Headlight relay options

[rbates]

Guy's - I'm a little confused...I'm hearng both 'Dave Irwin' & 'Daniel Stern' are they one of the same or are we talking of 2 seperate entities.... in which case what's the consensus on whose best...looking for plug & play solution for 260z. Apologies for the dumb question.

[madkaw]

David Irwin= member here, plug and play solution

Daniel Stern = actor, Cibea lens sales, harness kits

[rbates]

thanks, but is David Irwin still in business making the harness ? read somewhare else on this site that he was not ?

[Powderkeg]

I'm not sure what Dave's situation is. He was a great help to me and a lot of others with our Z's.

Try him at: wolfin32z@yahoo.com

[ktm]

MSA's kit is Dave Irwin's kit. Dave makes them for MSA.....

[Zed Head]

reduce the load on the switch

There are two switches that tend to heat up and/or have problems on the headlight circuit - the combination switch before the headlights and the dimmer switch after the headlights. You can put a relay in front of the combination power switch pretty easily to take the load off of it and leave the dimmer switch alone. One option, fairly easy because the power supply line is accessible by the fuse box, and there's room to hang a relay.

The dimmer switch is more complicated because there are a high and low beam circuit to tap in to and the wires aren't as accessible. I think that the MSA/Irwin kit does both, maybe running lights too.

Putting a relay on the running lights is fairly easy also, but not as easy as the headlight power switch, because you can tap in to the line before the combination switch. Harder to find a place with room to tap in and hang the relay.

I've done the headlight and running light switches on my 280Z, but not the dimmer. The dimmer gets dirty but it doesn't seem to heat up like the power switch.

Just adding some alternate views. If you don't like cutting wires and crimping or soldering, the plug-and-play is the way to go.

[z boy mn]

So, this has all been aptly timed. I drove to work today in the dark, and the headlights didn't come up when I flipped the switch. I switched it on and off a few times, and eventually I had lights, but it looks like my switch is on its way out. Is there a way to clean/repair these? I noticed "refurbished" ones on ebay, so there must be something one can do to repair them. I do have a spare from a 72 Z, but I'm not sure if it works any better as it came off a non-working parts car. The lights did come on, so I'm thinking maybe there's a way to fix the one that's on the car now?

As for the wiring harness, clearly I'm going to run out and buy the MSA kit ASAP! :-D

[Pop's Z]

FYI, Dave also refurbishes headlight/turn signal switches, too. He did mine and they work perfectly. I also have his relay harnesses and they also work perfectly.

Cheers, Mike

[z boy mn]

Thanks for the tip, Pop, I took apart the switch last night and it was very clean. The last owner said it was new, and I believe him. I also have a spare switch from a parts car, and I took that completely apart to see how it worked (as a practice)...looks pretty straight forward...except now I don't think that's the issue. Last night it was raining, so I had my headlights on during the drive home and the dash lights were flickering but the headlights seemed steady...so, maybe it's the dash dimmer switch? I looked on Black Dragon for a new one, but they don't have one in their catalog. Any other suggestions or tips? I'm guessing, by the way, I could just bypass the switch itself to test it? Haven't gotten that far yet.

[z boy mn]

Did a little more digging today, and it's definitely the rheostat switch that's causing the problems. I have a good one, but how does one get this out of the dash without taking the whole dash off? I was digging around today and I just can't get my hands in there to do it! :-(

[Dr. 240Z]

Here's a cut and paste from a post I made a few months ago - I hope it is of some value to you.

Follow these steps:

1) Remove the driver's seat and place cushions in front of and behind the front of the seat support cross member for comfort.

2) Lay on your back and slide forward so that your head is up against the clutch and brake pedals.

3) Using your left hand, reach up and remove the two wing nuts that screw onto the two threaded posts which support the tachometer.

4) Carefully push the tachometer forward so as to remove it from the front of the dash.

5) Once it's out of the front, make a drawing of what wires go where in the rear of the tachometer.

6) Remove the wires and then remove the tachometer completely out of the way.

7) Using a stubby Philips screwdriver, reach through the hole in the dash for the tachometer and remove the two supporting screws that hold the rheostat in place.

8) Unplug the two wires to the rheostat and remove the plastic knob on the stem. Now remove the rheostat via the same hole as you used to access the two Philips screws.

9) Reverse steps 1 through 8 to install the new rheostat and re-install the tach.

[z boy mn]

Just printed these out, Dr. 240Z, and I'll see what I can find for pillows and tackle it this weekend. Luckily, I do have a spare...it's just about getting it in. Also, I have an Allmeter tach, and it was installed a little crooked...this will give me a chance to correct that, too! :-D