I've owned my Maverick for all of about a month now. There's plenty of attention needed but for the most part it's a pretty sound solid car. I've put about 500 miles on it over the past month an it seems like each time I drive it a new quirk appears. Last night was no exception. The tail lights and turn signals have operated flawlessly. Headlights seemed to be fine as well although I havn't driven it at night until last night. So I'd driven approximately 30 miles without a problem, then on my 35 mile route home (all unlit back country rouds) it happened. I was climbing a pretty long hill that requires a little gas to maintain speed with my 250 i6 and all of a sudden the headlights went out. I pulled over and they immidiately came back on. So I got back on the road....and the real fun began. For the last thirty miles of my drive the head light would come on for a second or two, then go dark for three to four seconds. It was like I had a slow stobe light for headlights. Over the course of the drive the duration that they stayed on seemed to decrease, but they did continue to flash the entire trip. The turn signals and emergency flashers did operate correctly during this event and the flashers actually made it possible to continue (very slowly). Another fun little detail, the flashers did fail whenever I pressed the brake, and as soon as I let off the brake the flashers resumed to normal operation. Other than the headlights, everything else works fine. I am a low voltage electrician but don't know alot about old cars and their electrical systems. I did replace the starter solenoid a couple days prior but the car seemed to be fine after that. I'm assuming the box mounted to the passenger side fender inside the engine compartment directly below the starter solenoid is the voltage regulator??? Seems like a good place to start but I hate chasing ghosts with money....gets expensive and my luck stinks! I recorded the event with my Droid last night but it doesn't look like I can post it with my thread.... I'd love any ideas you guys might have. Thanks for reading
Replace your headlight switch. There is a built in circuit breaker in it. After a while they eventually get weak. Pretty common problem with these cars.
I think the first thing I would check is the headlight dimmer switch on the floor, then move onto the headlight switch. Then check ground wires to the headlights
Ah, forgot to mention the floor switch for the Brights..... When I click the floor switch the head light turn off. The red light on the speedo gauge lights. When I turn the brights back off...the lights come back on. Not sure it's the switch its self. Example...with the car off...lights turn on and stay on just fine. With the car running....the lights go into strobe-light mode.
That's normal. I had a bad dimmer switch that acted like your problem. If your gonna throw money at it I'll start with the cheaper parts first. Check to make sure you have good grounds at the headlights too.
All I can tell you is I have replaced no less than a half dozen headlight swtiches over my years of owning Mavericks and Mustangs. Same exact symptoms...fixed it every time. Good luck with it and let us know what you figure out.
As Ray said replace the switch !!!!!!! And at the same time install relays on the head lights ( both low and high beams ) you will save the switch ..
X2! went through the same thing about 2yrs ago. my 1st switch lasted about 9 months, put the second one in and it lasted 3 months. I tore the car apart looking for shorts and replacing bulbs, jumping switches, etc. Installed the relays on the lights and got brighter lights and no cutting off. I don't think the switches I got were of good quality but it doesn't matter now.
Thanks for all of the replies. :Handshake I'm glad I'm not the first one this happened too! And for what it's worth.....ever since the night the lights decided to go disco on me.....everything's been fine and they seem to function properly. Maybe it was just a wild Friday night So, I spent the weekend poking around trying to figure out how to remove the existing switch. I've been unable to find any documentation on this and really prefer not to just tear into things without some idea what I'm doing. When I do that I end up breaking things.... Can anyone tell me how to remove the headlight switch? Do I need to tear the instrument cluster apart and get at it from the back of the pannel? Is there a threaded collar on the back of it? Maybe it just pops out with a flat bladed driver and a little persuasion from the front??? The front bezel on the switch does have a concaved opening on the botton of it that seems like it might be a pry-point....but I didn't want to break it trying.
1. Disconnect the negative battery cable. 2. Remove the headlight switch control knob and shaft after depressing the release button on the rear of the switch. Some models require special procedures to gain access to the release button. They are: On Mavericks and Comets equipped with air conditioning, disconnect the left A/C duct from the duct-to-register connector, loosen the two nuts that retain the left register to the utility shelf and remove the connector from the register. 3. After pulling the switch shaft and knob from the switch, remove the bezel nut that attaches the switch to the instrument panel. 4. Lower the switch and disconnect the lead wires from the switch. 5. Reverse the above procedure to install the new switch. When installing the new switch, insert the control knob and shaft into the switch until a distinct click is heard, signifying that the shaft is locked in place. http://www.1bad6t.com/Maverick/repair/chassis_electrical_03.html I went through 3 dimmer switches and one headlight switch on my '60 Falcon. Unlike a Maverick, the front parking lights go off when the headlights come on and it doesn’t have marker lights at each corner. That being said the Falcon HL switch is not heavily taxed like a Maverick HL switch when in use.
I found these links by typing in "Install Headlight Switch" in Search box. http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=41508&highlight=INSTALL+HEADLIGHT+SWITCH http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=71221&highlight=headlight+switch
if you convert your head lights over to realys like i did in this thread. http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=76107 it will remove the amperage draw that goes through the switch, causing it to over heat and trip its circut breaker. it also should give you brighter lights due to the lower resistance in the new relay circut.
Go ahead and buy your new switch before you start, it will help when your reading instructions to be able and see the switch rather than just feel it
