Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:30:30 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: High and Low High Beams
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original
hmmm...........maybe you are saying that when hi beams are
on............both filaments in each headlamp are on at the same time.
normally it's either the hi's or the low's.....if you fiddle with the stalk
just right you can get them both on sometimes if you want.
it helps if you say what year vanagon.
there's no way to tell from your post if your talking about single round
headlights, or 86 and up rectangular headlights.
that info would help.
i would always encourage people to try not to have a 'what part is it
mindset.' But a diagnostic and testing mindset.
Half of what I fix might not involve a new part.
how are your grounds for your headlights ?
when there are weird symtoms..........
ones that don't make sense..........
I just had one - perfect example.
87 Wolfsburg Vanagon ( for sale btw ) .........had a frayed and weak engine
ground strap, which I undid to deal with later.
At some point I had the key on and I hear this continous and really bad
buzzing from the engine compartment.
I go back there, listen around it's the fuel pump or main relay in that box
above the coil, energizing and de-energizing like crazy.
natrually I think of a ground problem.
I get a good grounds strap , put it on, problem gone.
and i've seen weird feedback in headlights from ground problems.
that multi-point grounding thing, above the fuse box well hidden, with
push-on ground wires on it, some of them for the headlights.
those are weak. They easily don't make good contact.
I change most of those ground wires to screw and eye connection.
and I put a pointy star washer between the eye teminal and the metal body of
the van.
and as far as a bad relay goes........near impossible 'almost'.
fuel pump relays ......'maybe'.........from current flow and age.
Relays that handle smaller functions................the almost never ever
fail.
it's almost always poor connections.........poor workmanship...........not
understanding how a circuit works.........stuff like that.
hope you get it !
it is handly to have known good units for testing purposes, like a light
switch.
I've found maybe one bad light switch in the last 3 years on working on a
hundred vanagons.
they do fail, but not too often.
I'm gonna convert my 85 to the rectagular headlights, and I wouldn't
consider running those through the headlight switch directly .......gotta
have relays to keep the load through the switch from being too high.
I normally start at the head light sockets , the plugs.........check the
ground conenction.
I use a 12V test light for this.
And you can use a 12V test light to look for power or ground. Very handy
that way.
and always......check the fuses ! ALL fuses.
good luck .
scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hugh Harkins" <Hugevishnu@COMCAST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 6:49 PM
Subject: High and Low High Beams
Hi Folks,
Searched the archives, can't find anything like this. Both my high and low
beams shine from my high beam lamps as if the high beam lamps were
combination high/lo beam lamps. Nothing comes from my low beam lamps. My
driving lights also stay on now when I use my high beams.
I just installed a relay kit from Van Café as I was sure it was just a bad
relay, but the lights still operate the same way, just brighter. Put in a
new headlight switch a couple of years back, maybe the new switch went bad?
Anybody out there who's had this problem?
Hugh
86 Syncro GL
