| Author |
Message |
alaskadan
Samba Member
Joined: January 09, 2013
Posts: 1937
Location: anchor pt. alaska
|
 Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:05 am Post subject: high beam issues |
 |
|
Hello samba, ive been wrestling with a high beam issue. 87 syncro, stock head lights. Low beams work fine. When i turn on high beams passenger low shuts off, drivers low stays on,pass high beam lights up and drivers high beam does not come on. Also noticed that the license plate lights stay on no matter what! Had to pull #20 or was 19 fuse to stop that from draining my battery. Im not sure when this first started occurring but hasn't always been this way. A month or so?
Ive read every post i can find ( i think ) and have found similar issues.
To answer some obvious questions that come up...
All fuses good.
Holding the turn sig lever up does not light up both high beams.
Had dash apart and checked/ recleaned all grounds and ground trees.
High beam indicator light works as it should.
Tried a different turn sig/wiper assembly and no change.
Tried different head light switch no change.
Checked to make sure all wires into switch are in all the way.
Any suggestion? Thank you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
VWagabond
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2011
Posts: 277
Location: Charlotte, NC
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:19 pm Post subject: Re: high beam issues |
|
|
Did you resolve your problem? Don't see much experience being exchanged here but I've discovered a headlight issue with a van I've recently bought. My problem is that the headlighs don't come on at all. The minor lamps come on and the high beam indicator is on all the time that the switch is on. Like you, I've done some testing and have power to the light switch and the switch is good(swapped with one from my other van that I know is good). I'm suspecting a problem with the high/low beam switch on the column. I'm going to try spraying it out good with contact cleaner and then spray electrical contact lube in it to see if anything changes. I may end up having to replace it but I feel sure that's where my problem lies and that may be the cause of your issue also. When I finally get them working, I'll reroute the current thru relays to take the load off the switches. Did that on my Westy and it worked great.
I'll post back with my results.
Tom
_________________
The Road Goes Ever On & On……...
VWagabond
87 Camper GL
87 Syncro GL |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
danfromsyr
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2004
Posts: 15345
Location: Syracuse, NY
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 9:25 pm Post subject: Re: high beam issues |
|
|
this is a classic ground star issue/symptom
it's up under the dash behind the fuseblock.
search ground star headlights and you should find a better explanation than I can give at this hour..
| VWagabond wrote: |
Did you resolve your problem? Don't see much experience being exchanged here but I've discovered a headlight issue with a van I've recently bought. My problem is that the headlighs don't come on at all. The minor lamps come on and the high beam indicator is on all the time that the switch is on. Like you, I've done some testing and have power to the light switch and the switch is good(swapped with one from my other van that I know is good). I'm suspecting a problem with the high/low beam switch on the column. I'm going to try spraying it out good with contact cleaner and then spray electrical contact lube in it to see if anything changes. I may end up having to replace it but I feel sure that's where my problem lies and that may be the cause of your issue also. When I finally get them working, I'll reroute the current thru relays to take the load off the switches. Did that on my Westy and it worked great.
I'll post back with my results.
Tom |
_________________
| Abscate wrote: |
| These are the reasons we have words like “wanker” |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
VWagabond
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2011
Posts: 277
Location: Charlotte, NC
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 9:29 pm Post subject: Re: high beam issues |
|
|
Thanks I'll check it out tomorrow. I was just behind the fuse block running a new harness to the left door and I may have pulled a ground loose or broke it.
Tom
_________________
The Road Goes Ever On & On……...
VWagabond
87 Camper GL
87 Syncro GL |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
VWagabond
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2011
Posts: 277
Location: Charlotte, NC
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 8:28 pm Post subject: Re: high beam issues |
|
|
Ground problem it was. A connector with double fat brown wires was pulled off the ground connector point. Sprayed it with some contact cleaner and snugged it a little with some needlenose plyers and reconnected it. Went on nice & tight and all lamps working now.
Thanks,
Tom
Still may spray clean the dimmer switch.
_________________
The Road Goes Ever On & On……...
VWagabond
87 Camper GL
87 Syncro GL |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
