'94 Exsplorer Head Light Issue

FranklinCountyVFF · 03-26-2008, 08:28 PM

I just bought a '94 Exsplorer XLT about a month ago. The other night I left home to go pick up my wife from work and on the way back home the head lights flickered but didn't go off. A few miles down the road they went completely off, they stayed off for a second or two then came back on. Tonight they did the same thing but I was some where that I could pull over and check the connection. The light's were on when I stopped and after I popped the hood but went off and came back on again before I could lift the hood rod. This is really puzzleing to me because they only do it on the way back home. It might be a twenty mile round trip to and from her work if that helps.

FranklinCountyVFF · 03-28-2008, 05:13 PM

Is there a relay under the hood somewhere that could be getting hot and making the lights go out? This shit is drivin' me nuts as I can't run any calls at night for fear of the lights going out on me.

jonmark1985 · 03-28-2008, 08:16 PM

Alot of the time its the headlight or dimmer/combination switch.

FranklinCountyVFF · 03-30-2008, 06:00 PM

I took the dimmer switch apart the other day and had a look see at the contacts. They kinda looked burnt like, I have to go to the junk yard Tuesday I'm gonna see if they'll sell me just the turn, Dimmer, Hazard, wiper switch. Hopefuly that'll fix my problem.

raunchero · 03-31-2008, 12:38 AM

The headlights are on a self re-setting circuit breaker for safety. It doesn’t seem like it when everything goes black at 65 MPH but I guess it’s better than blowing a fuse and leaving you stranded.

When the headlight switch is bad it draws too many amps and trips the breaker. When it cools down the lights come back on. The fix is a new headlight switch.

jonmark1985 · 03-31-2008, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raunchero

When the headlight switch is bad it draws too many amps and trips the breaker. When it cools down the lights come back on. The fix is a new headlight switch.

His switch has burned contacts, so the resistance across it will either be very high or infinite.

A short on the other hand has little or no resistance. Remember the Ohm's law states that I=V/R. In these cases with "V" staying the same and "R" decreasing "I" increases. Thats why shorts blow breakers and open switchs don't. If you check the resistance across an open switch it will read ∞. An open switch in a circut will not blow the fuse or trip the breaker.

I'd bet the problem is more in the continuity side. That the headlight switch's terminals aren't making very good contact.