights.

With the headlights (low beams) and parking lights on, if I go to flash my brights by pulling back on the stalk, the low beam headlights and parking lights remain on but I get no brights.

With the headlights and parking lights on, if I go to switch to my brights (high beam headlights) by pushing the stalk forward, the headlights just shut off altogether, no low beams or high beams, though the parking lights remain on. When I switch back to low beams by pulling the stalk back I get low beam headlights back on again.

As for the fog lights, if I have them on in any of the above scenarios, they cut out when I go to activate my brights (as they are supposed to IIRC), but then they don't come back on when I return to lowbeam headlights. The only way to get them back on is to shut them off and then turn them back on again.

The little blue high beam indicator light in the tach does function completely normally however, just as it would if the brights were actually working, except that they don't.

So basically, the brights aren't working at all, and the fog lights go out when I activate the brights (as they are supposed to IIRC) but then don't return when I go back to low beams.

Diagnosis? Relay? Fuse? Switch? Other Gremlins?

As an aside, I took a look at the fuse box in the front trunk and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Never seen fuses that look like those before. What's the deal with those things? Weird. <---Newbie Reaction?

[fintstone]

Your fog lights should go off when switching to high beam so it seems that only your high beams are inop. Although you might not be getting power to your high beam fuses, since each high beam has a seperate fuse, I imagine the likely suspect is your turn signal lever or stalk. It is common for the high beam contacts to misalign or become burned due to the higfh current across them because the design omitted a headlight relay. Sometimes you can take the lever switch apart and adjust/clean the contacts. Usually it must be replaced. Many folks add a relay to the headlight circuit (especially if they add higher wattage headlights) to prevent this problem since the stalk/switch is pricey to replace and a common problem.

[mmm]

Originally posted by fintstone
Your fog lights should go off when switching to high beam so it seems that only your high beams are inop. Although you might not be getting power to your high beam fuses, since each high beam has a seperate fuse, I imagine the likely suspect is your turn signal lever or stalk. It is common for the high beam contacts to misalign or become burned due to the higfh current across them because the design omitted a headlight relay. Sometimes you can take the lever switch apart and adjust/clean the contacts. Usually it must be replaced. Many folks add a relay to the headlight circuit (especially if they add higher wattage headlights) to prevent this problem since the stalk/switch is pricey to replace and a common problem.

I think I need some more convincing before I can conclude that it's the switch. I think it must be something else.

Aren't the fogs supposed to return (when switched on) when the high beams are switched off and the low beams resume? I mean, I seem to recall that the fogs are supposed to go out with the brights, but then shouldn't they return (if switched on) with the low beams as soon as the brights are switched off?

Also, if the switch is bad, how come the little blue high beam indicator in the tach still functions normally even though the brights don't work?

[Mark sP]

Not sure about the fogs, as over in the UK they stay on all the time, high or low beam.

However, my mains did the same when I bought my car. I talked the PO into supplying a brand new stalk switch.

Anyway, I when I was installing the switch, I noticed that there is a brass contact that gets pushed and pulled with the stalk (which is how it works), but obviously over years of being pushed, had lost some of is 'spring back'.

So I physically bent the contact forward again, and the old switch has worked fine ever since. Thats 14 months as a daily driver!

Hope that helps.

[kqw]

Before you replace the switch..I bet your high beam lamps/bulbs are out.

Try changing out your headlight/bulbs..

[Gunter]

Your manual, and the inside of the fuse box cover, tells you which fuses to check. There is one fuse for each hi-beam. On an SC, it is fuse # 7 & 8. Check for 12V across the fuses. Sometimes they get a little corroded and just moving them will work. However, it is possible that your stalk switch is kaput. Consider installing the twin-relays for low/high beam. Do a search for them, there are many threads on that subject.

[masraum]

The highs and lows all work through 4 separate fuses. Check your fuses in the fuse box. also, maybe the high beam elements are bad.

Generally with the switch either everything will die, or teh high beams will start coming on when hitting bumps while driving with the low beams on. the switch has 3 contacts with the main in the middle, and the pull or push activated by the other two. Usually the middle contact will get closer to one of the two outer contacts and will start coming on all of the time. Of course, there's nothing to say that your behavior couldn't be the switch. It just wouldn't fit the most common method of failure.

[jorian]

See if you are getting power to the H/B bulbs. Clean or replace the fuses and their respective contact points. These fuses may look OK but may not have a solid connection. My fogs come back on after I switch to the lows. Seems odd that both bulbs would go bad at the same time as they operate on the same fuse as the lows so the problem is likely to be between the stalk and the fuse.

The H/B light on the tach could still work when your lights don't as it is fused separately. The high and low beams (L/R) work off one fuse for each side.

[charnett]

In my 1989 3.2 - I have the same problem as MMM, which just recurred last night, when I noticed both high beams gone. My history is of the stalk switch blowing and losing both high beam elements, replacement with new one that failed within daysand took out all 4 elements, replacement with another stalk switch and at same time adding relays to take the load off, then failure of left bulb thought to be from a loose ground that was tightened, now just like MMM failure of both high beams only. From past experience, I'm certain that it is that the high beam elements in the bulbs that are blown.

Charging system is measured at 14.35 volts at 2200 rpms, which is within required range.

I've heard a voltage spike could do this, but not sure how to check for same, since whatever is happening has to be reproduced on testing.

If a spike is the cause, could it be that it will burn high beam elements if stalk switch is in high beam position and low beam element otherwise, and not burn anything if lights are off? Secondly, could it be that spike occurs when hitting hight RPM's going through the gears, but not in the lower ones, so that garage testing does not reproduce the problem?