headlights

manny

Registered User
a couple of weeks ago i thought i noticed my headlights flicker and turn off for a brief instance late at night, but it was hard to tell. well last night they flickered on and off and stayed off for a couple of seconds, while i was driving at night. what can cause this on a 1990 sc 5 speed? headlight switch maybe? any one experience this before?
 
Recall

manny said:
a couple of weeks ago i thought i noticed my headlights flicker and turn off for a brief instance late at night, but it was hard to tell. well last night they flickered on and off and stayed off for a couple of seconds, while i was driving at night. what can cause this on a 1990 sc 5 speed? headlight switch maybe? any one experience this before?
It's a known & well documented problem. The Foglights are wired through the headlight switch, & draw to much current for the wire size used. There was a recall on this problem. Obvously your car wasn't repaired by the recall.

68COUGAR
 
I ran a seperate 14awg wire from the battery w/20amp fuse to the factory switch.
Only problem is I sometimes forget to shut em off when I park it!:rolleyes:
But now I can have them on seperately from the headlights and don't have to worry about the issue mentioned above.

paul
 
The headlight switch may not be the problem. My problem was the multi-function switch was getting burned up inside due to the fog light current going through it. I replaced the multi-function switch AND noticed that the plug connector for it was melted in a few places. Then I put in a separate relay for the fog lights so I don't run the current through the MF switch anymore. Don't think this is fixed if you only look at the headlight switch.

Jon
 
If your lights are still flickering and haven't gone out completely you may be able to salvage your light switch and/or multi-function switch by installing one of Competition Lightings wiring harnessses. I put them on both my '93 & '94 for about $55 ea. and had no problems since. It also allows you to use bigger bulbs in both the head & fog lights. I think their web site is "www.compltg.com", but check the other 'topic reviews' on this subject.
 
They did this recall on two of my 93 birds and all they did was install the same type of headlight switch as the one that came out of it. Not a revised design, and no reworking of the wires. They didnt really fix the problem, just patched the symptoms. One of them had a melted plastic connector that goes on the switch. I rewired both cars foglights to their own circuit off of the headlights for some insurance.
 
14 ga. & 20 Amps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thirdbird said:
I ran a seperate 14awg wire from the battery w/20amp fuse to the factory switch. But now I can have them on seperately from the headlights and don't have to worry about the issue mentioned above.

paul
Do you know what the actual current draw of the fog lights is? I'd be leary of running 20 Amps through a 14 ga. wire. I think the 14 ga. is rated for 15 amps & 12 ga. for 20 amps, & 10 ga for 30 Amps.

In many states it's ILLEGAL to drive with your foglights ON and your headlights OFF. Of course that doesn't stop people from doing it, because they think it's cool somehow.

68COUGAR
 
i appreciate everyones input. i will install a new headlight switch and mf switch and see what happens.
 
The MF switch might have a dirty contact, you can take it apart and clean the contacts, it may not need to be replaced unless it is actually damaged.

- Dan
 
Back
Top