my car has been in deep storage for allmost 10 years. I just got it out the last month an started driving it. when I put it up years ago the lights were working. now they are not.. I push the lights up but why does the warning light not go off on the dash? I have cleaned the switch an the contact points where they touch, why would they go bad from just seting all those years?
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Re: headlight warning switch
Hi Lyndon:
What year is your car? If it is a C2, the headlight warning light is controlled by a black pushbutton switch installed on the inboard side of each headlight mechanism. The button on this switch is pressed by the adjustable stop bolt head that sets the open position stop point for the headlight bucket. Pressing the switch button interrupts the voltage supplied to the warning light.
You can locate the switch by looking carefully with a mirror. Try removing one of the two blue connectors on each switch. If this makes your warning light go out, then there is a problem with one or both of the switches.
I *think* the two switches are connected in parallel (my wiring diagram is out in the garage). If they are, then reconnecting the switches one at a time should isolate the problem switch. If they are wired in series it will be harder to isolate the bad switch.
If the switch buttons move freely and the headlight mechanism is pressing the buttons when the bucket it in the fully upright position, you have a bad switch. If the light remains on even when the switches are disconneceted, you have a short in the wiring somewhere.
Replacement switches are available from Paragon, and they can be installed (with some effort) without removing any other components. The job is much easier if the hood is off. -
Re: headlight warning switch
My car is a 71Comment
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Re: headlight warning switch
OK when I unplug them both the light goes off, how ever when I put either one on at a time the light will come on.so are both switches bad?Comment
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Re: headlight warning switch
The fact that both switches operate the same way, one at a time, indicates that there is possibly something else wrong. No doubt, both switches could have gone bad but.... Are the lights rotating fully open and pressing against the switches with enough force to depress the plungers? Try disconnecting one switch and with a helper apply additional hand force to the headlite bucket to see if the lite will go out. I believe these headlites are vacuum operated with a diaphram device. Its possible that you have a vacuum leak in this system, hoses etc., and the system cannot produce adequate force to depress the limit switches.Comment
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Re: headlight warning switch
Hi Lyndon:
You will have to check the wiring diagram for a 71 to see how the switches are wired, but it seems to me that whether they are wired in parallel or series, both switches would have to be bad to get the result you describe. This sounds unlikely, but it's not impossible.
Did you confirm that the switches are mechanically operated when the headlights are rotated to the full open position? On my car, only the last 0.1" of bucket travel actuates the switch. Thus, if anything keeps the buckets from rotating to the full open position, the switches will not open.
My car is a C2, so I'm on thin ice trying to help you with a C3. Maybe some other Board members can give you a definitive answer.Comment
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Re: headlight warning switch
Hi Lyndon:
I checked the wiring diagram for my 67, and the two switches are wired in parallel. Each switch closes when the corresponding headlight is down, which provides two parallel paths to complete the circuit that turns on the warning lamp. Thus, BOTH switches must be opened to turn off the lamp.
Since your experiment showed that both switches must be disconnected to turn off your lamp, BOTH switches are somehow closed. Either both switces are bad (seems unlikely), or there is some mechanical reason why the headlight buckets are not pressing the switch buttons.
By the way, I presume you performed your switch-disconnect experiment with the headlight buckets in the fully open position. The result you got would be normal if the buckets were closed.Comment
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Re: headlight warning switch
yeah both are in the open are up position, when I can get some help I will see if I can get them pushed up all the way to make contact with the switches. I am sure I have aleak some where, so now the fun has started.Comment
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