help with my headlight switch wiring

[fivespeedsteed]

so the 6 pin clip that plugs into the headlight switch fryed a while back and i ordered one with the pigtail from ford, but they called and said they didnt make it anymore. so i went to the junkyard today, got 2 of them, got wire connectors, and crimped all the wires, right colors to right colors, and plugged it in, didnt work. this is really starting to make me mad. is i multifunction switch now?

 

[HISSIN50]

Have you checked the ins/outs at the switch to ensure your wiring and splices are sound?

Are the fuses and fusible links good?

If you have voltage out of the headlight switch (the white-light feed is red/yellow IIRC, though your year could vary), then the MF switch is the place to look. You can get a new hardshell connector for it if you need to.

Good luck.

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

You should really go back and solder the joints, versus crimping them. The problem with how they melt is due to resistance, and the fact that Ford should have used a relay instead of running the full power source for the lights through the switch. The multifunction switch is a good next place to start, but you should check the headlight switch to see if it's bad first. It's never fun just throwing parts at it and hoping for the best. Repairs start getting expensive and frustrating that way.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

yeah i checked all the fuses above the dead pedal. i have a meter i guess ill head out and check all the wires and make sure im getting juice. i was gonna get a switch from the junk yard to make sure it wasnt my switch. the parking lights are still working if that makes any difference. and the fogs wont come on. only one other thing, the 2 brown wires that come out of the female clip, there was an aftermarket alpine security system in it, which i have been slowly removing. and there was a blue wire running off one of the brown wires parallel to the brown wire out, and the did use a crimp connector there. oh and the hole that melted in the old clip was the red/orange one. the wire fell out of the clip when i took it off.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

ok i just went and checked it, and the orange and red wire has power, using the black ground in the switch. so that leads me to it being the switch, what does that bigger black wire do?

 

[fivespeedsteed]

me and my friend took a volt/continuity meter to everything and chased it down to my multi function switch. low beam out says no ground and the headlight grounds are okay.

 

[HISSIN50]

me and my friend took a volt/continuity meter to everything and chased it down to my multi function switch. low beam out says no ground and the headlight grounds are okay.

Did you have 12 volts leaving the low-beam terminal (using a DMM or test light which is independantly grounded)?

 

[fivespeedsteed]

that means the red and yellow bigger wire right? yes, thats got 12 volts, and i dont think its grounded. i thinkthats one of the ones that didnt hgave a ground.we traced the junk back to the the multi function switch, the grounds for the headlights are good, and we traced it to that switch.

 

[HISSIN50]

that means the red and yellow bigger wire right? yes, thats got 12 volts, and i dont think its grounded. i thinkthats one of the ones that didnt hgave a ground.we traced the junk back to the the multi function switch, the grounds for the headlights are good, and we traced it to that switch.

No, I think Red/yellow is the headlight switch feed into the MF switch. This wire then gets switched by the MF switch itself. Low is now red/blk and high is green/blk (or something along those lines).

None of those wires will have a 'ground'. They are simply hot feeds which are grounded on the other side of the resistance in the circuit (your headlight filaments).

As for diagnostics, if you have power into the MF switch (Red/Yellow) but not out (Red/blk or Grn/blk - your colors might vary), AND all terminals are tight on the connectors, then the MF switch is the place to look.

The terminals do sometimes back-out of the connectors.

Good luck.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

thats what happened. the terminal backed out for that hot feed. so your saying that the problem is the MF switch itself, meaning the wiring for it or the switch? everything else in the 6 pin female going to the back of the switch had power, and we checked the continuity of the switch for the headlights and that worked. so we think the switch is okay, and the clip is now okay that i fixed it. im just kinda puzzled that the headlight switch and the multi function burnt out at the same time, but i guess it has. i figured if i fixed that wire that backed out, it all would be good.

 

[HISSIN50]

thats what happened. the terminal backed out for that hot feed. so your saying that the problem is the MF switch itself, meaning the wiring for it or the switch? everything else in the 6 pin female going to the back of the switch had power, and we checked the continuity of the switch for the headlights and that worked. so we think the switch is okay, and the clip is now okay that i fixed it. im just kinda puzzled that the headlight switch and the multi function burnt out at the same time, but i guess it has. i figured if i fixed that wire that backed out, it all would be good.

I have no idea what the problem is on your car. I just try to suggest the testing I'd do, but I'm not the most articulate guy so that's kinda tough.

If I'm reading your post correctly, the MF switch might have failed. If so, you have power at the feed from the headlight switch to the MF switch (Red/Yellow). And this wire is seated in the MF switch nicely. But then the low beam wire (red/blk) or high beam (grn/blk) wire do not show 12 volts while Red/yellow is hot.

If you can still use flash-to-pass and it works properly (it uses a different power source, but should illuminate low and high beams simultaneously), that suggests the wiring leaving the MF switch is fine.

Sometimes jiggling the Turn signal stalk helps make the switch work. Also note that if you swap in a new switch, the tilt cars use a different switch than non-tilt cars.

I would also find it curious that both the hdlt and MF switch failed at the same time. Are you sure the terminal backing out was not thought to be the hdlt switch (meaning the Hdlt switch was actually ok)? That'd be an easy assumption to make, hence why I asked.

Good luck.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

when i pull the flash to pass i think it is both low and high, the only reason i say its not the switch is because it had continuity.