I need some headlight help

[cbuczesk]

Check all of the ground connections. Maybe even add some grounds to the body.

Chuck

 

[Patcon]

Thanks, Chuck

A previous owner did a hack job on the harness. No telling what's been "improved"...

[SteveJ]

Like I said before, I could make it up to see you if you need some help.

[Patcon]

20 hours ago, SteveJ said:

Like I said before, I could make it up to see you if you need some help.

Even if I work it out you are always most welcome here!!!

[Patcon]

@SteveJ

Baseline voltage 12.80v

On ‎7‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 9:09 PM, SteveJ said:

With the headlight switch on, at the plug for the relay, check voltage from the RB wire to ground

12.20v

On ‎7‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 9:09 PM, SteveJ said:

Also measure voltage from the RW wire to ground

12.03v

Checked fuses for continuity. Both are good...

On ‎7‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 9:09 PM, SteveJ said:

Pull the fuse for the right headlight. Recheck voltages

RB 11.7v RW 11.71v

Lots of movement on the meter. Hard to make good contact. Voltages all over the place. I let it sit for a second and it settles at these voltages

On ‎7‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 9:09 PM, SteveJ said:

Put the fuse back and pull the left headlight fuse

RB 12.07v RW 12.06v

On ‎7‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 9:09 PM, SteveJ said:

you can turn off the headlight switch and jumper the RB wire to ground

I used the ground in the relay harness plug. All beams burn, which I assume is high beams because the inside lamps are high beams only, but they are not very bright even though the battery shows 12.60v with them on...

Same test with the RW jumpered I get the same results. On a whim I checked the voltage across the back of one of the high beams, it was barely glowing, 1.80v??

Are the low beams feeding back into the high beams looking for ground?

Edited July 16, 2016 by Patcon

[Patcon]

Ok I messed with this some more. I went through and redid the battery cables and the chassis ground at the voltage regulator. Some one had a red cable for the ground with some black electrical tape and a black cable for positive with some red electrical tape. So we remade all of those and cleaned all the connections at the starter. New connectors at the battery. Had the cover off the headlight relay and tried the headlights. No joy...They don't appear to burn at all. The high low switch seems to work because the relay moves and we can make it toggle with the high beam controls at steering wheel.

 

We have other electrical issues too :

Not charging

No brake lights

No wipers

No reverse lights

Half a dozen loose connections

[SteveJ]

Dang, it does sound like I need to pay you a visit. Next weekend is open.

[Patcon]

Come on! Bring Wendy and spend the night. We will have the guest house ready for you

[SteveJ]

I expect it would be a solo day trip, but it gives me an excuse to get the Z out on a trip.

[Patcon]

Well SteveJ came up today in the 260 and brought his little bag of magic tools. He was a big help. We narrowed down the headlight issue to a bad headlight relay. He had a replacement and all the vintage connections to make a plug n play fix. We still had an issue on the drivers side with glowing headlights we eliminated a backfeed issue and he narrowed the problem down to corrosion in the fuse box. So under his direction we pulled the fuse box and soaked the whole thing in a container of white vinegar for a couple of hours. After that a neutralization bath of water and baking soda. Blow it dry then use denatured alcohol to get all the water out. Blow it dry again. That brought the drivers side headlight leg up over 2 volts. Headlights are good now.

We found 2 bad fuses in the fuse box, after that we had brakes lights and wipers. We got the horns working and I swapped a voltage regulator and got the alternator working.

Then we had an erratic turn signal and I pulled the turn signal switch for cleaning...

All in all a really productive day, I may have even forgotten something...

Really big thanks to @SteveJ for coming up to help

 

[siteunseen]

Can't beat Mr Steve, he's a good 'un. 

Now I have another project to do myself, soak the fuse panel.  Thanks for sharing that what all he did.

[SteveJ]

I was only too happy to help because it gave me an excuse to take the Z on a longer drive, and I got to help a friend by doing something I enjoy doing. I hope Cody was able to pick up on a few things. Speaking of which, have him read https://fiddlingwithzcars.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/relays-simplified/ to understand a little better about the headlight relay and why the substitute relay does the same thing. Now it's time to wash the road smell off of me and get the before photos of the turn signal switch.