Technical headlight problem

[capristeve]

hi all

not been on here for a while, but was wondering if anybody had any
suggestions

most of the time my headlights work fine, but on the odd occasion dipped beam falis to work, and also if i turn the lights off after a period of time, dipped beam doesn't work for about 5 minutes, then everythings fine again,
i put my hand on the wiring behind the dash switch and i was a little warm,

any thoughts would be greatly recieved

steve

 

[jimbro1000]

It's probably the column switch - the dipped beam circuit doesn't have a relay so the full current goes through the switch. Unless of course you have a late model in which case I'm talking rubbish.

If it doesn't have a relay then the relatively quick and easy option is to get a relay wired into the circuit. The column switch will cease overheating and your alternator will stop having a fit whenever you switch the headlights on.

The fact that the wiring is getting warm suggests that the lack of a relay is indeed the problem. Simply put the wiring shouldn't heat up noticeably, if the wiring is getting warm then the switch itself is getting seriously hot.

 

[capristeve]

thanks for the reply
it's an 1988 model, with the switch on the dash, left of the steering wheel, does this make a difference

steve