All of the sudden my headlights go one and off while driving

Tiny
CYNDIKH65
  • MEMBER
  • 1990 DODGE DAKOTA
  • 3.2L
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 146,020 MILES
When the left light (when looking at truck) is on and the other one is unhooked it works fine, but when you hook the other one up they both go on and off randomly. I have changed out the headlight switch, the headlights themselves and the dimmer switch, but it has not helped.
Friday, October 11th, 2019 AT 9:22 AM

5 Replies

Tiny
CJ MEDEVAC
  • MECHANIC
  • 11,004 POSTS
Out of all of the connections you have disconnected to the switches,

Have you noticed any of the connectors (male/female) being burnt or discolored or even the insulation on one of the wires being discolored or stiff.

I'm suggesting one of the connections in a connector is stretched/ expanded and no longer creating a tight hold onto it's soul mate.

Either the connection gets intermittent when the circuit overheats or a circuit breaker activates on and off.

On my Jeeps and other CJs, this has mostly happened with the floor dimmer switch, occasionally with the 12 Volt feed to the headlight switch connector.

Let us know what you find.

The Medic
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Saturday, October 12th, 2019 AT 11:40 AM
Tiny
CYNDIKH65
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I did not notice any burnt or discolored or damaged and tested them. Is there a way to test if they are stretched? It is strange but this morning it was so cold out and the headlights never flickered once so maybe when I was checking them I tightened something.
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Monday, October 14th, 2019 AT 6:47 AM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Hi,

If I can jump in here, I have seen this a number of times. I think there are two possible explanations. First, it is as you stated that you had a loose terminal and when you unhooked the connector and plugged it back in, you reseated it and it is fine. The other main cause is when it gets colder outside, the metal actually constricts and may make contact again. The test for this will be is if we get a warmer day or next spring/summer it starts acting up again. At that point, you will want to perform a wiggle test to the wires. That is just what is sounds like which is you wiggle the harnesses looking for it to act up.
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+1
Thursday, October 17th, 2019 AT 1:06 PM
Tiny
CYNDIKH65
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thank you. I will try that if it happens again.
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Friday, October 18th, 2019 AT 7:10 AM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Great. Thanks. Please let us know what happens.
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Friday, October 18th, 2019 AT 6:04 PM

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