Headlight switch?

[sealw98]

First I like to say hello to everyone out there. The other day I was starting my truck and I pull the light switch, my dash lights were very dim, so I adjusted the knob and I lost all my dash lights. So I didn't think anything of it thought the harness might have pop out. Last night I noticed that the park lamps were not working. I wanted to know if the switch could be bad and if this is why all of my lights are not working? And does the light switch have anything to do with your turn signals not blinking?






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[gr8scott51]

Check your fuses and flasher first. Do a little check on your wiring with a cheap tester. Sometimes the wiring in the column will wear thru and short out. Good luck.

[Warbones]

I'll be paying attention to this thread as when I first got my truck I would have to manuver the headlight switch a certain way to work. I replaced it but haven't fired up the truck or charged the battery to see if this fixed the problem.

Good luck on yours.

[Longhorn Man]

Sounds to me like you have a short somewhere in your lighting system...I would look under the rear bumper first (well, after the fuse) since it was probably hacked 5 times or so for trailer lights.
Did the blinkers go at the same time?

[fast_dev]

i was just having similar issues with my longhorn, im trying to get it on the road to tow my car trailer and after removing all the other useless wires the previous owner had laying in there i started with the same thing you have. my dash lights would work one time and not the next, wiggle the switch and they would come on. i bought a new switch at advance auto for $11.25, in stock and a direct replacement, looks just like the original. problem solved (at least for now). if nothing else its cheap and now you know its new. Dev.

[sealw98]

Yesterday I put in a new headlamp switch and replaced all fuses and everything works except my turn singnals and my right rear blinker. I think I found out that may have been the source of most of my problem. If I flip the bulb around it works just fine but the bulb will not lock in place. Im going to try switching the wires around and see if that works. Now for the turn signals I believe it is the turn signal unit itself I hear this constant grounding or sparking noise when I just touch the steering wheel lightly. Does anyone know if they are hard to replace?

[sneakysnake]

Your bulb is a duel filement,(tail-brake/signal) just replace the bulb.

[sealw98]

I tried the bulb last night and it's not that. What's the chances the new bulb could have been bad? The stranges thing is that the brake light always work but the turn signal and park light does not work. Do you guys think if I switch the brown and green wire on the opposite sides that they would work? Someone has done some repair previously because there are wire nuts on the wire hareness that leads to the brake light assembly.

[sneakysnake]

You need to buy you a volt/ohm meter or at least a test light.
I cant find my wiring schematic at the moment but ,
(brown) should be tail lights and tag, green and yellow will be stop and signal, you have a pedal switch for the brake but it has to run though the signal switch in the column, if your blinker is on it over rides the brake switch and will blink, for trouble shooting turn on your parks and your hazzards on and get out your tester, start at the lights themselves a constant 12v will be park and intermitting will be the blinkers, trace your wires till you have power if you dont get anything by the time you get to the firewall
and you have power at the fuses then the column switch would be where I would look( dont forget to check you haz flasher and blinker flasher on fuse box, and the tail lights/dash are on a seperate circuit that the brake/sig.

[sealw98]

A big thanks to all and could not have done it with out Sneakysnake, thanks for all the prompt responses.You were right it was the bulb! I tried another new pack just for the heck of it yesterday and It worked perfect. Now all that I have to deal with is the Turn signal switch. I've heard that the tough part is getting the wires back down the column shaft any suggestions on how to tackle the repair.

[sneakysnake]

Use a pull wire, slide a stiff single wire in first then tape it to the other wires and (push/ pull) the wires into place.
thanks, good luck