No High beams "WIRES ARE GETTING HOT "

1675 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by 1972grande, Jul 2, 2010

RICK7441

Discussion Starter · Jul 1, 2010

The other night I noticed when I tried to switch to my high beams I had none, not a big problem ....or so I thought. I purchased a new high beam switch but still no high beam lights. When I switch to high beams the dash lights flicker on and off and the amp gauge bounces into a discharge and I can hear some clicking noise, I also found that the wires from the high beam switch where heating up, this worries me.
I installed a new headlight switch 2 years ago and have not had any issues with head lights until now. If any one can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Ric

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rex1965

· #2 · Jul 1, 2010

It sounds like you have a dead short on a wire to the high beams, the wiring should be protected by the circuit breaker inside the light switch, the problem is you will have to physically check the wiring, it could be pinched, or the insulation gone, I would start where the switch is to turn on the high beams, if its under the carpet, you need to pull up that corner and check it out, and trace the wires out. You didn't say what year and car you had. Good Luck.

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MizzouMike76

· #3 · Jul 1, 2010

Hi there. I had this problem on my Mustang; actually worse, the high beams didn't work at all due to the age of the wiring. The problem is likely your wiring and not the switch. The way the Mustang's wiring is designed, all the current for your high or low beams travels though the harness, the headlight switch on the dash, and the foot trigger before getting out to your actual bulbs. Add 45 years and halogens, and you have a problem! Those wires are getting hot because they are trying to carry a load that is too large for them in their current, deteriorated state.

As Rex1965 said, you should check out your wiring thoroughly for any shorts. I also HIGHLY recommend you do this upgrade:
Brighter Headlights
It is step-by-step instructions on how to take the electrical load off of your harness and switches with the use of 30amp relays. I did this on my '66 and WOW, my headlights are as bright as any new car! It's an amazing difference, and safer as you can imagine (hot wires getting hotter=BAD).

The whole thing took about 2 hours and maybe $12 in parts from Radio Shack. Well worth it.

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1972grande

· #4 · Jul 2, 2010

Sounds to me like a short. More than likely a somewhere on your highbeam wiring the insolation has worn through and it is grounding out onto metal (or maybe even onto another ground wire). It could be anywhere, theres no particular place I can suggest. Shorts can be a real pain in the butt to find but at least its just your high beam wires that you really need to look at an not your entire lighting system. Worst comes to worst and you cant find it and your up to this, rewire your high beams with brand new wire yourself (and put it in a wire loom so you dont have this problem in another 40 years :shigrin)

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