Strange Headlight Problems 32 Gtst

[mad-mk1]

hey all, I thought iI would pop this up here for all you to ponder. its got me stumped.

I have a 32 gtst, which occasionally the left side headlight wont work. OK sounds like a loose wire or bad earth.

Except when you turn the headlights on and off again it works the second time.

only thing i can think of is maby dirty contacts in the switch?

it has also done it when you turn the high beam off, not very often but it has done it.

any ideas of what to look at and what to try?

cheers jamie

[funki_munki]

I had the same problem, exept my right headlight didnt work at all. What i did was meter the voltage without the globe connected. both headlights metered the same but when a globe was plugged in it wouldnt work. The way i fixed it was re-wired both headlights with relays on it. Its about a hour worth of work and will cost about $20 for the relays but it fixed it and havent had a problem since. I have read of people pulling the switch apart and cleaning and bending the connections on the switch,i just cbf pulling the switch apart.

my 2c anyways.

[REE25T]

hey all, I thought iI would pop this up here for all you to ponder. its got me stumped.

I have a 32 gtst, which occasionally the left side headlight wont work. OK sounds like a loose wire or bad earth.

Except when you turn the headlights on and off again it works the second time.

only thing i can think of is maby dirty contacts in the switch?

it has also done it when you turn the high beam off, not very often but it has done it.

any ideas of what to look at and what to try?

cheers jamie

Nissans use a 4 circuit headlamp switch (high low right left)therefore 4 contacts are used.More than likely you will have a dirty connection on one ,easy fix fine wet and dry paper and retension contact

[Jack88]

It is possibly that your switch is buggerd too, i know of a few peoples switches that have failed and done what your describing.

[mr_scary]

Yep, odds on it's actual headlight switch in the dash. Nissan decided to have the lights draw all the current through this switch, instead of run a relay. So over time the plastic contact lugs melt.

When my car did this, I just got a 2nd hand switch which fixed it. Plan to wire up the relays when i've got some spare time.

If you wanna have a go, this should help: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

[Carbon 34]

Nissan uses multiple ground paths for lights , look near the radiator /headlight you should see a ring terminal on a bolt. on each side, can be rusted or loose from years of abuse.

also the switches fail often, similar issues on my R31 , pulled the switch apart (frosted plastic bit on the back of the switch )and the contacts needed small tweak/filing to contact again(poor man fix)

or switch out the headlight switch fixes it 90% of the time if the grounds , relays are good