headlight wtf

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:30 pm

so all of a sudden yesterday as i drove on to my driveway, my headlights all of a sudden come on. switch on the dash wasnt on, no matter what i did there the lights wouldnt turn off.

i havent looked in to it yet, other than just pulling the fuse to obviously not flatten the battery.

any ideas as to what it could be? i'm thinking the relay has died and is giving a constant connection...

brumbee · Post by **brumbee** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:39 pm

relay? (thats all thats left right?)
which car?

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:45 pm

havent check anything yet, but i'm sure its the relay - curious what others think and if they have had the same.

87 rx turbo

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 2:58 am

what? both relays? left AND right? They are above the fuse panel in my 86 L series, needing fuse panel drop to get at them. Maybe , standing from afar and not flustered by problem meself, I' try disconnecting the headlight switch at dash to see if any fix, blame or not blame switch.

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:54 am

I would say something has gone wrong with the wiring circuit activating the relay, so it has to be before entering the relay...
Have you done any mods to the wiring system? - one thing which it has happened to me in the past is wirings rubbing together and reach to bare wire then they touch and do funny things!
Cheers
AP

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:13 am

the only thing i've done with the wiring system is put in hid's - they activate at the headlights via switching the headlights on and off. the hid's are low beam only h4's.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:48 pm

I'm putting my money on your combination switch being the problem.

Cheers

Bennie

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:38 pm

twilightprotege wrote:the only thing i've done with the wiring system is put in hid's - they activate at the headlights via switching the headlights on and off. the hid's are low beam only h4's.

How long ago was this done? and which lights came on low or high?

El_Freddo wrote:I'm putting my money on your combination switch being the problem.

Cheers

Bennie

+1

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:59 pm

quite a while ago - about a year. low beams come on. when i flick to high beam, no lights come on. shortly i'll be changing that so the low beams stay on while the high beam is on, and the high beams will be driving lights sitting on the bull bar

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:08 pm

update

so i checked out the light switch, fine. swapped the relays around, all fine.

HOWEVER, the 2 relays closest to the steering column are always on! obvious that's why my battery goes flat after leaving it for a little while.

so...

assuming they havent been moved around at some time and are where they should be, 1 of these is for the headlight - what's the other for? and where do their wires go? i'm almost certain now that there is a short in the system and thus that's why i have these issues. grrrrr. i hate chasing shorts!!!

Post by **Alex** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:12 pm

is it in your l-series?

switch ontop of your steering column might be causing shinanagans. Had the same problem with mine. Bypass the switch and see what happens.

alex

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:07 pm

yeah my 87 L rx - i dont have that switch on my steering column (unlike the 89 L wagon i have).

i think i'm going to have fun chasing this one down...

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:44 pm

Sounds like something is earthing incorrectly. Check the wiring on the HIDs

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:41 pm

i thought that, but even if they short, it should set off the internal stock relay shouldnt it? the hid's are run off their own circuit getting turned on through a relay off the stock headlight low beam wiring

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:50 pm

I'm only thinking that the HID transformers are drawing too much current but if the factory relays are only operating the HID relays then there shouldn't be an issue there

Do the 2 factory relays switch off when you unplug the combo switch? and secondly has anyone wired in anything else along the combo switch wiring (between the plug and the body harness)?

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:55 pm

nope, the factory relays stay on when the combo switch removed. in terms of additional wiring - possibly. i'm getting in there with a good torch tomorrow and checking it out.

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:29 am

If they stay on then there is definately a earth problem in the main loom

as the combo switch just makes contact to earth to make the light relays come on. Try diconnecting other parts of the lighting system and see if the relays switch off, like the HID transformers and anything else that is easy to locate and reach

I'm not sure what else runs on that lighting circuit

If you have a Gregorys manual you should be able to trace the wiring

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:46 am

i'm going to isolate the HID stuff first and see if that does anything, but i certainly cant see that making a difference. next i'll look in the engine bay for the wiring loom there as it's easier than under the dash. next, and hopefully i wont have to, but will look at the dash

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 4:32 pm

all sorted now. was a short.

the ground wire from the relay (red with yellow) was caught under the ecu where it bolts on. eventually the car movement caused it to rub and then short.

now i can finally drive the car again....and then install the new driving lights i have for high beams

cant wait

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:59 pm

Well done on this one. Send yourself a bill for a few hundred autoelec dollars. Picked up some Blue Max Platinum Super White H4s from Kmart to satisfy my curiosity on these not for road use bulbs