87 Vanagon - all headlights quit at once. running lights ok

[pfunny]

my headlights quit on me the other night. i flipped on the brights and my headlights stopped working. the running lights are still fine.

any suggestions? i checked the fuses and they're not burned. that's alot for your help.

[ra_der]

This happened on my "85, though they would sometimes come on in a few minutes.
I wired in a new ground directly behind the headlight and it seemed to cure it.
Check your grounds.

[kevinbassplayer]

This sounds like a classic grounding problem. Don't have the Bentley in front of me but you would need to see how the ground ties into the brights switch since your problem started there. I would remove one of the headlights and make a jumper from the ground terminal on the back of the headlight to the body, this would verify that your problem is indeed a grounding problem. If the headlights work then (and I bet they do) you could then as a temp fix do what ra_der suggested and add a ground directly from the the headlights to the body until you have time (and patience!) to track it down, good luck.

[Terry Kay]

First check the fuses for the lights that are out, then the headamp dimmer switch, them the headlamp on/off switch.

It might be the grounds, the switches usually fag out first.
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T.K.

[bucko]

Check the grounds yes, but if that fails, then I suspect the hi-low beam (dimmer switch) is the culprit. This switch is located on the left side of the steering column, close to the steering wheel side. You can remove the wire connector to it, and run a small jumper wire between the wires. Then turn on your headlight switch to the second position to see if the low beams are now working. This will verify that the low-hi beam switch is at fault. It was on my 84.

The dash headlight switch routes 12 volts to this low-hi beam switch. When you operate this switch, the low beams are off, and only the hi beams work. The switch can be repaired if you are so inclined to try. After removing the steering wheel and turn signal/hi-low beam lever, you can CAREFULLY use a small flat bladed screwdriver to pry back the tabs for the switch cover. You will see two copper spring loaded tabs, each with two bumps on them. The upper copper tab is the low bean contact. On my 84, this tab got stuck in it's seat. I carefully used a pair of needle nose plyers to push and pull it, to free it up in it's seat. I then used some dielectric grease (WD-40 is O.K. too) to keep it from getting stuck again. I guess years of current flowing through this copper tab caused the heat to soften the plastic that the copper tab sits in, making it get stuck. Be careful working on this switch, as there are some tiny springs to make it all work. Use a well lit, and clean bench to perform the work.

[panic]

Same thing happened to me. I just replaced the headlight switch and it solved the problem.

[Dogpilot]

The culprit for me was the ignition switch. If you move the harness around below the ignition switch and the lights return, you have your answer.
_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[r39o]

All of the above! Ignition switch, headlamp switch, dimmer switch, fuses, grounds, all that. Any one can cause it. You just have to find which one is doing it.

Using the relay kits for high and low beams takes the high currents out of those other things. Which is great. Plus you do not need to worry about fuse box failures (much) too.

Fun, eh?
_________________
"Use the SEARCH, Luke" But first visit the Vanagon FAQ!

1990 Multivan EJ 22, Rancho trans 0.82 4th, Small Car front AC, CLKs w/ 215/65-16, homemade big brakes 303mm, Konis, Recaros, etc....

Click to see my ads for Cup holders, Subaru clutch fix and CLK wheels (no wheels currently)

[vwmaniaman]

I had exact thing happen on my 87 Westy. Went to high beam and NO Lights except parking lights. Was the 2 round grounds had corrosion under dash on left side up above the fuse panel. The center screws had corrosion between the grounds and the body. Headlights are now better than I can ever remember. Hope This Helps. Thank God I had my Bentley and a voltmeter to find it.
_________________
Working on a VW is like fun with a friend!
65 Beetle
75 Westy "Pumpkin Van"
86 Westy "Brown Betty"
87 Cabrio

[pfunny]

well, i was hoping for a quick fix and ran jumpers for the ground wires on both headlights to the body. i have headlights now, but only when the hi-beam switch is engaged. luckily, the lights function as normal headlights, not brights, so... at least i can drive at night.

sounds like the problem is lurking is a switch somewhere?

[bucko]

[Jbirdmarin]

I'm currently having the same issue - except on mine when in "headlight" position, the highbeam won't physically stay on (but they work when flashed). I assume that means the electronics don't think the headlights are on - so bad switch? I jiggled it around, no change.

[thatvwbusguy]

Check the headlight grounds on the crown shaped lugs above the fuse block. This sounds like a classic symptom of bad grounds. Since all of the ground wires are brown, you will need to check them all. Clean everything up and replace any questionable connectors.
_________________
Jay Brown
'85 Zetec Westfalia
Newmarket, NH


If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

[Jbirdmarin]

I checked the grounds, they looked goooood, jiggled the ignition while flicking headlights - no change. Next step is ordering new headlight switch.

Update: Headlight switch was the culprit, works fine now. Done in 10 min for under $30.

[terence wilson]

This exact thing happened to my 87 wolfsburgh weekender today up here in the finger lakes .
54f and raining yesterday to 13f this morning,my lights were gone.

Same symptoms as above.

Switch? High beam control?

The poster above was right, check your grounds!

I grabbed a screw driver ,went out,popped the grill,grounded the high beam lens frame to the light frame and bang ,they are on.

Ran wires from the lens frames to the light chassis and they work better than they ever have.

Thanks so much for The Samba!

Cheers

[Abscate]

I had a thread on this for my Eurovan and it was the ignition switch
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.ssS!

[Colorado Yeti]

Yep, this just happened to me on my '85 camper. As suggested above, it was a poor grounding issue behind left side of the dash on the "crown" ground junction. Once again, Samba saves my butt. Thanks!

[professorplumb]

Thanks for the suggestion about the dimmer/flasher switch, bucko! That turned out to be the problem for me - I guess I'd been fiddling around on the steering column and forgot to reconnect it. Wish I'd found this thread before I spent hours fiddling with fuses, switches, and grounds

[MTV1960]

Been a while since a post to this thread...I have a question for anyone out there. I need to take some parts back to Costa Rica and want to make sure i pick up what i need to fix my head light issue. (Currently Using a GW high power kit)

1-Headlight switch engaged and Right side low beam is out.
2-High beam switch engaged and ALL lights work as they should.

Any one have an idea whats needed to and where look?
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86 Wolfsburg Weekender
87 Syncro Westy

[spiros]

This thread was helpful to me to identify my headlights issue, so i thought to contribute to this post.

After checking various times all the suspicious connections, the problem was at the hi-low beam switch as bucko suggested.

I opened the body of the switch but placing aside four plastic holding brackets and there i saw the metal part of the connector having melt inside the plastic body, causing also the metallic part to move a little bit to the left and down, so the circuit was not closing properly.

I fixxed the problem by replacing with a new switch handle.