more high beam / switch frustration

[derek murray]

in trying to get my high beams to work I pulled out the switch and found the internals to be melted (plastic parts) and fused (a few contacts). so i took the plunge and bought a new one, which i installed tonight... and guess what still no high beams.

this is what i know:

1. new switch

2. bulbs are ok.

3. the fuses are ok and there is power at all four fuses (high and low beams)

4. the high beam indicator light in the tach will flicker once when the turn signal is activated (but with no effect to the headlights)

5. the high beam indicator light does not come on (or flicker for that matter) when the high beams are activated at the switch (pushed backwards)

I haved reviewed the wiring diagram and see that there is such a thing as a "headlight flasher changerover relay". could this be the problem... and where the heck is it located?

thanks in advance...

[khyden]

Hello,

I had some wiring problems on my 2.7 -74. The relay on my car is behind the pressue gauges and RPM-gauge, pull out and you will see them. During last winter I spent some two days looking on the wiring diagram, burned two lightswitches and ended up taking my car to car-electrician. It costed my some 200 euros + two switches another 350 euros. The electrician added some relays to prevent loss of power and lights works just fine. first now

[Early_S_Man]

Derek,

It is behind the instruments, next to the rectangular turn signal relay ... access through trunk/bonnet, and it is one of the black round relays. If you don't have a spare, you can use the horn relay (down by the battery box/fuse panel) for testing purposes.

[derek murray]

Thanks Guys.

I have h4's so I intend on installing relays to avoid burning out the new switch. I just need to get those high beams working before things get more complicated with a set of relays (I have limited electronic abilities... but learning). Since the steering wheel and clamshells are off anyway it should be easy to test the relay behind the instruments.

I'll pick up a couple of relays on my way home from work and test it tonight...

[vesnyder]

Guys, just went through the headlight/switch issue. In my case the bright lights would not go off! I first installed new relays and this did not do the trick. I then installed a new turn signal switch. After this install the brights did not work at all, and the turn signals did not work either. After about an hour of debugging I realized the new relay was not properly wired, and the turn signal wire on the signal switch was not inserted correctly.

So far so good! Now I am ready to install 80/100W headlamp bulbs!

[derek murray]

Update: new relay installed behind instrument panel... still no high beams... could I be losing my mind... there is power to headlights from both yellow and white wires, but no substantial difference between high and low. Should there be?. Should both filaments be burning bright white when high beams are on. Is there a noticable (big) difference between the light levels on high and low (55/60 bulbs)... this is driving me nuts... help

In an effort to trouble shoot this problem I need to ask a couple of very basic questions.

On the image of an H4 bulb, below, which terminal is for the high beam (white wire) and which if for the low beam (yellow wire)? I am assuming terminal number 2 is earth (brown wire).

On the second image which filament is low and which is the high beam?

FYI, a PO did not use a factory connector to attach the wires to the headlamps, but simply used female spades on the end of each wire...

[derek murray]

SOLVED...

The problem was threefold, firstly a bad switch, secondly the headlamps were wired incorrectly, so for future reference to the photo above terminal # 1 - earth (brown), #2 - low (yellow), #3 - high (white), and thirdly, the tachometer was wired incorrectly so the high beam indicator was wired with the signals and vice versa... seems all so simple now...

Thanks for all the help.