Headlight switch

[Dcreech0]

If most of you have ready any of my other posts you would know I’m tackling a huge wiring job on a car that was not taken care of. I am trying to figure out why my headlights were not working and decided to investigate. 
upon investigating it looking like some class a jimmy rigging had been done. 🤣🤣. The previous owner had bypassed the combo switch all together and ran a new switch, and added some sort of a floorboard foot switch for the high beam. Lol. 
Obviously I started by pulling all this junk the previous owner added but has left me with a lot of wires that are missing. The larger wires (red, and red/white) that are soldered to the top of the combo switch are just missing all together. I will attach a couple pictures of what I have to work with. Any help on pointing me in the right direction to getting my headlights working would be great….

[dylancorrea1]

Im not much help, but I had the same issue my head lights were broken. Turns out the headlight switch was completely busted. My options were to either replace the switch itself (pricey) or solder 2 cables (my help forum should help you) to constantly run a low beam, or high beam I choose high beam as the headlights aren’t to bright and also the car is so low I really wont be blinding anyone.


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[dylancorrea1]

This might be helpful, you can make your own switch but, was to complicated for me.


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[Dcreech0]

So where do the red and red/white wires go off this switch?

 

[SteveJ]

I'll respond later. You've also had a meltdown in the parking light circuit. I can tell from the photos. Let me give you a detailed response.

[Dcreech0]

Thanks Steve J!!!

[SteveJ]

Okay, here's a photo of an intact switch.

You can see that in addition to the missing wires for the headlight, the green/white wire on your switch is in the wrong location. The green/blue wire should be on the terminal closest to the wire bundle.

The 9-pin wire connector needs to be replaced. You can get a replacement connector from Vintage Connections: http://vintageconnections.com/Products/Connectors.

I would suggest getting some spare 2.8mm terminals if you don't have experience with crimping wires: http://vintageconnections.com/Products/Terminals. Get the 2.8mm male spade and 2.8 female non-latching. For a crimping tool, I like to use one like this: https://www.amazon.com/Pc-Accessories-Terminals-Crimping-D-Sub/dp/B007R2JLJK

The biggest hurdle is to find what else the IPO chopped up. If the high low beam switch is on the floor, that means those wires have been diverted from the turn signal switch.

Be sure to download the FSM for your car so you have a good wiring diagram. Also, go to Account Settings. It's in the drop-down at the top of the page by your username. After you get to account settings, choose Signature and put in the year of your car. It helps us tailor answers to your specific model.

[SteveJ]

I forgot to mention that you should consider getting LED bulbs for your running lights and turn signals. Also inspect the bulb sockets for corrosion. That will reduce the chances that you will melt down the 9 pin connector in the future. If you replace all of those bulbs with LEDs, you can also change the middle fuse on the right side of the fusebox with a 10 amp fuse. That will further reduce the chances of melting down the connector. 

[jfa.series1]

While going thru all these wiring repairs, give some thought as to why the PO made the changes: in all likelihood the internal contacts are burnt or worse. When you finish the external repairs, you'll still be faced with fixing the original problems. If you get discouraged and look for replacement switches, be cautious about anything sold on ebay that is represented as suitable for any S30. That is not the case as Nissan made a lot of changes throughout the S30 run. While refurbing units across all of the S30 line I made a chart that shows the variations in the switches and note they are not interchangeable due to feature and/or wiring and connector differences. You can see there are 4 variations of light switch for the 240Z and 3 variations of turn signal switch. This information came from the online parts catalog.

Lights
240Z
		Applied Date		Qty	Interchange
		From	To		Newer	Former	Superceded
25160-E4600			7012	1
25160-E4601		7101		1	No	No	25160-E4600
25160-E4602		7101	7108	1	Yes	Yes	25160-E4601
25160-E8800		7109	7206	1	No	No	25160-E4602
25160-N3300		7207	7307	1	Yes	Yes	25160-E8800
260Z
25160-N3605		7308	7411
280Z
25160-N3605		7412	7607	1
25160-N4700		7608		1
Turn signal
240Z
25540-E4600			7108	1
25540-E8300		7109	7206	1	No	No	25540-E4600
25540-N3300		7207	7307	1	Yes	Yes	25540-E8300
260Z
25540-N3605		7308	7411
280Z
25540-N3605		7412	7607	1
25540-N4701		7608		1

[Zed Head]

Sometimes the solder joints on top of the switch just break off after a billion heat cycles.  It's difficult to get them soldered back on, and be durable to the heat cycling.  You can put a relay in front of after the fuse box for the headlights though.  You have to find the wire up under the dash for the parking lights to install a relay there.  That will take the load off of the switch and it won't see the heat.

You'll find more complicated relays setups that also take the load off of the dimmer switch.  But the dimmer switch doesn't seem to be bothered by the currant like the switch on the steering column is.

Bend these four tabs back and you'll be able to see if the switch can be salvaged.  There are loose parts inside so be careful.

Edited August 15, 2021 by Zed Head

[Dcreech0]

On 8/14/2021 at 11:10 PM, SteveJ said:

Okay, here's a photo of an intact switch.

You can see that in addition to the missing wires for the headlight, the green/white wire on your switch is in the wrong location. The green/blue wire should be on the terminal closest to the wire bundle.

The 9-pin wire connector needs to be replaced. You can get a replacement connector from Vintage Connections: http://vintageconnections.com/Products/Connectors.

I would suggest getting some spare 2.8mm terminals if you don't have experience with crimping wires: http://vintageconnections.com/Products/Terminals. Get the 2.8mm male spade and 2.8 female non-latching. For a crimping tool, I like to use one like this: https://www.amazon.com/Pc-Accessories-Terminals-Crimping-D-Sub/dp/B007R2JLJK

The biggest hurdle is to find what else the IPO chopped up. If the high low beam switch is on the floor, that means those wires have been diverted from the turn signal switch.

Be sure to download the FSM for your car so you have a good wiring diagram. Also, go to Account Settings. It's in the drop-down at the top of the page by your username. After you get to account settings, choose Signature and put in the year of your car. It helps us tailor answers to your specific model.

So the larger gauge red/white and red wires that have unsoldered connections on the combination switch….. if I were to resolver the connections correctly, where would those two wires run to? I see pictures of unmolested units where these wires turn into bullet and spade connections? But where did they connect to so I can trace down where to wire them. 

[Zed Head]

Just remembered that one reason the switch gets so hot and damages the solder joint is because the contacts get pitted and burnt.  You really need to take it apart and inspect.  I went through a similar situation on my 76.  Resoldered them but they eventually fell apart again.  Resoldered and added relays and they only see relay current.