1995 Pathfinder Headlight switch pin contacts & Headlights stay on when car is OFF

[OptimusPrimeX]

Hello all .. this is my first post in the forums, usually just lurking

Have a few questions...

- Headlights stay on when truck is OFF
- Headlight switch ... Driver-side headlight is out ( brights and normal )

( and yes i searched the forums, found similar topics but didn't explain details i need)


My 1995 pathfinder now has Two issues

1. My headlights will stay on when the car is off, so it's become really annoying lately. I have to
pop the hood and disconnect the negative cable when i park.

2. I disconnected the headlight switch from the column to look at the pins. I had seen in a few
discussions that sometimes the pins need to be cleaned. I put it back in without cleaning it to inspect it
and now my driver side headlight is out.

How does one even clean the pins, since the pin would need to be bent up.
I slightly bent up one to inspect and i think it's NOT making contact so the driver side is out.

Here's the thing, are all 5 pins suppose to make contact and when the lever is positioned it disengages contact
or is it the other way around. I really just want to get the driver-side headlight working again, which pin would it be ?
I can't see how they could be cleaned without bending them up without being able to
bend them back down. Since trying to bend them back into position wouldn't work without taking the whole dam thing
apart since there's no room to bend down. It could be a coincidence and the bulb blew on the driver-side but the timing
of me taking out the switch doesn't make sense, but possible. Didn't feel like taking the intake parts off to get to the
headlight just yet if i don't have to. Doesn't help that it's cold as hell out and also night time >_O

Also since i read that this is a "hot" system, there is no "headlight relay". So i'm thinking that there is a wire somewhere
that is grounding or something idk...

These are the pins.. i need to know if they always contact or make contact when switched so i can try to fix this.
Not my picture.. just one i found

 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated....

[Slartibartfast]

Yep, the contacts can be a little finicky. When I did the switch in my '95 (and took that picture!) it took a little monkeying around to get everything back to normal. I just kept tweaking the strips until they all moved properly. IIRC when I cleaned the one in my '93 I put a piece of 800 grit or so between the contacts, closed the contacts by moving the switch, then pulled the sandpaper out (and repeated as needed) and didn't have to screw around with readjusting.

When the contacts come together, the light they attach to comes on. You shouldn't have more than three making contact at once.

 

I haven't heard of one sticking closed (usually they fail open, that is, light won't turn on because the contacts are fouled) but the switch would've been my first stop too. I'm not sure what else in the circuit would be keeping the headlights on unless you have DRLs. If you unplug the switch, the lights should go out. I'm not sure what would cause it to fail closed, but my suspicion (if adjustment doesn't sort it out) would be something stuck in the mechanism inside. I didn't tear into mine that far so I'm no help there.

 

If you unplug it and the lights don't go out, well, you're in for some fun tracking that one down. These trucks don't come with headlight relays, so the switch carries full power. The wires from the switch to the lights are +, and the lights are grounded to the chassis (-). A short to ground from the + side would blow a fuse, not keep a headlight on; it would have to be a bare + wire from something else touching the headlight wire, which would surprise me.