Headlights Playing Up. Switch, or Relay?

[focus_7]

Hi Gents, the headlamps started playing up on my AE86 the other day.

when I flick the knob to headlights on, the headlights don;t come on, however my instrument cluster High Beam indicator is on.

Pulling the high beam lever works fine, as do the parkers.

First thought is it's the switch, and perhaps something broken on the inside. But I should I also be considering something else?

[Hen may possibly be a nut]

AE86 headlight switches often cause problems. Usually meaning the dash lights don't Work, but I've had one that would only intermittently turn the headlights on.

You can fix them by pulling them apart and resoldering the connections on the little board inside. Check and clean the contacts for the headlight switch too. Hopefully should get you running Again.

Hen

[focus_7]

Took your advice and also followed the guide in this thread (http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/showthread.php/14578-ae86-headlight-switch-problems) but still no luck. At a bit of a loss here, all the contact points have been cleaned up and look good, and all the connections have been touched up with a bit of solder. Is there a way I can check the headlights still work by bypassing/bridging the switch?

[Matt]

Measure with a multimeter power at the headlight itself. If you do a continuity test on the switch it should tell you if it is working as expected.

Could be as simple as both globes failed on low beam. Had this happen once before, and I was checking everything but the globe itself.

[focus_7]

Cheers Matt, I'll have a play around with it. I did a continuity test on the switch and that definitely looked good.

If there's no power at the headlight or the actual globes being out that wouldn't explain the High-Beam indicator coming on would it?

[focus_7]

I hear the headlight relay click when the witch is turned on, but when I check the voltage at the plug I'm not getting a reading, however when the high beam paddle is pulled I've got 12v from two of the connectors to what I assume is the ground.

Any suggestions?

[Matt]

Power to high beam should be considered completely separate from low beam as the globes are twin filament. The high beam indicator is just a globe in the dash to say the high beams are on.

I'll have a look at how mine works tomorrow and report back with more detailed info on what to check.

[davew7]

Sounds like the relay or the power feed connections. Turn the lights on, and check for power at the 10A fuses. Dave W

[focus_7]

Hi fellas, have not had the chance to look at this since my last post on the weekend. However to add another piece of information when I have the headlight switch set to 'on' and the high beams set to 'off' the high beam indicator bulb is at full brightness, however when I activate the high beams this bulb then dims and is about half as bright.

I think I'm leaning towards something shorting out in the switch, but will test other hypotheses this weekend.

[luke20]

The exact same problem happened to my 86. then one day they just started working again lol

[tan18d]

i had some loose wiring under the dash. wiggled it around and it all started working.

Best way to check where the issue is, get a multimeter. Check if there is anything coming from the relay. If not then there is an issue between the relay and switch. Otherwise, the headlight bulb plugs might be dodgy.

[Jrad]

Digging up an old thread thread, I know. But a good place to keep this issue in one place if it is common.

I have the exact (to the T) issue in my car at the moment. I had previously had headlights and dash lights.
I pulled out my headlight switch and resoldered all the joints which now gives me dash lights.

However, still no headlights. All the others work, with the high beam globe stuck on.

Did you ever get around to finding a definite fix to this problem?

[Matt]

37049

Looking at the wiring diagram above, when you flash your lights it bypasses the headlight switch. My feel is your headlight switch is still faulty.

id try a new headlight switch first if you can find one, failing that as all the switch does is provide a ground to the head light relay you could earth it as a test temporarily

[focus_7]

Jrad 0- I did solve this problem.

I think there was a dodgy connection in the plug that sits on the steering column. It appeared excess heat had melted the plug in a place and cut the connection for the main headline wire.

I had a pry the plug apart, and replace the pins then it was all good!