So. Stuck another relay in there and still no lights.

I did notice that one of the front fog lights is out, but that is on a separate circuit, so unlikely to be the cause which means I am at a bit of a loss as to how to resolve

 

PHil, let me get home and lets see what I can find on the diagrams. It is probably something very simple.

 

PHil, you don't mention that the car is shifting goofey, so, I can say that fuse F67 is good. Granted, looking at your readings for pins 1 and 2 of relay R9, I think you have the pins backwards. I say this as you talk about a differing resistance on pin 1 as you move the switch, but Pin 1 is for power coming in and should not have any change. Besides, that should have 12 VDC on it when the car is powered on.

One question that I do have is whether your car has autolamps or not. If you are not sure, look at your headlight switch. Do you have 3 positions (off, park, on) or 4 positions (Off, Park, ON, Auto). This changes how the circuit may work and what values you may see.

either way, here is a check I want you to do. With the car off, remove relay R9 and find pin 2 in the fuse box for the relay. With the headlight switch in the ON position (does not matter if you have autolamps or not), connect the red lead to pin 2 and the black lead to any metal part on the engine. What resistance are you getting? You should be getting something very low (under 5 ohms). If you are getting something higher than that, we are getting close to finding your issue. Assuming you got a high resistance, your next check will be to pull out the headlight switch and disconnect the plug to the headlight switch. You are then going to measure between pin 6 in the plug and chassis (red lead on the pin, black lead on anything metal in the dash). If you get a low resistance (5 ohms or less), then you have a bad wire between the fuse box and the headlight switch. If you have a high resistance, then the ground wire between the headlight switch and the chassis in the dash is bad.

If you have any additional questions, let me know.

 

Thanks Thermo

It is a manual so no need to worry about a dodgy box. It doesnt have auto lamps. On Pin 2 I get absolutely no reading at all (maybe my multimetre isn't sensitive enough to pick up the resistance?)

One bit of progress though, After having the light switch unit out for all the testing, once I pushed it back into place I am now in the situation where the side lights don't work but the dip bream does!

That leads me to think it must be a dodgy switch. I dont want to get a second hand switch though if they are that common at failing but cannot find a brand new one either =/

 

Phil, if conditions are changing when you mess with the headlight switch, then you either have questionable pins in the connector or the switch is bad.

If you are wanting DRLs, then I would tell you to look into getting either a "Scandinavian" headlight switch or a "Canadian" headlight switch. They have the same connector, but internally, they are different. You have a non-drl switch in your car now. So, if you can get your hands on a any type of switch other than one for automatic headlights, you will have something that works. The question then becomes whether you want DRLs on your car. If you want more info on this, let me know and I will go into more detail.

 

Found this thread, as both my dips on the 2006 3.0L have suddenly gone intermittent. Mostly, they just don't turn on. My rear view mirror sensor failed years ago, so no auto-lights and I always use the light knob to turn them on. I've had the car for nearly 10 years, through many winters, so this is a new problem.

But here's the kicker, pun intended -- if I go out and thump the light with my fist, they will usually come back on. But then off again next time I drive the car.

I assume something is loose somewhere, and thumping it knocks it back into place. But it is BOTH lights, and they have to be thumped separately. Suggestions where to look?

Thanks!

 

CyJag, I would be looking at your plug that goes into the headlight housing. I am wondering if your ground wires have gotten too hot over the years and you now have some corrosion on the terminal. You want to specifically look at pin 10 in the plug. The other thing I would look at is (assuming you have halogen lights, not HIDs) is where the bulb connects to the headlight housing, check there for corrosion and make sure the bulb is making good contact. If you have HIDs or are not sure if you have halogen or HID bulbs, let me know.

 

Thanks Thermo, I think that heat/corrosion/electrical stress IS an issue, probably reducing the life of the bulbs. I think a contributing factor was none of it seemed very securely secured - the spring clip, the bulb connectors, the plastic covers on the whole back end. Maybe everything was a bit loose and this contributed to electrical stress and premature failure and intermittent failure (ie having to bang on it).

Finally got around to it last night, and the passenger side connector on the bulb showed burned plastic, and the metal connector isn't sitting in it correctly. The driver side was OK though.

The driver side bulb had since broken the filament, whether from electrical stress or from me banging on it IDK. I also broke the filament on the passenger side while fighting to remove it from the damaged connector -- it worked when I started but was visibly broke when I finally got it out. Put in a couple new, slightly higher quality bulbs (I hope) and we will see how long they last.

Any suggestions on where to get a replacement connector for the back of the bulb? I have always struggled to source these kinds of basic electrical components.

 

CyJag, if you do some looking around, some of the members found some high temp silicone connectors for what you are looking for. Me, personally, I could find a basic crimp on connector and cut off the old and crimp on the new one. That connector is going to most likely outlast you owning the car. The one caution I will tell you is to get a connector that has the sleeve over the connector to minimize any chance for a short.