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  #1  
Old 12-19-2001, 09:17 PM
teamhunter teamhunter is offline
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Default headlight blinking problem

when the headlights are on,(70 charger) they occasionally/ randomly turn off and on by themselves. When this happens, I hear a "clicking" sound in the dash by the headlight switch. the headlight doors will open and close when this happens, unless the clicking is too fast, then the lights just flicker! sometimes it will click off and on 10 times in 3 seconds!! I don't want to just start replacing parts and hope it works. anyone have an experience like this?? I'm guessing it's the switch, but it's so fast sometimes I wonder if it's a short?
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  #2  
Old 12-19-2001, 09:49 PM
HOLESHOT HOLESHOT is offline
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2 possibilitys, one your 30 year old wires are poor at handleing amperage so have you taped into the wires for any reason?If so are the conections soldered?If not repair.2nd Id check all grounds and conections (at the lites etc) for corrosion and clean everything.Last the I would replace the relay but only after doing the foremention.
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  #3  
Old 12-19-2001, 11:21 PM
djswwg djswwg is offline
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Do what HOLESHOT suggested and check for a wire that feeds power to the head lights that shorts to ground intermittently. When that happens the circuit breaker (USUALLY part of the headlight switch) opens to prevent burning the switch and wiring, then closes, and if the short is still there repeats the process over and over till the short goes away again. I had this happen in my '84 5th Ave. several years ago. Turned out to be a wire feeding power to the left front headlight occasionally grounding against the chassis, about 5" from where the wire plugged into the head light. Hope you're as lucky finding it as I was!........djs
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  #4  
Old 12-20-2001, 02:17 PM
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Holeshot has got you going in the right direction. I'm not familiar with the 70 wiring set-up, but I would bet the "clicking" sound is the relay shifting from on to off. Check the power wire from the switch to the relay carefully. Also- after 30 yrs of use the connectors will loosen up a bit- Carefully tighten them back up,( gently pry them with a small screw driver- if your not sure what I'm talking about better to leave this alone), so there is a soild connection there. A bit of electrical grease would help to ward off corrosion too.
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  #5  
Old 12-20-2001, 05:39 PM
teamhunter teamhunter is offline
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Thanks guys! You are awesome! I'm new to the Mopar hobby and really appreciate you taking the time to help me out! This site is great! Merry Christmas to you all!
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  #6  
Old 12-21-2001, 02:56 AM
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DartMan360 DartMan360 is offline
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hmm. Sounds to familer. We had the same problem with the hard top. My dad was doing his burnout and the lights did this. At about 1/8 mile the car filled up with smoke. Here the main harness under the dash shorted it self out on a peice of metal for the last 30 years. It ended up getting everything including the dash guages. Im not saying this will happen to you. But Check everything wire by wire. It will be an expensive mistake if you dont.
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  #7  
Old 12-21-2001, 03:55 PM
teamhunter teamhunter is offline
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Wow! Thanks for the insight! That's not the preferred way to go about installing a new harness! I'll get under there and go through it wire by wire. In the meantime, I've got a fire extinguisher beside me on the seat now! Merry Christmas!
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  #8  
Old 12-22-2001, 09:58 AM
Bird of Peace Bird of Peace is offline
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I had this identical problem on my 70 Road Runner. The headlight switch had to be replaced due to the circuit breaker getting weak (read old). If I had my high beams on it would trip but the low beams wouldn't cause a problem.
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  #9  
Old 12-22-2001, 02:28 PM
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Their were no flames. It more less got so hot it melted. The harness came out of the car is one big round peice. The guy who we got the car off took the block out of the fire wall coz he said it was starting to melt. So he just wired the wired toghter and taped them. But the guy who wired the car for us said that did not coz the short.
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  #10  
Old 12-22-2001, 02:31 PM
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six pack six pack is offline
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Good advice.
But what type of headlamps are you using?
If they are a high wattage halogen then they will draw too much current and must be controlled with a relay to prevent the circuit breaker in the headlamp switch from opening and closing causing the same symptoms you are describing.
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  #11  
Old 12-23-2001, 05:14 AM
gwaii gwaii is offline
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Like what Six pack said,Its all good advice . Especially the high wattage head lights like six pack mentioned.Back in the 70s when dodge trucks were basically just the same body style with just a differnt grill put in the odd time by the factory to up date the looks of them for the next model year alot of guys would just buy a new grill to update the looks of their older trucks,When dodge trucks brought out the square headlites (Especially the 4 light systems) alot of guys put these into their older trucks.Guess what happened when they switched to high beam ? Yup,click , and out go the lights(heh,reminds me of the pat travers band song lol)to much wattage being pulled from that 4 light system for the head light switch/breaker to handle.Alot of people never gave it a thought until it happened.Also even if wattage is not your problem i would still change it i have found that once these things have been tripped once or twice they become weak.
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  #12  
Old 12-23-2001, 01:42 PM
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As mentioned earlier there is a circuit breaker in the headlight switch. When the load exceeds the breakers capacity heat causes it to open the circuit to prevent damage. When it cools due to no load it will make contact and the cycle starts over. If it cycles rapidly it could be due to age or possibly a very light overload. If it cycles slowly it usually indicates a more direct short and therefore more heat and will take longer to cool down and make contact again. Hope this helps.
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  #13  
Old 12-23-2001, 02:32 PM
mopar_man mopar_man is offline
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all great answers. i had .............er.......have the same problem on my dads 91 new yorker. he had changed to high wattage lights . when you went to high beam the lights would go off. There was some instructions that said you must change the relay to a heavier one . i cannot find the right relay .i know its up under the dash somewhere. took it to the dealer and they could not locate it either. SOME DEALER! . took every fuse and relay out of the box and it had no effect on the lights. any ideas how to find this sucker. BTW i have Chiltons wiring diagram and a Mac tools computer print-out but they do not show you where the relay is.
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  #14  
Old 12-23-2001, 04:11 PM
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six pack six pack is offline
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There is no relay, You have to install one to prevent this from happening.
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  #15  
Old 12-23-2001, 04:23 PM
mopar_man mopar_man is offline
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Ok but if thats the case, why does the lights come back on and then go off again etc etc etc. there must be some kind of circuit breaker there somewhere.
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  #16  
Old 12-23-2001, 04:36 PM
jelsr jelsr is offline
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Mopar-Man
Check my earlier post on the subject. If you want to install a relay you must put it in the circuit between the dimmer switch and the lights before it splits to the opposite side so that both sides are carried by the relay. The headlight switch will then carry only the load of the relay holding coil which is quite small in comparison.
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  #17  
Old 12-23-2001, 04:36 PM
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six pack six pack is offline
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Right the circuit breaker is inside the headlamp switch.

You have to wire in a relay so that the high beam circuit triggers a relay and the relay supplies power directly from the battery.

If you need instructions just e-mail me and I will lay the circuit out for you. plumcrazy70e@hotmail.com
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  #18  
Old 12-23-2001, 05:02 PM
mopar_man mopar_man is offline
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Thanks for the offer . it should not be too big a problem to hard wire in a relay.i only got at this a few days ago and now that i know that the relay is in the headlight switch i can go from here. thanks guys
Merry Xmas and a happy one

Garry................mopar_man426@hotmail.com
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  #19  
Old 12-23-2001, 05:19 PM
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six pack six pack is offline
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OK Gary but remember,

It's NOT a relay in the headlamp switch, it is a circuit breaker.
They are two completely different things.
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  #20  
Old 12-23-2001, 05:45 PM
jelsr jelsr is offline
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I replied to this a little while ago, must be off in cyberspace somewhere. Such is life in the far far west.
Moparman,
The circuit breaker is in the switch. You can install a heavy duty relay between the headlight switch and the dimmer switch powered by a fused 12V source and triggered by the headlight switch. This would allow the switch to carry only the load of the relay holding coil and the relay to carry the high current load of the headlights.
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  #21  
Old 12-23-2001, 05:52 PM
jelsr jelsr is offline
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I must be losing it! I'm sure the previous one wasn't there a moment ago. Anyway go with the last one, it will be simpler than putting the relay between the dimmer and the lights.
Sorry for the doubleclutch!
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  #22  
Old 12-23-2001, 06:32 PM
mopar_man mopar_man is offline
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Thanks again guys. sorry sixpack just a slip of the tongue.......er.....keyboard.i guess basically what i'll be doing is something similiar to a solonoid. instead of the ignition switch having to turn the starter it only trips the relay(solonoid) and lets it do all the work.
Garry
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  #23  
Old 12-26-2001, 05:08 PM
teamhunter teamhunter is offline
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Thanks again guys! Over Christmas I checked my harness wires and found a brown wire coming out of the group of wires that leads to the alternator had two melted spots in them, and appeared to be shorting/melting on the alternator. My tester was busted so I just presumed it was "live" despite the fact it is not attached to anything. Just has a factory "female" terminal on the end. Any how, I taped it up and routed it away from the alternator. I've only driven it once with the lights on, but the problem did not re-appear! Maybe that was the problem???!! (could I be so lucky??!) I also replaced one of my high beams recently with a halogen, but this problem existed when using only low beams. I'll yank the halogen out anyways so I don't create a new problem! Thanks to all again!
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  #24  
Old 12-26-2001, 06:38 PM
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From my memory that brown wire that comes out behind the alternator in the end of the wiring harness goes to your windshield washer pump motor. This is fed power from the windshield wiper switch when wash is pushed.
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  #25  
Old 12-27-2001, 02:22 PM
teamhunter teamhunter is offline
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Thanks Sixpack! That tells me that probably wasn't the problem and the flickering "gremlins" will probably revisit me, but you may have solved another problem instead! The lady I bought the car from complained that the windshield washer "never" worked! That was low on my list of "fix its", so I never got around to it. Since the wire isn't connected, maybe that's why! Thanks a ton! I'll try driving at night again some more and see if my problem is still there. While mucking around with the wiring last weekend, I also tightened some miscellaneous grounds, etc., so maybe with any luck I caught it !
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