Headlight switch drama
I'm getting my a&& handed to me by an electrical issue, and I suspect that there is one company making these switches overseas under multiple names/packaging, and they're all defective.
1964 Dart GT. The issue has been no rear running lights, brake lights, or dash lights. Headlights and turn signals are okay. Pulled the switch from the dash and tested it with the meter with it installed - switch is bad and not sending power to those terminals. Bought a replacement from O'Reilly's, Standard Parts part # DS 165. Installed it and it worked for about a month before it failed, same exact issues. Tested it and confirmed it's bad. Bought another Standard Parts part # DS 165 and replaced it. Worked for about one minute, then gone. Removed it and bench tested it, bad switch. Bought a third Standard Parts part # DS 165, and it worked for a few days before going out. I took the car to an experienced local mechanic that I know well and he tested the circuits and said we aren't having a grounding issue. He went through it a second time to be sure, no issues found. So I went over to O'Reilley's again and bought Standard Parts part # DS 165 number four. This time we tested it right out of the box before installing - bad switch. All of these boxes say 'Made in Taiwan', and all fail with the same symptoms - headlights work but the taillights, brake lights, and dash lights do not.
So we install this defective switch with jumpers from the headlight terminal to the brake, tail, and dash terminals. As long as you drive the car with the headlights on, everything works and it's not blowing fuses.
At this point I'm done with O'Reilly's and Standard Parts brand, although I'll give O'Reilly's credit for warrantying all of them. So I call NAPA. They have an Echlin brand switch, part # HL6571. I've always had good results with NAPA/Echlin ignition parts, so I had them order it in for me. Went to NAPA when it arrived - box says made in Taiwan. Eye roll and groan. Install it, and it works for a moment and goes out. Bench tested switch number 5 and it's no good. So this time I decide to drill out the three rivets and take a look at the inside of the switch. There is no sign of mechanical or electrical distress. In fact, they appear to be fairly simple and solid.
I'm at a loss here. The mechanic is adamant that there isn't a short, and the fact that everything works with the jumpers in place with the headlights on without blowing a fuse seems to back this up. As does the fact that one was defective out of the box, without being installed.
Any thoughts? Am I missing something? Has anybody seen multiple failures like this on other parts?
I'm getting my a&& handed to me by an electrical issue, and I suspect that there is one company making these switches overseas under multiple names/packaging, and they're all defective.
1964 Dart GT. The issue has been no rear running lights, brake lights, or dash lights. Headlights and turn signals are okay. Pulled the switch from the dash and tested it with the meter with it installed - switch is bad and not sending power to those terminals. Bought a replacement from O'Reilly's, Standard Parts part # DS 165. Installed it and it worked for about a month before it failed, same exact issues. Tested it and confirmed it's bad. Bought another Standard Parts part # DS 165 and replaced it. Worked for about one minute, then gone. Removed it and bench tested it, bad switch. Bought a third Standard Parts part # DS 165, and it worked for a few days before going out. I took the car to an experienced local mechanic that I know well and he tested the circuits and said we aren't having a grounding issue. He went through it a second time to be sure, no issues found. So I went over to O'Reilley's again and bought Standard Parts part # DS 165 number four. This time we tested it right out of the box before installing - bad switch. All of these boxes say 'Made in Taiwan', and all fail with the same symptoms - headlights work but the taillights, brake lights, and dash lights do not.
So we install this defective switch with jumpers from the headlight terminal to the brake, tail, and dash terminals. As long as you drive the car with the headlights on, everything works and it's not blowing fuses.
At this point I'm done with O'Reilly's and Standard Parts brand, although I'll give O'Reilly's credit for warrantying all of them. So I call NAPA. They have an Echlin brand switch, part # HL6571. I've always had good results with NAPA/Echlin ignition parts, so I had them order it in for me. Went to NAPA when it arrived - box says made in Taiwan. Eye roll and groan. Install it, and it works for a moment and goes out. Bench tested switch number 5 and it's no good. So this time I decide to drill out the three rivets and take a look at the inside of the switch. There is no sign of mechanical or electrical distress. In fact, they appear to be fairly simple and solid.
I'm at a loss here. The mechanic is adamant that there isn't a short, and the fact that everything works with the jumpers in place with the headlights on without blowing a fuse seems to back this up. As does the fact that one was defective out of the box, without being installed.
Any thoughts? Am I missing something? Has anybody seen multiple failures like this on other parts?