Headlight Switch

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by jtrichard

my bad i was thinking it went from fuse to switch i stand corrected... i knew that there was a fuse for just the tail/brake/dash separate from the head lights

Actually, you were correct with your initial description. I disagree with what tincan1966 said about the orange wire being an output from the headlight switch. The orange wire is a fused input to the H/L switch that is live all the time (not switched on/off via the H/L switch like an output would be).

If you look at the factory wiring diagrams, the main power feed wire (usually red) has a factory splice that branches off to feed the headlight switch, ignition switch, and one side of the "TAIL STOP" fuse (among others). The other side of the "TAIL STOP" fuse is connected to the orange wire that feeds power to another factory splice that brances off to feed the brake light switch, dome light, and headlight switch.

As you said earlier, the two inputs to the H/L switch (red unfused, and orange fused) allow the circuits to be separated so a short in the tail/brake lights won't take out the headlights or vice versa. And yes, there is usually a circuit breaker built into the H/L switch to protect the headlight circuit since the red feed wire is unfused.