Whats wrong with my STOCK lights?!

[Shepherd]

I have a 93X and my light switch is going bad! I pulled out the entire light switch and it looks like the power wire (the brown one) had a little... I don't know what you call it, the blue/white powdery stuff you usually see on your battery. Anyway, I put some baking soda on it hoping it would go away. The brown wire also burnt the plastic brown box that holds all the wires and plugs into the switch or the knob it's self. Now, I know I'm most likely going to half to get a new switch and all, but I thought you X Experts could help me out first.
My lights ARE working, but they will flicker from time to time, and I'm afraid they will eventually cut off.

Thank you to whosoever reads this. The forum is so hurge I doubt I'll get a reply any time soon.

Shepherd- (Quietpro@earthlink.net)

 

[Alec]

Well you've already figured out that you have corrosion and other degredation of the switch and wiring. The only real solution is to replace all the faulty components.

 

[AdamsGuitar]

Sorry to hear it, man. Has your car been rewired, or, more specifically, the headlights? Dissimilar metals making electrical contact can (does) cause corrosion, which is the white powdery stuff you speak of.

In any case, Alec is right (he replied to this thread in the time between when I saw it and when I clicked Reply). You'll need to replace at the very least the switch, but more than likely you'll need to replace your headlight wiring as well. Be sure to check your steering column highbeam switch as well.

 

[aldive]

Do you have a leak that is causing the corrosion problem, after fixing the problem, be sure to fix whatever is causing it too.

Good luck.....

 

[xlt-sport]

shep

have you EVER run high wattage bulbs?

anything over standard 55/60 watt?

if so for how long?

this may explain the burnt/melting part of this mystery.

peter

 

[woodychitwn]

I had a similar problem on a Mercury headlight switch. The internal switch components just wore down over time and it began to short itself out. I noticed because the lights would sometimes flicker and I occasionally caught the faint scent of smoke. When I opened it up, one of the power wires on the back turned white, from the wire insulation overheating and burning off. And part of the socket turned a dark brown color from overheating. It was all from a simple faulty switch, nothing more. I replaced it, and never had another problem.

 

[udmsvt]

we had similar problems on our '91. we replaced the switch and the harness/wires with brand new (total cost $40!) and guess what, it still does it! initally, the brown wire had melted the harness so bad that it would not stay connected to the pin. plus, the switch itself was going. looking at it, we can see that the new harness is melting in the same place and the headlights flicker, but everything else works. i have fog lights wired into the parking lights, but i have done this on other vehicles with no problems. let me know what becomes of your situation.

 

[aldive]

If replacing the harness, why not go with a HD harness?

 

[udmsvt]

the delaer didnt list one. i got the harness from the dealer and the switch from autozone.

 

[MO_GUY]

i think this is actually a somewhat common problem with certain ford models. i had either a broken or spare light switch when i owned my cougar, never actually checked to see if it was bad or not but if it was a spare the person that owned the car before me must have known something i didnt

 

[aldive]

The HD harness is an aftermarket item. See http://www.suvlights.com/

 

[udmsvt]

except that the kits plug into where a bulb currently plugs into, and if power to that socket it cutting out (ie bulbs flickering), then that would do me no good. right now, i may use that kit but in a different fashion in order to completely bypass all factory wiring (unless i can come up with a better solution by the time i actually get around to it)