electrical gremlin!!! (UPDATE)

[Nick52284]

so i was cruising tonight when all of the sudden my headlights started spazin, flickering on and off, luckily i was close to home, what should be the first thing i check for tomorrow when i look at it? good thing i have 2 cars lol!

Nick

[mrltd]

sounds like the headlight switch

[Nick52284]

i was jiggling it around but it seems like when i hit a bump it would make them flicker, is there a relay or something that would be loose?

Nick

[85crownHPP]

no relays - its just the switch and the lights - and is the reason the headlight switches burn out.
the bump thing could be a bad connection in the switch or fuse box getting jarred.
Also there is a connector on the drivers fenderwell with the headlight wires in it - those connectors are bad about getting corroded. open those up and have a look.

[Nick52284]

thanks man i'll check out those 2 tomorrow, this site is a godsend to me! you guys give me the inspiration to keep working on cars!!

Nick

[Nick52284]

ok the headlights didn't flash today so far? what gives? i was bumping the headlight switch and bumping the fuse panel, i checked what i believed to be the headlights harness and bumped that around and the lights stayed on! i'm just worried that if i drive at night they'll go out again. where exactly is the headlight harness i wanna be sure i checked the right plugs, and is there anything else to check for?

Nick

[85crownHPP]

Im not sure exactly on yours, but you should be able to follow the wires from the headlights back to it. Id say also check the connections on the headlights themselves, but the fact you said they both flicker makes me think its a switch/wiring problem.

The classic symptom for a switch or switch connector being 'burnt out' is intermittant flickering - eventually they will quit working altogether if thats the problem.
Do you have any foglights or acessories wired into the headlight/marker light circuit? Thats an easy way to burn the switch up if you dont use relays.

Id replace the switch for peace of mind about that and go from there.

[Nick52284]

ok i'll get a switch and go from there, also i can't figure out how to get the knob out of the switch to pull the front part of the dashboard off, i read somewhere that theres a clip that you have to push but i can't seem to get it?

Nick

[85crownHPP]

what are you driving? If its a grand marq its pretty easy, pull off the speedo trim and theres should be just 2 screws holding the whole light switch plate in.
If its a vic you are in for some cussing - you have to contort your arm up to the switch from behind the dash to hit the buttom on the side of the switch facing the passenger side of the car.

Good luck!

[Nick52284]

i'm driving a merc but the switch sounds like the one you described for the vic, its the round pull out switch, i can't get the dash trim off cuz the knob won't come out, i'll try the button on the side of the switch if i can find it, i can pull the dash out enough to see the plate, there are 4 screws holding it in, anywho i'll let you know if i make any progress tomorrow, thanks for the reply's!

Nick

[gadget73]

Might also be the ground connections on the headlight harness, the multi-function switch in the column, or like Pete said earlier, the connection over on the starter relay. I'd honestly pull and clean all the connections on the starter relay just for the sheer hell of it, as the entire electrical system on the car feeds off this point.

[88MercWagon]

A few years ago when my g-pa was still driving the wagon, he had the same problem, and it was the swtich. It only happened spontaneously, and he couldn't replicate it, but after he replaced the swtich it didn't happen again.

[Nick52284]

i have another question. if i replace the headlights with stock ones that should fix the problem correct? from what i've learned you guys said the new headlights are overloading the switch causing it to sporatically cut out, if i replace the headlights with oem that should cure the problem?

nick

[Archangel]

Nick, why don't you make the relayed harness? With it I was able to boost the stock 2x35W low beams to the blazing 4x55W, that's like 3 times more light! High beams went up with only 40watts (4x65 vs. the stock 4x55), so now I'm running 220W in low and 260W in high, and that's without any driving lights, fog lights, or anything of that kind.

Actually IIRC I mentioned you that I'll be doing a write-up about that whole deal... sorry man, never got around it, but I promise I'll get it done by Monday. So tomorrow someone please remind me of that in a PM :D

[85crownHPP]

If the problem is already there, changeing headlights wont solve it, the dmage is done most likely. What non-OEM headlights are you running?

I plan to do what Ivan did - I already have relays installed and wired into my 90's panther fusebox, I just keep forgetting to pull a spare headlight harness to use to hook them up (so I can put it back to the orginal way in a few seconds, if there are any problems).

[85crownHPP]

Ivan, I split your tech info into its own thread -

here a link for anyone reading this and looking for it:

http://www.grandmarq.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6031

[Archangel]

Aight man, no problem, I only posted it there so it's easier for Nick to find it and use it.

[85crownHPP]

fo real :D

not that I thought it didnt apply, I just wanted to make sure your info could be found again easily, cuz its good stuff.

[Nick52284]

awesome write-up, i will be wiring everything after the holidays! for the time being i got stock headlights, i was using the h4 ebay lights, with the stock lights the problem dissapeared!

Nick

[Grand Marquis GT]

This is what I love about my electrical guys...

They make long, and VERY great writeups, and I only read thru them when I need them :D

Big thanks to those guys... Ivan, you also seem to know your shit very well...