I didnt have time to really dig into it tonight. But i have no low beams.

On my fender next to the rad it two cylinder looking things with wires attached at either end, One was to hot to touch, what are they?

 

A corroded connector could cause a dimming of the lights and a hot connector, but no lights? My guess would be a bad connection at the hi/lo headlight relay, bad hi/lo relay or bad switch at the steering column. The switch can be checked at the relay connection. There should be alternating 12 volts at the 85 and 86 connections as the switch is changed from lo to high beams. If the relay itself is bad, some modifications will be required unless you can find a used one. New ones have been NLA for quite a few years.

Dennis

 

High beams and low beams are on separate circuits/fuses. The low beam fuse is corroded due to electrolysis would be my SWAG. BTDT

 

Anthony,

Since each low beam is on a separate fuse, it is unlikely that both would go bad/corrode at the same time.

Dennis

 

I think i have a short.... Like i said that little thing up by the rad is too hot to touch and at one point smoked a little.. thus got me looking at it...

 

Dennis, Yes, you are right, but then again, who would have thought the Sooners would be Big 12 Champs this year?

 

Not me!! I wanted Texas to win the whole ball of wax again. There's always next year.

Dennis

 

Doesn't sound like standard equipment -- got a pic?

 

Those ceramic cylinders are the resistors for the coil. They drop the 12 volts down to keep from overheating the coil.... On cranking on the starter it only uses one for a hotter spark normal running the power flows through both. For BOTH lights to not have power it has to be a switch or relay problem .....

 

DUH... thanks Jim. I didn't make the connection(so to speak).

 

After 14 years or so having customers describe parts over the phone....sometimes you get lucky

 

Thanks, Ill look into a fuse and relay tonight

 

I hear the relay click but the lights dont come on. I bet i fried the relay yesterday when i plugged it into the fuel pump socket, it sure did make a hell of a racquet. will that relay fit the FP socket? Ill have to pull the relay open and see whats up. I have to go look at teh fuse charts and see what exactly i plugged in wrong

 

The fuel pump relay requires a pulsed tach signal(straight off the ignition box) to stay energized. This is essentially AC current as far as the relay is concerned, and will make the contacts vibrate at 4x engine RPM, causing them to arc severely. You may have burned the contacts in whatever relay you put in there. Beware -- advice that works for later cars(e.g. swap the horn relay into the FP relay socket) is not always valid for 78/79! OB FP relays should only be checked by either jumpering the switched terminals or swapping in the correct relay. Another example of a relay that uses the tach signal on your car is the AC speed relay.

You may be able to temporarily bring the headlight relay back to life by taking it apart and cleaning the contacts, but that won't last long -- there is a thin, hard plating on the contact surface(usually a nickel alloy) and once that's gone the underlying soft metal(usually brass or bronze) will erode very quickly. If the contacts don't look burnt don't use an abrasive on them -- I prefer a business card squeezed between the contacts to clean them(old trick from when cars used to have points).