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I love saving money!! Headlights fixed!!
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vanjoe
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Joined: December 25, 2009
Posts: 606
Location: Santa Maria
vanjoe is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:53 pm    Post subject: I love saving money!! Headlights fixed!! Reply with quote

Ok so my headlights quit working. I already have a new ignition switch. I called Go Westy yesterday so I could go by and pick up a new switch and it was going to be $40. So I am being cheap and didn't want to blow $40 on a new switch. So this morning thanks to the awesome members on here I jumpered the 2 "big" terminals on the plug after I removed the headlight switch. The lights came on. So the switch is faulty. I took it apart and it wasn't burnt at all. What I found was one of the set of contacts was stuck down in the plastic. It actually wasn't melted it looked more like just some normal wear and tear. So I removed the contacts that were stuck and reamed out the plastic a little. I applied some electronic grease and reinstalled the contacts. I put the switch back together and reinstalled it and the headlight work great again Very Happy . I love saving money on parts that don't need to be replaced.
_________________
1990 VW Vanagon tin top weekender Carat
1998 Mercedes S420

"Why is there never time to do it right the first time, but there is always time to do it twice?"

"Back to the basics!"
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Kburns737
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Joined: October 21, 2008
Posts: 184
Location: Ventura County
Kburns737 is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now go ahead and save some real money by purchasing one of the headlight relay kits from the classifieds here and ensure your switch lasts and you don't total your van hitting any deer or other assorted wildlife with those terrible stock headlights. Best cheap improvement you can do to the van in my opinion, can't believe I was driving for years with the lights so dull.

Kerry
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vanjoe
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Joined: December 25, 2009
Posts: 606
Location: Santa Maria
vanjoe is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am planning on doing that. I am actually going to build my own. Santa Maria Electronics has everything to build my own for about $10.
_________________
1990 VW Vanagon tin top weekender Carat
1998 Mercedes S420

"Why is there never time to do it right the first time, but there is always time to do it twice?"

"Back to the basics!"
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syncrodoka
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Joined: December 27, 2005
Posts: 11998
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
syncrodoka is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Get a pair of relay holders and the #53 relay from the fuse block of a jetta/golf and all you need to get from the electornics store is the spade connectors that snap into the relay holder. I have built a few relays this way for virtually nothing.
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