Headlight video and older coaches

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

Today I performed the 'Meuller Modification'.  Seems like there are as many surprises in repairs as there were changes to the build during the model year at the factory.  I am posting this so someone following the video may be forwarned.  The video indicates there should be two wires at the terminals for each of the high and low beam in the electrical bay.  Of course ours had three on just the high beam.
Turns out that on our coach which is an early build for 1998, the low beam looses power when the high beam goes on so there is a need to supply power back to the low beams.  They ran an extra wire to the high beam terminal to resolve this.  If just the power feed is removed as indicated in the video and leaving the other 'two' lines in place, the modification works just fine.  The low beam replacement went as prescribed in the video.

I believe that I can now travel in the dark at speeds greater than 40mph which was all my poor headlights would allow previously! After dark today we stood out by the motorhome and turned on the headlights just to marvel at all the lihght!  

Thanks Bill and Roy for the video!

Keith

[Richard Cooper]

Where do I find the video?  Is it on Youtube?  Got a link?

[barbhalsell]

Richard, anytime you want to find something on here, go to the search up top. Pop in the phrase or in this case Roy Mueller's  name and you will find the post or thread.

This is the original thread.         http://forum.bacrallies.com/m-1333641606/s-0/


And these are the video links below.

http://youtu.be/fmYyoILEhMY


http://youtu.be/pIXez9bQNY0

[Richard Cooper]

Actually I did search for Roy Mueller, but got nothing first time.  I did it just now and got several posts.  Therefore, can only conclude I misspelled his last name.

But, thank you very much!

[Frank Hillis jr]

I tried his test and found my Marquis was one of the problem one's.  I did his upgrade as recommended and my headlights are as they should have been from the factory.  It took $5 dollars of relays 10 feet of wire, a few solderless connectors and an hour of my time.  I recommend the repair to anybody with dim headlights.  What a huge difference it makes.

Frank

[Dave Cunningham]

After a harrowing drive down highway 101 from port Angeles a couple of weeks ago, in almost complete darkness, I looked up the youtube video, and hit the auto parts store for some relays and wire, half an hour later headlights that actually work. How they could have sold these units for so long with this problem not being fixed at the factory, is beyond me. Thanks, Roy for taking the time to make the video, for all of us.
One thing that was slightly different in my 2000Marquis, Roy states that the fifth terminal down on the ignition side of the breaker strip is the headlight supply, whereas mine is labeled reverse/entry step, the 8th one down is labeled driving lights, so I just used that one instead.

Dave

[Steve Huber]

Dave,
Know what you mean. I discovered problem on my 01 in about 2009; 8.5 V at headlights. I wasn't aware of video so trouble shot it myself and came up with same solution. I called BCS to verify  my findings and chuckled when the tech noted that normally this issue occurs in about 4-5 years. As mentioned on forum/video problem is due to routing headlight voltage through switch as well as too many connection crimps in circuit. This last is a chronic (in my experience) problem with magnum chassis wiring.
Steve

[Bill Jourdain]

I experienced this problem first hand on Sunday night driving the last stretch of a trip from Tampa, FL back to NW Georgia.  It was very difficult to see with headlights. The fog lights at least let me better visualize the lines on the road.  Fixing this problem as described in the video has become my top priority.

[Bill Sprague]

I checked my YouTube account.  588 of you have watched Part 1 and 328 have gone on to Part 2.  Nobody has ever shown that much interest in anything I've ever done with a camera!  

Thank you for watching the video.  The editing took a lot of time.  Roy and I had no idea if anyone would use it.  I have not seen him since, but I'm sure he is as pleased as I am that it has helped people in the Club.

The next closest is a Halloween video I took in a Haunted House at Fort Flagler State Park last year.  It has 92 views.  At 3 minutes, it is a lot shorter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEVLuX-6Bt0

[Owen Johnson]

I have watched both parts several times and have done the modification. Thanks so much    Great improvement

[Edward Buker]

Roy and Bill,

Did I see this that this production is getting an Emmy this year?  At least with the BAC crowd anyway...

Later Ed

[Bill Sprague]

Roy certainly should be nominated for "Best Actor".  The YouTube score is up to 664 views for part 1 and 366 views for part 2.

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

Bill and Roy
You no doubt worked harder on this video than most of us know.  Not as simple as it would seem to us who havent done it.
You seem to trivialize this video and its usefulness, dont!
The effort you both put in solves a problem that seemingly hundreds of us have just lived with for years.  This problem was putting alot of folks at risk and your video may have already saved some lives.

Thank you both for your efforts, we drive at night frequently and in the NW where as you know deer are common so we may be part of the afore mentioned group!

Keith

[LEAH DRAPER]

"in the NW where as you know deer are common "  
 
On both of my coaches I have used the deer/animal high frequency devices.  I have yet to see or better yet hit anything.  Either I have been real lucky or they work!

[David T. Richelderfer]

Those high-frequency devices don't work in the cities.  It seems more and more jay-walkers and bicyclists are getting hit... especially bicyclists.  One flipped me off a while back.  I tried to hit him at just the last second but he flipped too late for me to move to the right far enough.