Headlight/brake light issue

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dustya_383

dustya_383

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So I have a major head light and brake light problem. I have no headlights when I turn on my switch. All I have is rear running lights . I hit the brakes and I get nothing. I go left signal and it blinks once and stays lit. And have nothing when I do right signal . I hate electical work it's very difficult for me but if someone can tell me where to begin and guide me in the right direction that would be awesome thanks guys I hate not being able to drive at night time lol I have to race home before sunset lol
 
first thing is go through and check and clean all ground wires and obviously check that all bulbs are good and sockets/ connectors are clean and in good shape. once you know you have known good clean grounds check for power on all the non working lights only reason i say to check power is the sockets and connectors can look good but have a broken wire right at the terminal . the headlights could be anything from wiring to the dimmer switch or the headlamp switch itself . the headlamp switch has a built in circuit breaker that can go bad and you will have either no head or tail lights or missing one or the other .
if the dimmer switch goes bad you can bypass it just to test if the headlights work or not . . grounds are the big thing especially on old cars that is usually the source of alot of problems . check back with any news as im pretty good at and love doing electrical work on cars .
 
First, turn on the light switch and check for power at the dimmer switch. This is a simple 3 terminal switch known properly as a spdt (single throw, double throw) All you simply have is power from the light switch comes in and goes to ONE of the three terminals, and no matter whether you have low or high beams selected, ONE of the remaining posts should have power going out. From there power feeds through the bulkhead, and out to the the lamps.

The harness is grounded out at the radiator support, so if you are getting power on the engine bay side of the bulkhead connector, most likely the grounds are poor. Pull the headlights out and check the connectors. How old are these cars, again?

TURN SIGNAL/ BRAKES.

Very first thing to check is down at the brake light switch. You should have power to one side of the switch at all times, and when the pedal is depressed, power on BOTH SIDES. If you have this power, and no turn signals/ no brake lights, most likely problem is the grounding at the rear sockets.

What do you have for a shop manual/ diagrams?
 
sounds like bad grounds all the way around. need cleaning or replaced. frist run a hot wire form the batt to the headlight plug in see if they light up. then fix the grounds. if all else fails, chenge the headlight switch
 
Thanks guys I will double check the grounds I have a feeling it's the one by rad support I've missed that one before. For brake light ill check the switch to see if its working properly . Let you guys know how it turns out
 
Headlights
Hey guys so I messed around with my lights again today and got them to come on for maybe a minute then, then start flashing on and off maybe 2 seconds off then come on then off etc.. ..now I'm not sure if those are highs or lows . Anyways when I hit the highbeam switch the lights go completely off and I hear a noise coming from the headlight switch never had this problem don't know what's going on.

Brake /signal light
I have no signal lights I can hear flasher by glove box go off when I hit switch In either direction . Both rear lights go off at same time and are
Very faint very frustrating .
 
The only place headlights and park turn lghts are adjacent is in the forward lamp harness. So if all of these problems began at once, Look for a fault in that harness. Behind the battery isn't as common as at the bulkhead connection but it has happened.
If these lighting problems began at seperate times, isolate and correct one at a time.
A bad headlight switch will turn the lights on and off like you've desicrbed if there is a short, or if its just a bad switch. Modern headlights that draw more current will cause this too. That switch shouldn't effect the turn signals.
 
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