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Weird electrical issues


fast5speed
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Hi there o'knowledgeable NPORA members!

 

Today (for the past few weeks actually) I've been having odd electrical issues. First, the low-beam on my passenger head light went out. Then, I noticed the high-beam on my driver's headlight went out. Odd, I thought, since the pass. headlight is only 5 months old. A couple days later (hadn't repaced headlights yet), at a red light, my dash lights suddenly flickered. A few days after that, I turned my headlights on, and my dash lights didn't come on, but my head lights still worked the same (one high, one low beam on opposite sides). I do landscaping, so I only drive my truck during day light, but I figured it was time to figure out what the heck is going on. I put in new headlights, and nothing changed. Still have the same low beam out, and the same high beam out. Checked my fuses for head lights and dash lights, all fuses working. Then, I noticed that my tail lights weren't working. I assume the tail lights are tied into the dash lights.

 

When I say "dash lights" I mean the illumination lights for gauges. My idiot lights (CEL, battery, oil, brake, etc etc) still work. Is my headlight selector stalk broken or am I having serious issues with grounds?

 

 

Looking to fix this relatively soon as we recently got a snowstorm and I need the 4x4 on the truck to get around.

 

Thanks guys

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The lights are a common problem, which you can fix by pulling out the light switch and cleaning the contacts. They get corroded (partially because the system has no relays, so the contacts carry the full wattage of the lamps) and quit making contact. Each filament has its own contact (high and low beam for both), and IIRC the tail lights and front corners share a contact. I suspect this contact also does the dash lights. Cleaning them isn't difficult but they'll need some adjustment to make and break contact like they should. Here's what mine looked like inside (I think I labelled it right):

 

P1010001-12.jpg

 

Or you can buy a new switch. Either way, the headlight relay mod should make the switches last longer.

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WOW!! Thanks. That was the issue. You nailed it instantly. I'm impressed. Most of my contacts had some black sort of build up. I think the issue is that they aren't actuating properly to make contact, as opposed to the build-up being the problem.

 

I never would have guessed this. Now I know the issue and can snag a new one from the JY.

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I read about it here when my passenger's high beam started cutting out. :) Hopefully the JY one is clean. If not, the contacts aren't that tough to adjust, just a little fiddly. Having a set of gator clips and a multimeter makes the process loads easier.

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  • 5 years later...

I do (somewhere) but unfortunately it's just the headlight contacts, not the contacts for your blinker. The headlight contacts are arranged with two groups of two contacts top and bottom (left and right high beam on one side, low beam on the other) with the marker light (corner, tail, license plate, dash lights) contact in the middle. Easy enough to see which batch is for which beam by messing with the stalk and watching them move (that's how I worked it out). I haven't had a reason to open up the turn signal part of the switch so I have no idea how to get into that or what would likely go wrong. That said, given that yours isn't just acting up on right or left, it's acting up on both, I'd be surprised if the switch was the issue.

Edited by Slartibartfast
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