While driving at night my VS headlights (as well as dash lights) go dim... then a few seconds later they go back to normal. This happens randomly while driving with the headlights on at any speed. I can still see the road when dim but it's too dim for my liking.
Helpful facts:
Battery is good (over 12volts)
Charging system is good (13.xx volts)
No charging light on dash
Happens at any speed (does it at 15mph or 65mph)
Any ideas?
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Oh and it's not the brights flickering on and/or off ... I checked 
Sounds like a loose ground wire at the headlight connector. But could be anywhere in the lighting circuit, even the switch.
Do you have a alternator or Generator?
if alt, built in regulator?
it sounds like the regulator is wonking out
FYI - i tried to access your prtofile to see if i could see some engine pics and got this
|
The page you requested is not available. Reference ID: 4669860259217228[359580753][-1371202990]TUR-16PORTFOLIOS.r16081.b249-db017.ps001
Sounds like a loose ground wire at the headlight connector. But could be anywhere in the lighting circuit, even the switch.
I was thinking the same thing... BUT
Where are these babies grounded? They are not exactly metal
Maybe to the pan?
you have to follow the headlights. when i did my wiring harness, i made a ground bus on my front beam / bumper bracket.
if it was a ground - it would flicker / burn out.
do you have a voltage gauge? if not - might be worth sticking a temp one in under the dash (tape holding it on?) just to see what;'s going on as the flickering is happening.
Check all your wiring contacts associated with the lighting system. My vote: a loose ground wire, especially if the problem occurs when you drive on bumps or bots dots.
I'll check the wiring when I have a chance (after work).
Thanks for the tips... Hopefully it's just a loose ground.
Please, it is Botts, as in E.D. Botts, from the DOT. That would be DOT's Bott's dots to you.
PS: I agree with Barry. Also check your light switch and fuse box.
I have the easiest fix of all... and none of you wrench heads even thought of it... DON'T drive at night! problem solved and you didn't get dirty looking for a good ground connection at the bumber bracket! ... DAMN I am good!
Speedster "D" just saying....
Please, it is Botts, as in E.D. Botts, from the DOT. That would be DOT's Bott's dots to you.
PS: I agree with Barry. Also check your light switch and fuse box.
Please, it is Botts, as in E.D. Botts, from the DOT. That would be DOT's Bott's dots to you.
PS: I agree with Barry. Also check your light switch and fuse box.
Thanks for the correction, Scott. I've been misspelling that word for a long time. We used to own horses, and part of the grooming process was using a "bot" comb to remove any bot fly eggs. It's funny how stuff like that gets a permanent imprint on brain cells---especially mine. We haven't owned the horses since 1985, but the bot combs still do a good job on keeping our two old cats groomed.
Seems I've learned something about combs - gee, the only one I remember belonged to Kookie...he wouldn't lend it out.
Yeah, but what was the TV program? 77 Sunset Strip is the only one that comes to mind.
Lucas electrics are working normal. Fix is, get home before dark.
Kookie's (Ed Byrnes) car was built by Norm Grabowski, who just passed away last Friday.
Christian, you did say that all of your lights - including dash lights - were dimming together, no?
Something else you might check - before rooting around to find all of those ground points - is the cable connections at the battery. I guess you know the drill - pull the cables and clean the posts and connections even though they are on there tight.
I wish I had a buck for every hour I've wasted sorting out electrical gremlins that could have been saved by doing that.
I agree with Sacto..... If all the lights flicker at the same time, I would look at the wiring before the light switch.... It is possible that all the lights utilize a single ground point, but not likely.....
Christian, you did say that all of your lights - including dash lights - were dimming together, no?
Something else you might check - before rooting around to find all of those ground points - is the cable connections at the battery. I guess you know the drill - pull the cables and clean the posts and connections even though they are on there tight.
I wish I had a buck for every hour I've wasted sorting out electrical gremlins that could have been saved by doing that.
Yes, ALL the dash lights as well as headlight dim at the same time. Then come back to life randomly...
I put a battery tender on the car when I first got it, back then the battery terminals was good and tight but I'll check it again.
Kookie's (Ed Byrnes) car was built by Norm Grabowski, who just passed away last Friday.
Under the threat of thread drift, I remember Norm being in numerous hot rod movies. He might have had speaking parts, but I don't remember any. He always seemed to be older than the other "kids," staying in the background as one of the group. Not being part of the L.A. car crowd, I never realized until a few years ago that he was also a talented builder. He will be missed.
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Come on you gearheads, duh. If I recall once you start the engine you can disconnect the battery and still drive and have lights as long as your alternator is in good shape. I'm still betting on a loose or shorting wire. Might even be a bare wire chaffing against a metal grounding point, ie: frame, engine tin, steering column. 
Im willing to say check the plugs on the headlights If you dont find a burt conection there . then check the grounds.
bigger earth lead ??????
I very seriously doubt that you have a poor ground problem. From your description, a ground is not the issue.
How old is the headlight switch?
If it's an original VW switch re-used from a donor, then the internal contacts are, most likely, pitted and corroded and providing a weak, high resistance connection. They are slide contacts and were only designed for about 20 years of use and probably have over double that by now. Might be time for a new switch.
I very seriously doubt that you have a poor ground problem. From your description, a ground is not the issue.
How old is the headlight switch?
If it's an original VW switch re-used from a donor, then the internal contacts are, most likely, pitted and corroded and providing a weak, high resistance connection. They are slide contacts and were only designed for about 20 years of use and probably have over double that by now. Might be time for a new switch.
I always thought if it was the switch, they would be off or on... not so much dim at times.
I'll take a peek at the switch, thanks (still haven't had a chance to check the grounds)
The switch sounds plausible to me. Mine fried a couple of weeks ago. The dashlight dimmer had been sketchy ever since I got the car and I had an experience a year ago where the headlights wouldn't come on at all but none of the fuses had fried. After just removing the switch and putting it back, the headlights started working again.
The final straw was when I tried to turn the lights off and the parking lights stayed on. I noticed that the bezel was pretty hot and I could tell from the smell that the magic electric smoke had been let out of something. It was obvious when I pulled the switch that a short had melted a hole through the damn thing!
I replaced it with this:
http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/c...st.cfm?ID=113941531C
The replacement seems to be a better quality than the switch I replaced (which had a case entirely of plastic or bakelite) and its working well. I even think the headlights are brighter than they used to be.
I didn't know if the later model rectangular headlight switches (which seem easier to find online) would fit in that corner behind the dash so I didn't go that route. Has anyone used those or an even more modern combination headlight/dimmer push-pull switch?
Anyway, here's to hoping that it's just a poor ground!
Yeah, I'm using one of those rectangular, boxy switches from a 1970 VW, which shares a design from the earlier version, just with a few more contacts on it. I had to recess tbehind the dash to allow it to fit in there and have enough of the bezel collar protrude to fit the circular trim nut on. Within the switch is a plunger connected via the shaft to the knob. Pull out the knob and the plunger slides back and forth across a set of bump contacts to configure the circuits for off, parking lights and headlights, depending on how far out you pull the knob. Along with that are other contacts for the dash lights (via a rheostat connected to the shaft) and a feed for a few other circuits, some of which aren't even related to the lighting circuits, just that it was easier for the designers to pull some power off of the hot side of the switch (tabs 30, 30a and 30b) to elsewhere in the dash.
Put all that together and there's a lot going on with that switch. My non-professional but experienced eye tells me the contacts are good for about 15 amps max (including the headlights themselves) and most speedsters are pulling all of that. Now throw in the fact that the switch is probably 40 years old and way beyond it's useful life and you have to expect that the contacts will be worn out and failing, with higher resistance and dimmer lights.
A poor ground will cause lights to dim immediately nearby or cause a wider set of lights to dim opposite to their normal operation (turn them on, they get dimmer. Turn them off, they get brighter) but if several different circuits are acting in the same manner I would suspect their 12V feed through a common denominator switch. Could it still be a ground? Sure - but I would check the +12V side first.
