headlight help!

Hi all, I just took delivery of my 308 Sunday from my move. The car was shipped enclosed with a bunch of other classics, but now the headlights low-beams do not work. I really hope the headlight stalk was not whacked, but I will not rule that out.......

Here is how it goes: Turn headlight switch, lights pop-up, but no headlights. I can pull the switch down and get high-beams though. Where should I start looking?



thanks much all.

 

bulbs, low beam fuses/relays - do the parking/position/ip lights work?

 

Everything else works 100%. Fuses are good as are relays. Contact in the stalk switch problem? How do I check that?

 

Find the plug connecting the stalk to the wiring loom, open it and bridge the wires to the low beam - a diagram helps to identify the correct wires... if they light up, the stalk is the issue. good luck!

 

big thanks. will do right away and of course report back.

gosh how do I prove my case against this car shipper? the lights were working the day I took it to be picked up from shipper, I know because I had to drive it over in the evening! this is all subjective evidence to an insurance company though :/

 

The connections in the stalk are pretty low-grade solder. They could have vibrated loose during the trip. We had it happen at an exotic car night one time; you should have seen us out there, buzzed, using electrical tape to repair it.

There's not much too it; I bet if you take the end off you'll find a loose wire. Beware the spring (I think) and ball (I know) when you pop it open

 

So I can check the internals of the column switch without removing the ring nut and getting to the inners of the column assembly? Any color wire to search for specifically. I will check the diagram once I get home

 

ok I figured something out. I think the contacts must be dirty. I placed the column switch in the appropriate position for the low-beams to be operating, and then I noticed the low-beams illuminate for a moment and then go out as I moved the switch. I re-adjusted the position in which it was in and the beams illuminated as they should. So it seems the position of the stalk contact was not getting a 'clean' signal due to a possible dirty contact. Any way to clean these while in place?

 

Get a nice, bright flashlight and examine the stalk carefully. See if there is a hairline crack in the piece that holds the stalk. It can play havoc with the contacts. Ask me how I know.

Assuming the stalk is fine, you might be able to get it working by just flipping the switch a bunch of times to clean the contacts. I won't recommend spraying contact cleaner in there. But if you can't get it to work right or if the plastic piece on the stalk is cracked, contact Verell. When I had problems with my 308, I removed the stalk, sent it to him, and he repaired it, cleaned it up, and sent it back good as new (maybe better!).