1987 Westy Weekender- Headlight trouble (SOLVED)

[Westy46]

My headlights(both) all of a sudden stopped working. I have LED bulbs on exterior side markers and blinkers, and they all work now. When I turn the headlight switch on the blue brightness bulb stays lit and you cannot click it down to dim. There is the #5 fuse that appears to be blown. I have not tried this fuse yet as my fuse sheet states it is supposed to be blank. I recently purchased this van and all was working. I also recently had Small Car install the A/C-Heater unit, and all was working.

I placed some photos to show side markers working, but not the headlights. I am thinking something simple like this blown fuse, and or the switch itself.

Any ideas?

[Westy46]

Ignition switch?

[Wasted youth]

It's been a while, so the details are fuzzy, but I remember my 87 Westy was stuck with only high beams one night. I could not shift between Low and high beam.

I had to replace the switch/stalk in the steering column and it worked after that.

I hope I remember these details correctly! I'm almost certain it was the stalk, and I learned what my problem was in this forum, so there is information in here. Try different methods of the search engine.

Having said all of that, I cannot say why you don't have high beams at all.

[Westy46]

Switch/stalk meaning the ignition switch the the blinker lever?

[djkeev]

The turn signal, wiper switch assembly is one unit.

Ignition switch is separate.
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[crazyvwvanman]

Since the blue light stays on no matter hi/lo setting but no headlights come on, forget about swtches.
Focus on the ground connection for the headlights instead.

Mark

[DuncanS]

Mark--I know you really know this stuff inside and out. But what is the rationale for ignoring the switch and focusing only on the grounds. If the blue high beam indicator light is on regardless of the stalk setting, doesn't that indicate a problem with the switch. Of course, you are right that the blue light being on means that the signal is being sent to the high beams to be on and if they aren't, then shouldn't he first check the positive at the headlight to see that power is actually getting there? I recently had a low beam failure where the wire to the lights failed and I had to run a new parallel one.

Duncan

[Timwhy]

Ground them at the bucket.

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[crazyvwvanman]

With a sudden onset of that set of symptoms the loss of the primary headlight ground connection is by far the most plausible single cause.

Also, it has happened just that way many times seen here and elsewhere.

The stock wiring has the lights sharing a single ground wire at the dash ground crowns.

Adding a ground at each headlight assembly is how I prefer to fix it.

IMHO for safety sake VW should not have made all 4 or in later vans 6 bulb elements all depend on a single ground point. At least they provided 4 fuses so a short at a single outside spot wouldn't kill all the lights.

Edit: the reason the blue light stays on regardless of hi/lo switch selection is because when the low beams are on but missing their ground their voltage feeds backwards though the dual filament bulbs into the high beam side. So a voltage is present on the blue bulb either way.

I'm away from my Bentley but pulling just the 2 low beam fuses should prevent the back feeding and allow the blue bulb to switch on/off with the hi/low switch, showing that the switch works.

Mark

[DuncanS]

I knew there was a reason for going directly to the grounds. Thanks, Mark.

Duncan

[Westy46]

I will try the fuses to rule out the switch and then move to the ground. Thank you!

[SyncroHead]

In case you're looking at wiring diagrams, it appears your van is a 1986, not a 1987. There are some wiring differences.
Clues noted in photos are the mechanical clock instead of tach and the armrests w/o adjuster knobs.

FYI - Your model described here:
https://www.vanagons.org/86-vanagon-l.html

Jim
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[Westy46]

I tried the fuses and the hi/low beam switch when you click will show a high beam blue but will not stay blue. In other words it will blink on and then off, but will not stay in high beam or low beam.

[montanasurfer]

This just happened to me last weekend. It was the ground. Blue headlight light was on too. In fact when I got to the ground tree to check the female spade, it was roasting hot. I cleaned it up and now I have headlights.
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[DuncanS]

Another post illustrating how Mark's knowledge is spot on. Will not only clean my grounds, but split them as well. My high beams inners already have separate grounds because of the DRL system they use. But will clean up the outers and give them separate grounds shortening the return current through an unnecessary wire.

Duncan

[Westy46]

Do you have a photo of the ground tree you mention? Where is it located?

[bobhill8]

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=548492

seventh photo down
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[vanagonjr]

[Westy46]

I ended up taking the van to Subaru dealer as they also work on Vanagons in my area. The issue was the ground as many of you indicated. The ground tree or one of the ground connections was very hot. The technician is adding more ground for the lights. Thanks for all the advice and knowledge.

[Wildthings]

The same current that runs through the supply side of the system must also run through the ground side, yet the ground side of the circuit is more apt to be exposed to corrosive conditions, so will often fail more frequently. Ground side failures also cause funky symptoms like you saw with the blue high beam light. If symptoms seem wacky it will very often be the grounds that are at fault.