craftsmen22

Hi,

when I use my high beam lights on my 69 Cutlass conv. the relay responsible for switching of won't do so. I already replaced the foot switch, but no success. So now I need to know where the relay sits and which new relay to use.

Best regards,
Tom

MDchanic

None.

• Big red wire goes into headlight switch,
• Blue wire comes out, goes to dimmer switch,
• Brown wire from dimmer switch goes to low beam filaments,
• Green wire from dimmer switch goes to high beam filaments.

That's it.

- Eric

rustyroger

Have I got this right; when you switch on your headlights you only get high beam?.

Either the dimming switch is incorrectly wired or the new switch is bad. American cars, particularly older ones didn't use relays much, one less thing to go wrong but more current passing through the switches.

Check for 12 volts to the light switch, then to the dim switch, then from the dim switch in both modes. You should get voltage to one and nothing to the other alternately as you operate the dim switch.

Roger.

jackedolds

Be sure to check for terminals that are dirty or have lost tension in the dimmer switch plug. If they are dirty or have lost tension you can probably remove the metal terminal from the plastic connector, clean the connection point, "adjust" the terminal so that there is appropriate tension, and re-assemble.

Easy way to identify the dimmer switch as the culprit is to unplug it and use a jumper wire and the above provided wire color code to jumper the dimmer switch connector to see if the appropriate lights come on. Caution - do not use a paper clip, or if you do then hold it with pliers and only make the connection briefly. The dimmer switch will have the full current of the headlamps going through it, and so will your jumper. Paperclips get hot fast (just ask my thumb and first finger) :-) Also - while I don't have the intricate knowledge based on model year that some on this forum do (and I willingly admit this), I thought that on low beams only the outer 2 bulbs are on and on high beams all 4 bulbs are on? Is this correct (aimed at one of you with specific model year knowledge).

rocketraider

Notice that Tom is in Germany. The car may have had some wiring mods done to meet German lighting requirements esp if high-powered halogen lamps were installed.

Tom, American-spec car will not have a relay in the headlamp circuit. Short of knowing what modifications were done for Euro lighting standards, best I can tell you is trace the wiring back from the headlamps and dimmer switch and see if a relay has been installed.

MDchanic

European lighting standards require each low- or high-beam to be on it's own independent fuse.
If he's got that setup, they could have done it dozens of ways, and there's not much we could say to help.

And, yes, Jack, low beams should light the outer two bulbs, high beams should light all four.

- Eric

craftsmen22

Hi, and thank you for so many replays. Sorry for not pointing out the problem more correctly.

I switch on regular headlights everything is fine. Then on a free track I turn on high beam by stepping on the foot switch besides the pedals. Now a car comes towards my direction. I press the foot switch again, I hear the click, but the lights won't dim down. So I turn lights off by using the light switch besides the steering wheel. Lights go off, and once I turn headlights on, everything is fine.

About German law and headlights: I only had to change the seal beam lights to German standards, so I used lamps where you insert a h4 bulb, so in case a rock smashes the seal beam it's death, and the bulb on mine is still working in case of impact. So wiring is the same as before, I have just no idea to get the high beam working correctly.

And yes, the high beams are the two inner lights, on my signature picture you see the two lights which are off - these are my high beams.

Thanks so much for your participation on my problem,
regards,

Tom

MDchanic

If the original wiring has not been modified, then the problem has to be in the highbeam switch, from what you describe.

- Eric

rustyroger

Not on a car that old, some British cars of that era had only 2 fuses, one for ignition live circuits, another for permanent live circuits.
Not a great idea I know, but thats how it was.

Roger.

MDchanic

Hmmmm...
I've had two '70 911s, and they each had four fuses for the headlights: one each for Right Liw, Right High, Left Low, and Left High

I always thought it was because they had to.

- Eric

rustyroger

You had a high end car Eric, I was referring to BMC and late '60s Fords.
Fiat, although making cheap cars, put a very good fuse system in their cars.

Roger.