AAARGH!!! Help! Headlight switch is driving me crazy

[Rome]

I am so close to graduating. I just got the car back from the body shop a couple of days ago and they did a really nice job. I am so happy and so close.
unfortunately I am having a couple of problems which are keeping me from graduation.
The first and most important is the headlight switch.
It never worked right for me. Actually that is not true. I had someone install the electrical for me and at first the headlight worked fine. well kind of. upon first pull everything would come on (interior lights, parking lights and headlight. That didn't bother me cause I had lights.
Then, the lights would short out on me while driving. Everything would flicker on and off. Then it started going off altogether which is pretty scary when driving a dark car on a rural road.
I contacted FFR and they sent me another switch. I carefully installed that switch myself. Making sure to connect the wires correctly. So at first, again things worked just fine. First pull would turn on interior and parking lights and second pull would also turn on the headlights.
Perfect.
that is until the same thing started happening again.
then for some reason the connectors wouldn't work as they were supposed to. for example, the parking light connector on the switch stopped working (no juice). so I switched it to another connector. The same would happen with the headlight switch and so on. The switch would randomly send power to the connectors.
I called FFR again and they promptly sent me another switch.

I waited until I got the car back and now this is what is happening.
My headlights don't work anymore,.. period.
when I connect the headlight wire to a live connector nothing happens.
To make things even worse, the new switch FFR sent me doesn't work properly. Only two connectors go live upon first and second pull.

Is it me? why is this happening? I checked the fuse box to see if perhaps a fuse had blown but I don't even see a headlight fuse indication.

FFR has been great. In fact I feel bad about calling them to ask for another switch.

Does anyone have a clue what is happening and why. and what I can do about it??/


Oh the second issue is my wiper system. for some reason the coil bunches up in the middle instead of going through, That means the second wiper stops working. I tried to put a stiff metal rod on the coil to prevent from doing that but it still does. this is not a big deal as I can still drive the car and hardly need wipers, but any advice would be appreciated.

[michael everson]

Is it wired exactly as shown in the wiring diagram supplied by Factory Five? If so Its probably something else in your wiring causing a problem. I have used many of there switches and have never had one fail.
What harness was installed in the car? Seems strange that there wouldnt be a fuse for the headlights. there could be a resettable circuit breaker somewhere that has failed. How about your dimmer switch? this may be causing problems as well. As for your wiper system. It should have come with a thin wall aluminum tubing that slides over the cable and gets sandwiched on each side of the wheel boxes. It will not operate properly with out it
Mike

[Pierre B]

Very often, in troubleshooting an electrical problem, checking of the ground connections is overlooked. Intermittent electrical problems can stem from a loose ground. Problem is, since you did not do your own wiring, you may not know how or where the ground connections are. Just a thought.

Now to the flex in your wiper cable. I should think that an easy fix - if only temporary - might involve getting a thick-walled piece of rubber fuel line, splitting it down the middle, then slipping it around the cable. Of course the rubber tube needs to be the right diameter so it fits quite snugly around the wiper sheath. The split hose can be secured with cable ties of what ever spacing might do the job for you. Remember too that this wiper sheath, as I seem to recall, gets clamped at both ends, and that should stabilize it some as well. If the one size of hose doesn't do the job, get another one size up, split it, and wrap it around the first (after taking the cable ties off the first hose of course. I say this may only be a temporary fix because, if it works, it will at least give you an idea of how much stabilization the sheath needs in order to perform properly. After that, you may want to try something more permanent or more 'sanitary.' And if all of this doesn't work, well it only involves two short pieces of rubber hose. Good luck.

[Rome]

I've made sure the ground was connected. At least on the headlight switch.
Thanks for the advice about the wipers. I think I have a game plan now.


This headlight switch issue is driving me nuts though.
Does anyone know, are the headlights and interior lights connected to a fuse. I can't seem to find any fuses with that label. and could I have blown my headlights somehow? why would they no longer work , even when connected to a live connector on the headlight switch?

[Rome]

Is it wired exactly as shown in the wiring diagram supplied by Factory Five? If so Its probably something else in your wiring causing a problem. I have used many of there switches and have never had one fail.
What harness was installed in the car? Seems strange that there wouldnt be a fuse for the headlights. there could be a resettable circuit breaker somewhere that has failed. How about your dimmer switch? this may be causing problems as well. As for your wiper system. It should have come with a thin wall aluminum tubing that slides over the cable and gets sandwiched on each side of the wheel boxes. It will not operate properly with out it
Mike
What do you mean by is it wired? Do you mean do the wires connect to the switch as shown in the diagram supplied by FFR? If so, the answer is yes, and no. I've tried every connection combination including the one shown in the diagram. problem is if one connector worked in one instance it would stop working in the next. they just switched/jumped around all by themselves. Weird but true.


As for the wipers, Ah ha,,. I must have missed that. Makes sense. I will look for that tubing. Thanks.

[Rome]

to be more precise.
this is the old headlight switch, which apparently works better than the new one I received as it powers two connectors at first pull and three at full pull. of course, I know from history that that can change at any moment. In any case the new switch only sends power to two connectors at both pull of the switch.http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m207/rome_011/IMG_6709.jpg

Here is the fuse box.I don't see any indication for any kind of lighting,.. or am I blind?
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m207/rome_011/IMG_6707.jpg

Here is underside of the dash just in case you guys can spot something I am missing.
Stupid question time. What is that little red button for?
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m207/rome_011/IMG_6711.jpg

[Rome]

Here she is btw,... http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m207/rome_011/IMG_6713.jpg

[jlfernan]

The red button may be, like I have, in place of the neutral safety switch. I have a button installed that I have to depress in order the the starter to engage the engine.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2561/jorgec.jpg (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/private.php?do=newpm&u=111)

[michael everson]

Great looking car. Love the stripes down the side. Where are you located?


Looks to be a Ron francis sytem used for your wiring. the red button is likely used to set up your gauges or change your clock. Appears you have the newer FFR gauges? Where is your dimmer switch? Its pretty much impossible for the switch contact to move location without some type of major failure of the switch.
Mike

[Rome]

Great looking car. Love the stripes down the side. Where are you located?


Looks to be a Ron francis sytem used for your wiring. the red button is likely used to set up your gauges or change your clock. Appears you have the newer FFR gauges? Where is your dimmer switch? Its pretty much impossible for the switch contact to move location without some type of major failure of the switch.
Mike

Thank you. I am in Maryland, near Columbia.

This is a MKIII complete kit FFR Cobra. So the gauges and wiring harness are what was included in the Kit. As far as dimmer switch, I have my high beam/low beam switch set on the side. As far as dimming the interior lights, it was a matter of turning the headlight switch.

I can't figure out why my headlights aren't coming on at all.

[Rome]

Could the "run Lts/radio" fuse be it? does "Lts" stand for lights?

[first time builder]

Headlights are not normally fused. The" run lts" fuse should controll the power to park and tail lamps. I have had similar problem when high/low beam switch went bad. That would be the first thing to check.

Kenny

[Rome]

Headlights are not normally fused. The" run lts" fuse should controll the power to park and tail lamps. I have had similar problem when high/low beam switch went bad. That would be the first thing to check.

Kenny


Really?/ how would I check that? did your high low beam also effect how the headlight switch work too? I will check it out none the less

[first time builder]

Depending on what type high/low switch you have. If floor type step on button one lug is power in the other two are output to high or low beams . If using a two position three lug toggle switch center is power in and other ends are high /low. The power in to high /low switch gets power when headlight switch is in its full out position. To check you must pull headlight switch to full out position then check ( using test light or voltmeter) power in to switch and if that is good then power outputs. If you are not getting power in then Headlight switch or feed to switch is bad. If in is OK and no outs then high/low switch is bad. Hope that helps.
Kenny

[Rome]

Depending on what type high/low switch you have. If floor type step on button one lug is power in the other two are output to high or low beams . If using a two position three lug toggle switch center is power in and other ends are high /low. The power in to high /low switch gets power when headlight switch is in its full out position. To check you must pull headlight switch to full out position then check ( using test light or voltmeter) power in to switch and if that is good then power outputs. If you are not getting power in then Headlight switch or feed to switch is bad. If in is OK and no outs then high/low switch is bad. Hope that helps.
Kenny

I cannot thank you enough. Based on your recommendation I checked my high/low switch and low and behold THAT was the problem. All the wires had come loose and disconnected to the switch. It was hard for me to see that because I had reinforced the connections with electrical tape (due to the fact that they would come loose due to vibration). even though the tape was still there, they were all disconnected.
Once I reconnected them my headlight worked just fine.
Of course now I am back to square one. I am using the old switch (since the new one only had two operating connectors) and it seems to be working fine. Problem is, I've been there before only to have it switch off at some point.
Still not confident driving it at night, but will keep an eye on it.
Thanks so much for your response. I don't think I would have checked my H/L switch if not for your advice.

[first time builder]

Glad it worked out for you, sometimes its the simple things we overlook.

Kenny