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Topic: Headlights just glow! (Read 1721 times) |
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buffio
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Headlights just glow!
« on: Jan 9th, 2006, 10:32pm » |
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Hi people, newbie here!
Sad to say my first post is also my first problem with my little baby 
I left work last night, started the engine and turned on the lights, all good, pulled away and hadn't gone 100 yards when the headlights seemed to go out! I stopped, got out and walked round the front and they were still on but at about the same brightness as if it was the dim-dip running lights.
All the other electrics including lights work perfectly (touch wood!!!  ) it's just the headlights that both look like someone's installed a dimmer switch.
Can anybody help! I want my nice tip-top working scorpio back!
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hepburn
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #1 on: Jan 9th, 2006, 10:53pm » |
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could be a bad earth connection. Not sure where to point you for help but sure someone here will...
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Geoff_W
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98 Ulti2.5tdi Auto
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #2 on: Jan 9th, 2006, 11:47pm » |
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First of all welcome
Does sound like a possible earth problem, did you try main beam if so what happened? Other possibilities include both bulbs failing within seconds of each other, (can happen) and you can now only see the sidelights.
One of our tame electrical experts will be along any minute now 
Geoff
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buffio
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #3 on: Jan 10th, 2006, 2:26am » |
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 Thanks for the replies so far guys. A tame electrical expert eh? That sounds exactly what I'm after ! 
The full beam works a charm - probably a bit too well for the other drivers I passed getting home! I thought myself at first that the bulbs had gone but the headlights did briefly work as normal again this morning, just long enough to get my hopes up that it might just have been a one off, before deciding to dim again...
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Simmo
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #4 on: Jan 10th, 2006, 8:35am » |
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I certainly don't put myself in the 'expert' category but have you checked the connectors to the lamps?. It sounds as though the current is getting there But once hot a resistance is set up ie overheats. Could be a corroded pin. Have a look and spray with WD40 and see what that reveals.
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buffio
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #5 on: Jan 11th, 2006, 3:46am » |
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Right then, I've been out and had another better look without the stress of needing to drive home in the dark with no lights... When I was looking at the problem from inside the car it looked like the lights were working but dimmer, whereas it would now appear that it only looked that way and in fact the bulbs aren't lighting 
With the headlights on (dipped beam) it's only the lower bulb closest to the grille that's lighting. I gather (although I never took the time to check when it was still working!) that what should be happening is that it and the top bulb with the projection system should both light.
Just to make things interesting though, when I put the sidelights on the wee bottom bulb and also the top bulb light up fine (albeit not as bright as for dipped beam) so the bulbs can work and current can get there just not when the dipped beam is on.
I'll be back out tomorrow with the WD40 to check the pins - thanks Simmo! - but I'm now guessing that it's a problem with either a relay or wiring for what I'm now calling the "big top bulb" that is used when the dipped beam is selected but bypassed when the sidelights are being used.
Any thoughts?
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scorpio_man
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #6 on: Jan 11th, 2006, 6:21am » |
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hi there
check the switch. it could be burning out on the back pins.
hth
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Simmo
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #7 on: Jan 11th, 2006, 8:59am » |
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The next thing to check is: Do you have a battery cover fitted?, are the fuse box lids properly fitted. If these items are not in place you are likely to get all sorts of wierd problems as water will penetrate the circuitry. As Scorpio Man says the other place is the connector at the back of the lighting switch. Go to this link and scroll down to 'electrical'. http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/faultfinds.htm.
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buffio
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #8 on: Jan 12th, 2006, 3:55am » |
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Thanks again for the suggestions - if it wasn't for the fact I can't see without them this hunt the headlight problem might be quite entertaining!
Today's update then - battery cover, main and auxilliary fuse box covers all present and correct. I've checked the fuses (literally all of them) and they're fine, dry as a bone in there. Connectors to the back of the headlights are fine, so is the switch from what I can tell although at one point I thought I might have broken it trying to get the darn thing out 
I'm now almost certain that there must be a different relay or circuit used to light the 'big top bulb' for the dipped beam than the one used to light it when the side lights are on, and that the problem is somewhere in that relay/circuit. Can anyone post a link to a complete circuit diagram for the external lighting system or even just tell me if I'm on to a wild goose chase with that idea?
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buffio
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #11 on: Jan 13th, 2006, 12:25am » |
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Excellent stuff Scorpio Man, that was what I was after - your link was useful too Simmo but I'd already found it!
Having checked almost everything else suggested (and had a good look through the other posts on the subject of headlights!) I'm pretty convinced it's the dip beam relay but I'm off to climb head first into the footwell to have a look at the connectors under the fuse box just in case.
Anyone know where the best (i.e. cheapest and quickest) place to get a replacement relay would be? I did think about dropping by the local Ford garage but then I felt this terrible stabbing pain in my wallet...
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2tired
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #12 on: Jan 13th, 2006, 9:35pm » |
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Try spraying the relay and the relay socket in the fusebox with electrical switch cleaner. It worked for me with the same or similar problem.
Regards
KL
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buffio
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #13 on: Jan 15th, 2006, 8:27pm » |
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Cheers for the tip with the switch cleaner. It didn't work but I'll add it to my list of things to try if (and when!) the next electrical puzzle comes along.
I bit the bullet and went to the local Ford garage, and two of their guys both decided it must be the relay since that's the only thing that might produce the symptoms and hadn't already been checked. One new relay later and... nothing
As a last ditch effort to avoid a full investigation (cue several days of head scratching at the garage and a large bill) I'm going to replace the switch tomorrow and see what happens.
On the plus side, I'm sure my night vision is getting better having to drive without headlights...
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locky
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #14 on: Jan 15th, 2006, 8:43pm » |
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Had a similar problem on a freinds Granada a while back. It turned out to the Large Multiplug at the front of the main fuse box underneath the cover. You will see it's held in with a bright metal clip.
Unclip and remove the multiplug, and check for any green corrosion or scorching at the pins or multiplug itself.
hth
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buffio
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #15 on: Jan 18th, 2006, 3:05am » |
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Well I've checked everything I can check myself and no joy. The fuses and bulbs are fine, so are the covers for the fuse boxes and battery. Not a trace of damp anywhere and no chaffing on any wiring. All the connectors I could find are snug as a proverbial bug and look fine. On the off chance the relay and switch have both been replaced, no luck.
When I checked the multiplug it was fine too, but having checked it I now have no lights at the front at all bar the indicators 
It's off to Ford tomorrow to be poked and prodded so with any luck they'll come up with something!
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hepburn
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #16 on: Jan 18th, 2006, 4:56am » |
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bit of a long shot, but have you tried powering up the bulbs directly to a battery to see if they actually work ok? I'd also replace the fuse if you haven't already - and make sure it's the correct rating.
Good luck!
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buffio
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #17 on: Jan 19th, 2006, 12:19pm » |
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Hehe, long shots are about all I have left so always welcome! That said, bulbs are fine and so are the fuses!!
It has now been to the FMD. They spent 3 hours investigating and when I went to pick the car up they hadn't been able to fix it. They told me it was the main fuse box, so I asked them specifically what about the fuse box was wrong. After some head scratching, the service manager explained that he coudn't find the person who had looked at my car but it was probably damp as this was common with scorpios if they didn't have a battery cover to keep the water out.
I didn't have the heart to explain that mine has a battery cover or that the main fuse box is at the other side of the car. Or that after weeks of almost daily rain my fuse box is still as dry as a bone.
As a final highlight to my day, when I got back in the car to drive away my wipers had stopped working. Now I'll be honest and say that the wiper linkage since I got the car in November has been missing some kind of nut-type-thing and was held together with elastic bands and twisty metal wire. It still worked fine though and the FMD who did the service before I bought it didn't think it was a big issue (if it works fine like that why spend a fortune to replace the whole thing).
Post-Ford investigation the elastic bands and twisty wire have been removed altogether and some **%^&^$£&"^&! has actually bent the bits it held together away from each other. When I pointed this out to the garage they helpfully said that if it was patched together then this sort of thing was likely to happen and would I like a quote to replace the entire wiper linkage in addition to the new fusebox. I respectfully declined 
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Dave
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #18 on: Jan 19th, 2006, 1:22pm » |
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Sorry if this is a repeat of what Locky said but the large wiring plug for the fuse box on the drivers side can often look like it is well seated and connected but do check it carefully as it has 2 plastic locating lugs that must sit properly otherwise lights can be affected.
Apologies if you have already done that!
Have you actually removed the lights switch to have a look at the back of it?
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buffio
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Re: Headlights just glow!
« Reply #19 on: Jan 21st, 2006, 9:13pm » |
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No bother Dave, repeats welcome as I'm bound to have missed something!
Checked the multiplug again and now the full beam etc work ok so I must have not replaced it when I checked it the first time. It's gone back to the original problem now however where everything works except the top dipped beam bulb (except in dim-dip where it does light ).
The switch has been checked (in fact replaced altogether) but no joy. I left it for a couple of days - partly until I can fix the wipers Ford broke and partly because since I got it back from them the front wheels wobble like b*%%£ry over 30mph - and although they were still jiggered on Thursday night the headlight fairies must have been at it because when I tried them on the off chance (I'm an eternal optimist) they worked fine today! Sad that I now can't drive it until I get someone to fix whatever it is the FMD did to the wheels...
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