Lights are intermittent - Help!
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: New Braunfels Texas
Lights are intermittent - Help!
I tried a search but did not find my problem. Lights on, my park lights will come on and go off at times while driving or sitting still. My head lights are uneffected. I can cycle the light switch but does not seem to have any effect on the problem. Has anyone had this problem before and can give me a few ideas or at least a direction to go. The car is an '87 coupe.
Thanks in advance, Doug
Thanks in advance, Doug
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
What do the front parking and side marker lights do and what do the rear parking and side marker lights do? Front and rear get power from the headlight switch but front and rear have their own common ground for all lamps. When they don't light, thats when you should be measuring the voltage on the black ground wires from each lamp. You can stick a needle through the wire to make connection. You will measure 12v on black wires that are not grounded, but zero volts can occur if the brown power wire is not getting 12v, check for 12v too. You can also have a bad socket, but I would consider all sockets bad as unlikely. Parking lights on the front have one connector and parking lights in the rear have two connectors in the +12v line. Rear parking light grounds go to a common splice and then through one wire to a connector and then to ground. Front parking light grounds go to a splice and then to ground with no connector.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
The headlight switch is composed of 4 switch contacts. One, associated with internal and external lights gets power through the 10 amp tail fuse. Check the fuse and its fuse clips for bright clean contacts and normal tension on the fuse clips. When you have no lights, check for +12v on both fuse clips (fuse in place). If ok, then I would unplug the light switch and spray (lightly) some electrical contact cleaner on the light switch contacts and plug the light switch back in. If you still have trouble, replace the light switch.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: New Braunfels Texas
I cleaned the light switch with contact cleaner and also the fuse block. Seems to have helped, just drove 112 miles with lights on and no "flickering". The real test will be when I return home tonight at midnight. Thanks for the help/ideas!
