smokin 72 steering colum

[Neal G]

I am looking for information/ advice on the headlight switch. I have had this 240 for a couple of years now with only one electrical problem until this latest puff of smoke from the headlight switch. I made the H-4 headlight conversion a couple of months ago and have driven at night very little. I wonder if I went too"hot" with the 130/110 H-4 "racing" bulb? or is the switch in need of repair/ replacement. I pulled the colum covers off and felt as the hot supply (white with red stripe) wire got hot at the switch connection when the headlights are turned on. High or low, it did not matter. Anyone had this problem? The wire seemed to stay cool enough with the heat being generated at the switch.

Thanks

Neal G

[ktm]

Too much resistance in that switch most likely. The lights are drawing a lot of current through old wiring. You should really upgrade your lighting circuit with relays if you are going to be running H-4 lights. Your fuses are most likely getting very hot as well.

[Arne]

Especially with high-wattage bulbs. You need to get that current out of the 35 year-old wiring. It was only designed to carry about 50 watts worth of current when it was new. You need one of Dave's headlight relay harnesses in the worst way. Do it quick, before you melt the combo switch, fusebox, or both.

[Walter Moore]

I am amazed that the 10A headlight fuses held with 130 watt bulbs. You must have been really quick when you switched between high and low beam.

(During the switch both filaments are energized, requiring 20A per bulb.)

[Neal G]

Thanks for the info/ advice. I'm going to back off on the bulb and see if it keeps things cool. If that don't work, I'll rewire with a relay. How would a person get ahold of one of "Dave's Headlight relay harnesses"? And yes the fuses are showing some signs of "twisting/ warping". I'm not happy with this conversion kit anyway. The high and low beam pattern/aim seem to be designed for a much taller vehicle. Can anyone reccomend a conversion kit? (sealed beam to H-4).

Thanks again

Neal G

[Arne]

Thanks for the info/ advice. I'm going to back off on the bulb and see if it keeps things cool. If that don't work, I'll rewire with a relay. How would a person get ahold of one of "Dave's Headlight relay harnesses"? And yes the fuses are showing some signs of "twisting/ warping". I'm not happy with this conversion kit anyway. The high and low beam pattern/aim seem to be designed for a much taller vehicle. Can anyone reccomend a conversion kit? (sealed beam to H-4).

Thanks again

Neal G

If you search this site for "headlight relay harness" you'll find this post (among many, many others):

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=219583&postcount=156

H4 headlights should work fine in a Z, but proper aiming is critical for them to work right. Sounds like yours are aimed way too high.

FWIW, I have used many, many brands of H4 lights, I've put them in every vehicle I've owned since I first discovered them in 1976. I've always felt the very best all around were Hella, followed closely by Cibié and Bosch. Also, IPF generally get great reviews, although that's one of the very few brands that I've never owned so I can't speak from personal knowledge on that. None of those are trendy looking with halos, clear lenses or the like, but they all just flat WORK!

Also, my personal experience has been that really high-watt bulbs are a waste. The light output isn't generally the problem, but aiming and directing it is. Monster output won't do any good unless the light is directed to the road where you need it. With true high quality lights as named above, you shouldn't need more that the standard 55/60 watt bulbs to get greatly improved lighting. I've never used higher than 75/90 watt in any of my cars.

While I'm on this, let me also add that higher wattage bulbs should only be used in the largest of headlights, otherwise they build up too much heat leading to short bulb life. I've tried the above mentioned 75/90's in a normal 7" light and had relatively poor lifespan on them. The same 75/90's in my BMW motorcycle (light is 8" by 10") or my wife's '91 Jetta (with euro-Hellas, 12" by 8") give normal bulb life. A 130/110 in a 7" is simply asking for the bulb to overheat. Too small of air volume in the light housing.

Last comment is regarding tinted bulbs. They are universally bad. The blue tints do not improve lighting, but always reduce it. Worst is that the tinting tends to scatter the light, so that even the best quality lens and reflector can't control it for best use. Doesn't matter what they claim, they are always worse than a normal clear bulb.

For details on bulb selection, proper aiming and more, a really great place to visit is:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

I've no connection with him, in fact have never even bought anything from him. But he does know what he's talking about.

[Neal G]

Thanks again everyone, I sent an e-mail to Dave about his harness and am going to look into the hella conversion kit. Summit has them for $80 pr. The 130/110 bulbs I have in there now are suppose to only draw "standard" current. (I don't believe it) But the "euro design clear lense" housing is not well suited for a car this low. They send the low beam right to the ground and the high is hitting the trees. At 20' there is an 18" rise and 18" to 24" shift to the left from low to high beams. Fine for a pickup truck

Neal G

[Inf]

The consensus in this thread is right, Dave's headlight relay kit is great and extremely easy to install. I also had the 'puff of smoke' from my combination switch base. My combo switch problem mainly centered around the running light/tail light circuit causing me all sorts of problems, like driving over bumps and having all the tail lights and dash lights cut out, making smoke, refusing to turn off, etc.

Dave rebuilt my switch (end result, it's like new) and I also bought his taillight relay harness. I feel much more confident about the electrical reliability of my car now that I know only a tiny fraction of the normal current is flowing through my switch, and for these 35+ year old switches, that high current = component death.

The taillight relay harness kit was slightly more involved to install (primarily because I had an a/c evaporator box to contend with in the passenger footwell), but still doable with some very basic tools.

This sounds a bit like an advertisement, but I was satisfied all around with what I got, so I feel compelled to talk about it.

I still haven't upgraded to H4s yet, but maybe I will get a hella kit when I get my car back from the body shop.

Also, whoever told you that would be "standard" current draw must be talking about some other vehicle. DC current is power divided by voltage, plain and simple, given the same 12-14V input, the 130/110 bulbs will definitely be drawing as much as double the standard 240z bulbs. I would say you are lucky to have not burned out your wiring harness already.

[Neal G]

I have contacted Dave and will be buying the harnessessss. I will be changing out my H-4 conversion to a hella or cibie and running regular wattage bulbs. The addition of Piaa driving lights will give me the road visibility I want and re-routing the higher current with dave's harness around the switch will give me the peace of mind I want. I have had 4 240's so far and have always kept a close eye on the fuel and electrical systems. Heard many, many horror stories. Had a few close calls also. I have limited the damage by being very watchfull. Actually I was just testing (running my headlights during the day) for such a thing before I get caught out of state at night. No fires please! Oh, the 130/110 rating on the bulbs is that claim they make with the "zenon" bulbs. I dought they are really 130/110. Lastly, I was reading about the fuel pump wiring in another thread and would have to agree with what I read as far as the wiring and connections under the dash and at the tank. (many hours on the phone and under the dash trying to figure it out, 4 cars later and 4 different arrangements from the "dealer/ factory"). This car had a positive wire run from the windshield wiper circut under the hood then through the tranny tunnel straight to the delco pump. I redid that to under the dash and used the factory green wire to the pump.

Thanks again everyone,

Neal G