AtomicMyke

Hey All,
My 65 Delta 88 threw a strange on atme today that when I git home from work, i went to turn off the headlights and they stayed on, even after the switch was in the off postion and fully in. the tail lights and dash lights all turn off. how ever the headlights remain on!, i even unplugged the harness to the headlight switch but still they stay on. I can even switch between high and low beams with the foot switch even while the lights are off. and ideas as to where this might be coming from?? thanks!

MDchanic

That's a good one.

The only possibility I can see is part of the headlight switch inside physically broken off,
unless the car has a burglar alarm, or some similar aftermarket gizmo installed.

- Eric

m371961

If they stay on with the switch unplugged I wouldn't think it is a switch problem. Is wiring all original? Does it have any relays or, as Eric says, aftermarket gizmos?

joe_padavano

Is there any chance this car has the Twilight Sentinel or Guidematic system?

MDchanic

D'oh. Too early in the morning. Missed that.

- Eric

Octania

Yeah that is some good voodoo right there.

automatic leaver-onner is my best guess.

If you take the wire right off the bulb and it stays on, you have a money making trick there.

MDchanic

Yeah, the Guidematic Eye shouldn't be the problem, because it should get both its operating power and its relay supply from the headlight switch Headlight terminal, so an aftermarket thing is pretty much all that is left, unless someone rewired the Twilight Sentinel.

Of course, if, as Chris says, you pull the wire off the bulb and it still stays on, you've got something there...

- Eric

Octania

I had a torch once, propane, the kind that screws onto the tank. I guess its filtery thing was plugged or something, 'cause I turn the **** off and the flame continued.

???

Unscrewed the torch from the tank it STILL burned...

for a minute or so

joe_padavano

They all do that. The propane in the neck of the torch doesn't instantaneously dissipate. Unlike electrons, gas doesn't move at the speed of light.

AtomicMyke

Unfortunately it seems i havnt discovered a source of unlimited power as i unplugged the bulb directly and it went out. There goes my get rich quick idea. Somehow I managed to "solve" the problem. I use the that quotes liberally and I still have no clue what happened. I fiddle with the dimmer switch wires a little and the symptoms stopped, s ok I have no clue, hasn't come back since....

joe_padavano

The dimmer switch only gets power from the headlight switch, on the blue wire. If the problem persisted when the headlight switch was physically unplugged, then the ONLY possible cause is that this blue wire is shorted to power somewhere between the headlight switch and the dimmer switch. I would suggest inspecting it carefully, as shorts to power can lead to fires, especially in this case where the short would have to be AFTER The circuit breaker in the headlight switch. I would especially look at the connector to the headlight switch, where the red power input wire and the blue wire to the dimmer switch are pretty much next to each other. Often the connector can overheat and melt the plastic body. I had this happen on a Chevy truck.

rocketraider

No Twilight Sentinel on Olds in 65. That came around 1970 or so.

I suppose a Guidematic could cause something weird like this if the GM specific dimmer switch had been replaced with non-GM dimmer.

MDchanic

Whoops. Guidematic Eye.

- Eric