Another headlight mystery

[bikepoor]

Last night of 2 week family drive/camp-a-bout. The usual headlight problem strikes me bus. (No DRL or low-beams). Everything else works, high-beams, clearance, signals. Fog lights work, continue home. Searched forum today, found problem was probably combo switch roasted due to cheese-ball DRL relay installation, followed instructions from post by Jay and Christine who had the same problem, removed switch with hopes of salvage, and repair. Now the good part, opened switch,.....PERFECT!!!!. Little ball lever thing good, pc boards good, no cracks, no roasted terminals, all slide contacts still bright and lubed, no scorching, no burnt connections, no broken wires. Yes, I checked bulbs, fuses, connector terminals, etc, before I got this far.
Have I missed something? Is there another fuse for the headlights in the bank behind the glovebox, or elsewhere? I am not looking forward to another night of "I told you so" from the wife caused by other mechanical issues on the trip.
Any suggestions would help, in the meantime I will continue my search for clues.

Thanks in advance.

[Green1]

have you missed something? well, if your headlights don't work, I'd have to say yes...

if it were me I'd pull out the voltmeter at this stage, do you have voltage at the switch? do you have voltage at the bulbs?

I can't think of anything else in between, but it probably goes through a relay up under the dash somewhere.

How did you check the fuses and bulbs? visually? or did you actually put a tester on 'em? (I've had both go without being visibly damaged)

[josh]

Searched forum today, found problem was probably combo switch roasted due to cheese-ball DRL relay installation, followed instructions from post by Jay and Christine who had the same problem, removed switch with hopes of salvage, and repair. Now the good part, opened switch,.....PERFECT!!!!.

It's not always the DRL that causes the problems... I know two people that have had them go that didnt have DRL's. So I would also assume that there are more than one way for the combo switches to fail inside as well. I am sure they aren't all repairable.

Not sure if that makes you happier. Are you blowing fuses because of it? Thats what was happening to the two people I personally know.

Josh

[bikepoor]

I started getting things back together tonight, and now i have started to blow the low beam fuse. I will pull everything apart in the morning when i have some light and patience, and see if i missed a bared wire or connection that is now grounding out. Update to follow.

[josh]

If you are blowing fuses now, and you dont find any problems with your wiring, I would say it for sure is your combo switch. Just my two cents.

Josh

[Green1]

If you are blowing fuses now, and you dont find any problems with your wiring, I would say it for sure is your combo switch. Just my two cents.

easy to check, bypass it with a temporary switch and see what happens...

[thelazybrownfox]

Green1
have you missed something? well, if your headlights don't work, I'd have to say yes...

Love that humour.

Wayne

[bikepoor]

This morning it was funny. Last night it was a license to kill!!!
And it didn't help that the Sasquatch didn't restock my beer fridge while I was away.

[bikepoor]

Problem solved!! Traced the issue to one of the headlight wires had rubbed itself bare against the firewall before going through the rubber grommet into the cab. Thats why my switch, bulbs, and fuses were good on my first attempt to solve the problem, but when I put it together again, fuses were blowing. I must have gotten the bare spot on the wire back onto metal again. Gosh electrical problems sure are a poo-bucket load of fun!

[TardisDeli]

Hi BikePoor, yes we had the ground out problem too, but ours was the bad connector on the back of the wire that connected to wire from the headlight. simple once you know, but it took ages to figure out. We replaced the connector and cut the wire back a few inches to get to good wire, added a bit of wire to replace that wire. Are you OK now? I will PM you jay's cell to keep on file incase you have questions. Christine.

[bikepoor]

Gumby is runnin fine again. Took him out with the kayaks to one of our local wannabe lakes last night and trip was problem free.
My appologies to everyone in the Vancouver area for not having any time last week for not having time to get together with anyone last week while was there with the bus on a high speed family holiday. Especially Jay and Christine because we were staying in Coquitlam right by Como Lake, maybe you were the folks we were driving behind in the Deli with the kick-ass sounding turbo that we followed most of the way back from Squamish all the way into Coquitlam. I managed to miss everyone I went to see including Mardy at Amazing Imports who I really wanted to pick up some bits from. My bus problems including broken alternator pinch bolt, which let to overheating, which led to blown rad, and the electrical issue all happened on Thursday, and Friday, and then I woke up Saturday to find out you had the Ikea meet Friday night 5 minutes from where I was staying. Had I only known I would have stayed through the weekend. Oh well this was only the first run to the coast in das bus, and it was done with no real planning. Next trip I will give a heads up before take off. Thanks for all the waves on the road folks my kids said it was just like driving our Westy again.