electrical gremlin ??????

[7T7911s]

77 911s daily driver.
I began having an issue with the high beams coming on without
hitting the lever. Figured lever worn out. Purchased a new one from our host.
Two days ago whenever headlights were turned on,
the wipers would come on, but not the head lights.
Turn signals will cause wipers to operate also.
I have interior lights, dash lights and fog lights but no head lights. ????
I installed the new turn signal switch just now hoping that it would fix the problem.
No such luck. Any suggestions before I start changing out parts??


Kenny
anyone know a good electrical person in the Sacramento area??

[schumicat]

gremlins like that can be caused by low or high voltage (failure voltage regulator). get a voltmeter (they have ones you can plug into cig lighter) and check voltage while driving.

[7T7911s]

Any other thoughts??

I'll check voltage tonight. I have changed the voltage regulator 3 times in the last
2 years.
Kenny

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by 7T7911s

77 911s daily driver.
I began having an issue with the high beams coming on without
hitting the lever. Figured lever worn out. Purchased a new one from our host.
Two days ago whenever headlights were turned on,
the wipers would come on, but not the head lights.
Turn signals will cause wipers to operate also.
I have interior lights, dash lights and fog lights but no head lights. ????
I installed the new turn signal switch just now hoping that it would fix the problem.
No such luck. Any suggestions before I start changing out parts??


Kenny
anyone know a good electrical person in the Sacramento area??

Hooking up the turn signals can be confusing the first time.lots of wires and plugs
If your signals turn on the wipers it sounds like you may have got something mixed up when reinstalling new sw.

[masterdave]

could also be a grounding issue, I have the same issue with my high beams always being on, im almost sure its my switch but i have no had the time to fix it. I had the same wiper issue on my 924s a few years back. Turned out the wiper motor grounds were corroded and all messed up, after i cleaned them up i never had the issue again. Check the wiper motor connections and grounds, they may be dirty or corroded.

Best
Dave

[tirwin]

What kind of headlights are you using and what is the wattage of the bulbs? Do you have the headlight relays installed?

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by masterdave

could also be a grounding issue, I have the same issue with my high beams always being on, im almost sure its my switch but i have no had the time to fix it. I had the same wiper issue on my 924s a few years back. Turned out the wiper motor grounds were corroded and all messed up, after i cleaned them up i never had the issue again. Check the wiper motor connections and grounds, they may be dirty or corroded.

Best
Dave

Dave
high or low beams being stuck on is the switch.
inside the sw are thin copper strips that carry the current.
these strips are separated by plastic blocks at the top.
with heavy use the plastic melts enough for two strips to fuse together thus leaving either the high or low beams stuck on.

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by 7T7911s

Any other thoughts??

I'll check voltage tonight. I have changed the voltage regulator 3 times in the last
2 years.
Kenny

Think logically.
What was the original problem?
If everything else was fine except for your high-beams flickering then stay with that.
retrace your new switch install. If you never had the wipers coming on problem until you installed the new switch then it makes sense that something was done wrong during install.

On the flickering high beams. look at your old sw where the lever goes in.
you'll see the copper strips there. by looking there and clicking lever back and forth you can tell if the switch was or was not working correctly. the 3 strips are held in plastic block at the top. they should not be touching each other. over time the plastic heats up and the strips get loose and in cases two strips will fuse together.
look for discoloration or heat spots on the plastic .
If you can see your old sw is definitely faulty then a new sw was the correct fix.
the wiper thing is just the result of hooking up something wrong. You may have the wiper and headlight sw plugs back-wards where they plug in under the dash.

[Tippy]

Grounds will drive you mad!

[dshepp806]

Tippy's ON!!!!! As noted, supply side voltage needs to be correct and stable. NEXT (without question), those grounds.

(all of the above assuming proper wiring and such).

There can exist "madness" with a challenging ground problem,..seen it many times on various systems (not car related),..the "car" stuff: you can nail !!!!!!!!

Best of luck.....

Doyle

[masterdave]

@lonewolf

Usually the high beams i can get them to shut off but once i hit a bump or some thing they come back on.

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by masterdave

@lonewolf

Usually the high beams i can get them to shut off but once i hit a bump or some thing they come back on.

That sounds different then what you first described. I thought your high beams were stuck on and you had no low beam anymore. that's common for sw failure.

[masterdave]

Sorry for the confusion I still have low beams, but they just like to switch to the high beam setting all the time. Unfortunately I'm at college now and the car is not with me so I won't be able to check untill I'm home again but I will keep you posted when I check it out.

[Ole Petter]

I have another not unsimilar problem. When switching on the full beam, after some time the light disappears! When switching back to low beam the light comes on again... Puh!
I had the same problem a couple of years back, then I installed a new steering-column light-switch and a relay kit. Now when driving with full beam lights, the light suddenly disappears! Argghhh After some time I can switch back to full beam, and then the full beam comes on again, but just for some time...

Are these problems connected? Grounding issues or just a "worn switch"?

[tirwin]

Quote de masterdave

@lonewolf



Usually the high beams i can get them to shut off but once i hit a bump or some thing they come back on.

That sounds different then what you first described. I thought your high beams were stuck on and you had no low beam anymore. that's common for sw failure.

Just wanted to share my experience if it helps. When I bought my 911 I had the same problem plus some other flakiness with the turn signals. Replaced the turn signal stalk only to have the problem come back. Turns out the new turn signal stalk fried too. It did the same thing where the brights had a hair trigger.

I have H4 headlights and I had to install the headlight relays to avoid the power for the headlights running through the stalk.

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by Ole Petter

I have another not unsimilar problem. When switching on the full beam, after some time the light disappears! When switching back to low beam the light comes on again... Puh!
I had the same problem a couple of years back, then I installed a new steering-column light-switch and a relay kit. Now when driving with full beam lights, the light suddenly disappears! Argghhh After some time I can switch back to full beam, and then the full beam comes on again, but just for some time...

Are these problems connected? Grounding issues or just a "worn switch"?

What year is your car and do you have a good headlight relay in it ?
It's the first thing and easiest to replace to see if that helps but sounds like the switch is starting to go.

High and low beam problems are common with a faulty switch and turn sig sw problems are common in 911 because of their design. each copper strip has a small pad on the end.when sw is moved the pad makes contact with the other strip. These pads burn down over time and the clearance makes contact weak.current will sometimes arc ,heats up ,shuts off,cools goes back on, that causes flickering or they will work for a bit then loose contact and go off and back and forth. A bump or shock to the steering column could cause the contact to go on or off.
In the end either the high or lows get stuck on and the other won't work.

[Ole Petter]

My car is a 1975 S, I bought this relay kit Porsche 911 & Carrera Lights and Lenses - Page 2

It should help with the problem with the light switch, but maybe there are other issues?

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by Ole Petter

I have another not unsimilar problem. When switching on the full beam, after some time the light disappears! When switching back to low beam the light comes on again... Puh!
I had the same problem a couple of years back, then I installed a new steering-column light-switch and a relay kit. Now when driving with full beam lights, the light suddenly disappears! Argghhh After some time I can switch back to full beam, and then the full beam comes on again, but just for some time...

Are these problems connected? Grounding issues or just a "worn switch"?

Whenever something electrical does something it is not supposed do but does this with the exact same outcome everytime, it is normally traced to a bad ground (in my experience).

Electricity is going to take the path of least resistance - whether a ground (where it is supposed to go) or a totally different component (obviously where it is not)!