BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Adam Hicklin on June 05, 2015, 03:42:34 AM
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I replaced the headlight switch, which hasn't worked since I bought the coach. Side note-wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. New switch was $32 at O'reilly. Side side note- I've never driven the coach at night. Anyway, pull the switch and parking/running lights come on but no headlights. (Yes I pulled it all the way out) Step on the high beam foot switch and the high beams come on (if the outer most lights are the high beams) but no low beams (the inner most lights). Where do I even start, great Beaver gurus?
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Adam,
There are a number of possibilities. First locate TB1 pins 4 &5 (Low & High beam respectively) in the electrical bay. Using a voltmeter or light probe see if you have voltage on the low beam terminal (TB1-4) when you select the low beams. If you do, the problem is between TB1-4 and the low beam bulbs. I'd look for a bad connection.
If you don't have any voltage on TB1-4, then you need to determine if your coach has the headlight fix mod installed. Trace the wire from TB1-4 to see if there is a relay attached to it. If so, your coach has the headlight fix. I'd first suspect the relay attached to the Low Beam. Either replace the relay or check to see if you have voltage on pin 86 of the relay. If you do have voltage on pin 86 and none on pin 87, it's almost certainly a bad relay. You can get a replacement at any auto parts store. There is an outside possibility that you've lost 12v or ground to the relay. Pin 30 should have 12v all the time and pin 85 should be connected to ground.
If no relay is attached to TB1 pin 4 you have a stock system. Check to see if you have voltage on TB1-4 when low beam is selected. If yes, there is an open between TB1-4 and the headlights, probably a bad connection. If there is no voltage I'd suspect the dimmer switch as it switches 12v to either the Hi or Low beam TB1 terminals 4 & 5. If your coach is wired like mine you need to have the ignition on to get headlight voltage.
Steve
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Thanks Steve. I'll do those checks first thing in the morning.
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Adam, no expert by any stretch of the imagination but aren't the outside lights usually low beams on cars? Inside lights high beams? Would that change on a motor home? Just curious. I replaced the headlight switch on a 1969 Javelin once and it was about 8 inches long with 20 or so soldered connections on it. I hope yours was easier than that!
Jerry
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Adam,
Jerry might be right, so in effect, your foot switch is alternating, high low, etc., and your high beams are not coming on. When I bought my coach, I had the same issue, although I am not sure if it pre-existed the shop's installation of my HID lights which I had done during my initial service of the coach.
At any rate, the symptom was, after installing the 4 HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights, I could get the low beams, but pressing again, couldn't get the high beams. The shop sent a guy out, because I was a little upset at dropping about $600 (including lights and installation) and then not have full use of the lights.
HE REPLACED THE FLOOR SWITCH, and bingo good to go! I suspect you might have the same issue, especially if it feels a little funny (less positive) when you press it.
Hope that helps,
Mike
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My headlights won't come on unless the engine is running. If it isn't all that lights are the running and parking lights. The OP didn't say if he had his engine on or not.
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Try turn the ignition switch on. That's the way mine work. Ignition not on, park lights and marker lights work, ignition on, they all work. No, my engine does not need to be running. Marty
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I did not have the key on, or engine running. I'll certainly try that first. As far as which position the high beam and low beam lights are in, with only one set working, I have no idea. Jerry's thought makes sense and if that is accurate it means that the low beams work, but when I step on the high beam switch, everything goes out.
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I should have been more precise in my post; my lights will turn on with the key in the ON position; the engine doesn't have to actually be running.
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This is what I found out today. First, it looks like Jerry was correct in that the outer most lights are the low beam. They are on with the switch, with power detected at TB1-4. But, when I step on the high beam foot switch, the low beams go out and the high beams do not come on. No voltage detected on either TB1-4 or TB1-5. Am I correct to assume the problem is a bad foot switch? All other light (running lights, dash lights) stay on and are unaffected. I haven't been able to get under there and find the foot switch connections. It does not appear that my coach has the headlight mod, but I do want to do it once I get this figured out.
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Adam,
That's still my guess. How does the switch feel? Should work easily, whereas mine didn't. Now the new one works very easily. I think at this point you've probably done all the wiring testing you can do, so unless you check the leads to the lights themselves, then its probably time to check the switch. Wish I knew how difficult the job was. I know it didn't take the guy long to do mine, maybe 5 minutes.
Mike
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Adam,
Dimmer switch is probably culprit. Only other possibility (but not likely) is a bad connection between dimmer switch and TB1.
Steve
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I'm hoping for the 5 minute job Mike. It does feel rough when pressed. Certainly not smooth. One of the jobs for today. I'll let you know.
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Adam,
The tech that did mine did have to trim out some carpet, but you really can notice it in that area anyway. I think he just had to pull a few loops to get better access to it.
Mike
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Mike, I wish I would have seen your last post before I started. I spent about 30 minutes looking for it underneath, thinking it would protrude through the floor and connect from underneath. Nope. Once I figured out it was flush mounted I pulled up the carpet and had just enough slack in the carpet to take out the two screws holding it down. $13 and a little time and everything works, including the little blue high beam dash indicator light. While pulling up the carpet I did find evidence of a past leak in that area, probably from the windshield. There was some corrosion on the dimmer switch which is probably why it failed in the first place. Well done guys and thanks for your help!
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Adam,
Well, that's probably why he did what he did and chewed some carpet out to get to those screws. I just stood back hoping the whole thing would solve the problem. Now that I've read your post, I now know how to extricate it next time.
Could water have come up through the screw holes? Should I, perhaps, remove mine put a little Lexel in the holes and screw them back in?
Thanks Adam,
Mike
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Mike,
The screws didn't go all the way through the floor so water didn't get in that way. The tack strip at the edge of the carpet looked like it had been wet. It was definitely a leak from the window. I saw some evidence of it when I bought the coach but it hasn't leaked since I've owned it. Hoping its past damage but I'll keep an eye on it.
That's one project down, 364 to go.....
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Adam,
Well, lucky you, I've been trying to fix a window leak on that driver's side since I've had the coach. Even paid someone some money to tell me they couldn't find a leak. It only leaks when the coach is tilted downward to the front, so that the water runs off the gutter onto the window and down. It appeared to me that it might be running into the window drain hole most forward, so my latest fix is to plug that hole up and forget about it as a drain, just to make sure its not used as an entry point. But I've not been in any rain since I've done that so the jury is still out.
Again, similar coaches, probably the same window on that driver's side. In 2000 they changed the style a little.
Thanks for the info on the screws.
Mike
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Well, lucky you, I've been trying to fix a window leak on that driver's side since I've had the coach.
I had a similar problem in the same place for the first ~2 yrs after I bought my coach. The leak would come in somewhere above the driver but it was occasional and we could never find it. Finally, I decided to replace all the ICC lights on the front cap because I could see cracks. Magically, the leak went away and hasn't returned. That was ~2 yrs ago.
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Joel,
I have an additional clue to the puzzle, however, and that is when the coach sits tilted slightly backward, the leak doesn't happen. What I mean is water from the roof comes down into the gutter going backward versus spilling out the front of the gutter down onto the window. Unlike yours mine has been very predictable - rain, coach slightly tipped forward, and bingo, the fabric beneath the window starts getting wet initially from the front spreading backwards.
I'd read about the lights in the cap, but thought there would be no difference in a leak there if the coach was slightly tipped backward or forward. But, if my current guess (which was formed by watching the rain come off the front of the gutter, travel down over the glass precisely to those two drain holes) isn't right, then I'll examine my lights again.
Thanks for reminding me of that possibility.
Mike
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Mike, it was dumb luck, if anything. I just saw the evidence of a past leak. Never have actually seen moisture since I've owned it. I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to chase plenty of leaks while I have this beast.
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Well, lucky you, I've been trying to fix a window leak on that driver's side since I've had the coach.
I had a similar problem in the same place for the first ~2 yrs after I bought my coach. The leak would come in somewhere above the driver but it was occasional and we could never find it. Finally, I decided to replace all the ICC lights on the front cap because I could see cracks. Magically, the leak went away and hasn't returned. That was ~2 yrs ago.
Joel,
Then again, with the coach tipping forward, that would allow more roof water to spill over the lights and when its tipped backwards that would decrease it, so I guess the logic works in either case.
All I know is, I was in Maryland and had first seen the issue in West Virginia (had a rain free trip across country last summer), so I called this "reputable place" near Baltimore, and took it in, and T-storms were expected, so after leaving it, I called them back and asked if they put something over that area of the coach. As even heavier storms were expected (this is real rain, not like what we get here in Oregon), I drove back out to the place, and as I'd feared they'd done nothing to protect the coach. Upon entering it however, even though we already had more rain, the fabric beneath the window had dried completely out and I noted that the slope of the coach was to the rear.
So, whatever it is, its not happening with a slope backward - only while sloping forward. But, you're right, could also be the lights. I'll take a look on vacation - bringing the ladder and all sort of STUFF since I really can work on it more easily when I am with it on a daily basis.
Thanks for the input Joel,
Mike