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Date:         Wed, 23 Jun 1999 10:32:43 -0400
Reply-To:     "Fitz-Randolph, Douglas" <dfrandolph@TALKAM.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Fitz-Randolph, Douglas" <dfrandolph@TALKAM.NET>
Subject:      headlight switch mystery, help! (plus: Daytime running lights!)
Comments: To: leif@CMCFLEX.COM
Content-Type: text/plain

Leif -

It's most likely your headlight switch! The *exact* same thing happened to me last winter - driving home from a climbing trip at Mt. Washington holding in the turn signal / high-beam stalk the whole way home. The switch failed intermittently at first, then for good. The switch itself would have been something like $50 from my local dealer - I managed to find a used one for $10. BTW, the switch blew out because I lost my mind and somehow thought replacing the stock high-beam bulbs with 100W bulbs wouldn't impact anything. Duh!

Before I could get the switch, though, I was able to get my headlights back. FIRST, I put the old bulbs back in. Then I removed the headlight switch and shorted (bridged) the two large contacts on the back of the switch. The switch has quite a few contacts - all are tiny except the two BIG ones - easy to identify. Voila! Daytime running lights! Your headlights come on when you switch on the ignition and go off when you shut it off. High beams function as before.

My "shorting" procedure is probably not a recommended one - I'm sure there are plenty of ways to do it, but suffice it to say that it involved a very short piece of copper wire and that I was able to re-install the switch into the instrument panel. I drove around like that for weeks without problems, and in fact only replaced the switch because I think daytime running lights are pretty annoying. (Until everyone has them, no one should use them - just imagine a line of approaching cars - say 20 of them... 19 have daytime running lights on, 1 doesn't - do you think you'll notice the one with no lights? Maybe. It seems like a highly self-preservational act - we aren't individuals - like it or not we are members of a group (humanity, society, whatever) and we must do -or not do - some things solely with others in mind. But I digress...) Some people share different opinions on this, and if you are one of them, that's fine - you might not have to replace your switch at all!

Note that this info applies to my '90 syncro and may be different for your vehicle. Hope this helps you out.

Doug Fitz-Randolph Yarmouth, ME dfrandolph@talkam.net '90 Syncro


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