headlites

pock1

Registered User
sup guys my 90 sc headlights went out on my while drivin home last nite.it seems after about 10mins they start to go on off till they go out completly. if i turn off the headlites for a few then they come back on ,but only for a few mins then go out:eek: .im thinking its the headlight switch on its way out.let me know guys . thx tony.
 
pock1 said:
sup guys my 90 sc headlights went out on my while drivin home last nite.it seems after about 10mins they start to go on off till they go out completly. if i turn off the headlites for a few then they come back on ,but only for a few mins then go out:eek: .im thinking its the headlight switch on its way out.let me know guys . thx tony.


Most likely headlight switch. The on/off is the circuit breaker doing it's job because the switch is bad. It could be something else ( dimmer/combination switch or even a faulty circuit breaker) but not likely. The headlight switch is kind of a known 'ford thing' so I'd start there.
 
hey i have the same year car as u and i have the same exact problem and i was told by a few people that if it is infact the switch that it is a recall and that ford will fix it for free. I am going to go to the ford dealer sometime next week ... probably thurs being that its my only day off from work. If you want i can let you know what info i get from them.
 
It's the headlight switch. Ford will not fix it for free; these cars are way too old for that. Buy the switch and replace it, problem solved. Make sure you get the one for auto-dimming headlights if you have that option.
 
Hey dude, you need to replace a little more than that headlight switch, if you don't you'll be doing it again sooner then you want to.

I had the same problem with mine when it was on the road. I have to replace both the main headlight switch and the multifunction switch on the steering column as well as the wiring for the main switch and the high beam wiring on the multifunction switch.

The reason for this is that the wiring Ford used for the headlights on these cars was not heavy enough to handle the draw from the headlights and would get to hot and melt the connectors and fry out the switches. Again, speaking from experiance here, you should just replace all of that now and relay the lights to take some of the stress off the factory wiring.
 
Head Lites

wow all that huh ,lucky u have a few sc for parts lol. where is the headlite relay?
 
You can get the wire harness ends from Ford, they are not that expenssive either. The switches just get from the part store. Now as far as a relay, I don't believe Ford put them in our cars for the headlight, I'm sure someone will let me know if I'm not correct on that. But there are two ways to go with relaying the headlights, one is to get the kit form Competition Limited http://www.hioutputbulbs.com/lights. Or, If you know something about wiring, or know someone who does and is willing to help, you could just save some money and do it your self.
 
you will also want to replace the breaker. after it's had to pop a few times they get weaker. just a few bucks and saves you from further problems.:)
 
do it yourself

The problem is in the switch in the steering colum. After the third went out on my car, I bought some relays and bypassed it. The wiring betwen the lights is small but will handle hot bulbs; I run blues in mine and have no problems now. The switch can melt down internally in a couple of ways but it usally doesn't effect the turning lights. What I did was to set the relays direct to power and then tap them into the existing wiring on one side. This way both headlights come on when the relay switch is flipped without having to wire both sides to power. I unthinkingly turned on the headlights at the main switch and the relay and got some more melt down and ozone (that burnng electrical smell) but when it quit and the smoke cleared, the lights still worked, even the high beam flash. I also wired the high and lows seperate so that I can turn both on at the same time, which really puts a lot more light on the road through those brown lenses, but it's illegal to run both in most states so be careful.
 
Upgrade for early T-Birds

The advice on relays is key. Run the high lamp current through a 30 amp relay with at least 14 AWG copper wire. Use a separate relay for lo-beam and hi-beam. I also did a retro implant of a 1994 headlight switch [ the rotary style] while I had the dash opened up. I eliminated the dimmer for the dash lights and installed a 10 ohm 5 watt resistor in the circuit connected to a small push button switch, for the rare instance that I might want to change the instrument panel brightness.
 
Back
Top