High Beams Not Working

[MaineTarga]

Hello. Was driving at night and suddenly I smelled smoke coming from the area of the pedals and my headlights went out. I was using the high beams. I pulled over and by the time I stopped my headlights had come back on but now I have low beams in both the high and low beam positions on stalk switch. Also, the blue round high beam indicator light on the dash gauge is not lighting up. Everything else electrical is working as it should including emergency flashers, blinkers, and brake lights, etc. I have checked my fuses and all are in good condition along with the wires connecting to the fuse box. I am thinking from the little puff of smoke that came from the pedal area that the relay fried. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Does anyone make replacement relays. I can only seem to find used ones on eBay. Thank you! John

[WFBowen]

Remotely diagnosing electrical issues is usually a crap shoot and can sometimes cause even more problems. My suggestion would be to disconnect the battery, then very carefully mark which wires go to which terminals on the suspect relay. Once you’re absolutely certain of your labeling, carefully remove each wire followed by removing the relay. With any luck, you’ll see a wiring diagram on the relay which shows inputs and switching functions. Now you can try a modern relay with the same number of spades and carefully reconnect your wires. A safer way to proceed is to temporarily splice in some inline fuses then connect one at a time, each time putting the battery cable back on, then trying the various light switch functions. The inline fuses are a good idea not just to protect the new relay (they’re cheap) but to avoid damaging your existing wiring. Used oem relays IIRC are nla and buying a used one is a crap shoot and, because you’re not certain if actually functions as new, will just complicate the situation.
Hope this helps - it’s really just a starting point.
Bill