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1987 gl wagon headlight issues


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I bought the car 9 yrs ago and haven't changed any myself till recently to see if it would fix the problem but it didn't.  It's been happening for like a yr now. Not sure what's causing the issue. Could it be in the blinker and light switch from the column somewhere? Seems to happen more when I'm turning off the brights flipping turn signal and light switch. 

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I can not find the wiring diagram for your car, so I don't know if it uses relays for the headlights or just the light switch. From your description it sounds like the switch is not making good contact. 

If you want to try and clean and lube the contacts inside the switch, copy and paste the following into Google - 401B - Nu-trol Control Cleaner - . There are a lot of places that sell it. For many years I used a product called Lube-a-Trol by Tech Spray but several years ago it went No Longer Available, so I am on my last can. The 401B is almost the same thing so it should do a good job. This cleaner-lube is for electronics, potentiometers and switches and the old TV rotary Tuners. When it is sprayed it will foam up. The cleaner loosens the crud and the foam moves it away from the contacts leaving a film of oil to protect the contact from moisture. Working the switch speeds up the process.

You will have to find or make a hole to spray it into the switch.

How good does it work? A couple years ago I wired (from scratch) a 1937 Plymouth Pickup Truck PT50. The original Ignition Switch did not work. There was no continuity through any of the terminals. I got some Lube-a-Trol in it and worked the key back and forth a lot. The truck is still running today with the original ignition switch and headlight switch. The reason I wanted to save it is the switch and coil are connected together with a metal tube. The wire is inside the tube. The tube connects to the bottom of the coil and the coil is mounted through the firewall.

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I've swapped the relays under the steering column and looked for loose wires with no luck. Sometimes when I'm driving the lights just cut off..but I'm pretty sure it's done it more after turning brites off. Also sometimes right when i turn my lights on there is a delay till the lights come on or if i have to turn off and on real quick or flash the brites to get them to work.

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Clean the switch contacts in the cluster switch. Steering wheel will need to be removed for this. 

Also check all solder joints on the main wires to the switch cluster. Renew/repair if looking dry/cracked/dodgy. 

I had the main power wire for the lights break off mine one night on a 2hr drive home. It shorted out so I had low beams. Not great but I was greatful for having some sort of lights I could drive home with. 

The symptoms you describe are the same as what I had in the lead up to this issue - except for the lights randomly turning off when in use. Mine only did it between switching from Lo to high and vice versa. 

I ended up replacing the combination switch from a ‘91 L series and haven’t had an issue since. It was a much tighter unit too. My old one had 400,000ish km on it with a lot of night driving during my ownership (which continues). 

Cheers 

Bennie

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