a ghost in the headlight circuit

[Burntboot]

Several months ago, while driving at night a few times the headlights winked out for a second.
While it happened the high beam indicator came on.
When it first happened, it happened so fast, I wasn't even sure that it happened at all.
Hasn't happened in months but just occurred again tonight.
Happened 3x on a 20 min drive.
Normally I wouldn't worry too much, but we are slated to leave on a road trip tomorrow.
Out to the coast, 3 days and 2500km each way.

For what it's worth, over the past week in preparation, all the grounds have been cleaned and the power points too.
Also checked the column connectors while I was in there, as I changed out the instrument pack for one with a tach.
Running like a champ but this ghost is most troubling,
not sure if he is just messing with me or giving fair warning.

It can't be the fuse box as it is the whole circuit.
The winking of the beam indicator is most troubling too, what's up with that, another symptom to boot?
In fact all the main fuses under the pass seat were replaced, along with ALL the fusible links and I've rechecked them since.
Has anyone experienced a similar ghost?
An occasional wink out I can live with but if I lose everything while driving, that surely wouldn't be good,
oh no it would not.
Just prior to this happening we had one occurrence of the dreaded no-start,
but several tries later it connected and caught.
No more did it happen, with several more stops
But this winking is troubling, oh yes it is troubling.

Also seem to have Dr Suess stuck in my head,
the rhyming is driving me right round the bend.

BB

[Burntboot]

So, Mr Sleeman was able to slay Dr Suess.

I suspect wiring to be the fault due, to the high beam indicator lighting up (as opposed to the headlamp switch)

This trip has been in the planning stages for far too long.
Worst case scenario, we limit our night driving.
Will take supplies to effect electrical repairs, just in case.

If anyone has been down this road, would appreciate hearing your fixes though.

BB

[timsrv]

I know you checked the column wires already, but check that white/black ground wire that runs through the flat blue connector very closely. I've seen this pin burn more than once. Here's some pics of what it can look like & a pic of how I repair. If this wire loses connection anywhere between the switch & chassis ground, the result is no headlights & a blue high beam indicator.









If you don't find it, and it ends up failing at a key moment, you can pull the turn signal stalk towards you (momentary position) and that will give you all headlights (both high beams & low beams) long enough to pull off the road. I wouldn't recommend driving for too far like this though as you might start overheating other wires. Tim

[Burntboot]

Thanks Tim, that was exactly the kind of info I was looking for.
Madly packing but will take supplies and find time to look into on the trip, if it happens again.
I suspect that my fault is what you describe, with a little luck it will wait till we get back.
I did clean up that connector while I was in there but will admit that I only gave it a cursory glance, will pay more attention next time around
perhaps I will just bypass the connector instead of mucking around.

Thanks again, we'll catch you on the flip side.
BB

[timsrv]

Did you ever get to the bottom of this? Just curious as to what the outcome was. Tim

[Burntboot]

Unfortunately I never did Tim.

The trip went off without a hitch, 4500km return, not so much as a hiccup.
Had tons of night driving as well, with nary a flicker.
Added 1L of oil at 3000km and averaged around 10.2L/100km (23'ish MPG) on fuel.

But the answer will be coming very soon, hopefully next week, was out driving last night and the ghost was stirring again.
BB

[timsrv]

I always like to find the exact trouble spot & fix, but sometimes it's not worth the time/effort. If locating yours is a problem you can always run a separate wire to ground & tie it in with the white/black wire shown in my picture above (preferably on the steering wheel side of that blue connector). I would recommend running it to that metal support bar under the dash using 12 ga wire. At least then you can rule out the most likely reason (bad ground hidden somewhere in the harness). If the problem still occurs after that the list of possibilities is significantly reduced. Tim

[Burntboot]

Hey Tim - While I expect that locating the problem will be a pain, I am loathe to take short cuts, btdt and it never works out as planned, at least for me.
My problem is actually finding the time to get into it, that said, the time is coming fast, the "spring" rebuild session is about to get underway, yeah, I know it is late fall but that is the way things tend to go for me.
Plan is to dive into the dash, deal with the heater core, maybe sort out the AC some if I am lucky, but most of all I am aiming at the rust around (under) the windshield. Don't figure there is much point in trying to sort electrical issues when I know have water leaking in past the windscreen, only on heavy rains, and only sometimes, but no good will come of it if I ignore it any longer.
No doubt, with everything apart, I should be able to find a few minutes to dive into the lighting circuit as well.
Seeing as my ghost is becoming a more frequent visitor these days, always just a flicker, but now I seem to be able to count on it every time I use the lights :(
Will keep you posted on what I find.
BB

[technocj]

I had the same problem in my 85. Eventually I found a burned connector where one of the large connectors enters the back of the fuse box, under the dash. I was able to cut off a portion of the connector, and use new spade connectors, I doubt I will be able to get a picture, I should have when I had it apart. I noticed my lights seem a bit brighter, and the problem has not re occurred.

[dirk roland]

I was excited to come across this thread and thought I had a solution to this kinda sketchy problem. Well I got under the steering column cover and low and behold some one had already done this bypass. Both connections look good, I don't know much about electrical but it looks like they used proper connectors. Now I'm thinking it is the light control switch for a few reasons. Sometimes (maybe 15% of the time) I turn on the head lights they don't come on and blue high beam light flashes which is what happens when the lights go out while I'm driving. If I wiggle the control switch the head lights will come back on which is what I have to do when they go out and stay out (sometimes its just a second ore two flicker). Any thoughts? Has anyone had similar experience? Are these hard to come by? I'm nervous about night driving, it seems like a good reason to get pulled over. Any help is much appreciated!

[LeonDaneko]

I know you checked the column wires already, but check that white/black ground wire that runs through the flat blue connector very closely. [...]

do you know where I might find this blue plug?

[timsrv]

That harness runs down the underside of the steering column. You will need to take off the column cover (on the underside where the column enters the dash). There are 4 Phillips head screws holding it on. Once it's off you'll see that blue connector right there. Tim

[LeonDaneko]

Thank you so much. I now have headlights again.