headlights gone kaput

[karena]

noticed a few days ago when driving the blue full beam light in the cab seemed to glow a bit even when when the lights were dipped then some-one told me the passenger side headlight was very dim -she was looking in her mirror so possibly the light was out and just sidelight on but drivers side headlight was normal -today sidelights work fine full beam light is very bright in the cab whether in dipped or full beam position but headlights are not working at all have done a search cant find anything similar -ideas anyone ?

[jaylee]

Possible switching relay fault/jammed/melted...??

[Northern Bongolow]

the lights on but no one home eh karen .
take it to a local garage if you cannot get it down here in the day time, fair chance it may just be the plug on connector at the back of the headlight. they go brittle and short/fall apart. if its just this it should be a quick job.
as jamie says above it could have taken the relay out so be careful. ive got some if your stuck so dont buy one.

any one know which is the mainbeam and headlight relays, just to help trace things out.

[helen&tony]

Hi
If it's the connector, I got some on e-bay for a couple of quid..I have the same difficulty, it's usually the bulbs going, as they must be on legally from Nov. to Mar. all day...and they wear out more quickly!..a couple of times i've found they just start getting dimmer...often one side, so I replace the pair, keeping a few spares!
Cheers
Helen

[dave_aber]

the lights on but no one home eh karen .
take it to a local garage if you cannot get it down here in the day time, fair chance it may just be the plug on connector at the back of the headlight. they go brittle and short/fall apart. if its just this it should be a quick job.
as jamie says above it could have taken the relay out so be careful. ive got some if your stuck so dont buy one.

any one know which is the mainbeam and headlight relays, just to help trace things out.

IIRC, the furthest back relay on the passengers side inner wing is the sidelights, next one forward is th headlight one. It is, surprisingly, upstream of the switch, so controls both main and dip.

http://www.g8dhe.net/bwm/bwmanualp.htm?1997/Page_66

As for the original problem, could be a bulb issue, with a broken dip fillament shorting out on a main fillament. That or a melted connector or switch internals. Higher rated bulbs?

[karena]

thanks guys Ady lights off and no-one home a whole new catergory of cabbage -cabbage goes well with bacon dont you think
i hardly dare ask but why would a connector melt ?

[perros huevos]

possible earth problem on the passenger headlight and its dragging a earth from the drivers high beam filament if you was near bolton i could take a look
chris

[steveyd]

Hi,

I had exactly this problem (dim drivers side headlight, full beam warning light glowing dimly) - turned out it was the connector in the back of the bulb had started to melt and caused a very bad connection to the bulb. I needed a new connector - old one was completely melted on the black/earth wire section hence similar symptom to a bad earth. All fixed for £2!

I got a new connector from the scrapyard from a horrible Suzuki small4x4 type thing. I just hunted around until I found one that fitted - the Mazda 626 in my nearest yard I mentioned on another post had different connectors. Pop the bulb out and take it with you - or find someone who's breaking a Suzuki on fleabay.

I spliced the "new" connector into the loom and everything works fine now! I even T-cut my yellowing lenses as recommended here - which also worked great so I can see in the dark as never before in my Bongo!

cheers,

Steve

[teenmal]

Hi,this might help if you need it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H4-HEADLAMP-B ... 20b9e75671

[Northern Bongolow]

thanks guys for the tips.
being a girl she has parked it till weekend . it will be sorted when i smell the bacon sandwiches are ready at the weekend (hopefully).

[karena]

being a girl stranded 10 miles from home with no lights and no time off in daylight until the weekend she has parked it - also because she is trying to learn to be more hands on with stuff (less needy) - and there is no better teacher than the bacon guzzler, no better bacon chef than his lovely missus, free entertainment from his incredible kids and no better company than all of them. (phew think that covers it )

[Northern Bongolow]

help please geoff.
found one of the headlight connector blocks had been replaced with spade connectors, the other had a bad conn and was melting.
striped it all and cleaned it all up then they all worked ok-----of she went.
however on the way home while flashing her mainbeam the highbeam stayed (stuck on) for a while, then a road bump returned it all to normal. then it was ok for the next hour, then home.
my thoughts are that the sticky relay has caused over time the melting of the bulb connections. so this is next.

any thoughts anyone.

[g8dhe]

The relay below, powers the headlights on/off, but the switch controls high/low beams;

The Flash switch also drives the HIGH beam directly, so its possible that the flash switch contacts welded until the next bump released them given that they came on and stayed on after using the Flash switch, my first move would be to try to clean the contacts on the Flash switch, possibly easier said than done never looked at the switch yet myself!

[PixieAndTheMoon]

LMAO Karen,

this probably means you are quite bonkers lol

Hope Ady sort's you freind, if you "JUST DON'T KNOW"! like me lol

Jo xx

[Northern Bongolow]

thanks geoff.
just to make it more interesting inone respect, there are no relays on the inner wing on that side of the motor, they are all on the other . not that the position alters much really.
thanks for the tip on the switch.
this turns it round somewhat then---cause and effect, the dodgey bulbplugs must have affected the coloumn switch then eh!