308 Headlight Switch

I think the headlight switch for my '83 GTS QV is getting ready to go out. I have to play with the headlight lever/switch in order to get the lights to stay on. I can hear the relay clicking at certain points while turning from off to on and if I catch it just right, they will come on and stay on. I guess it could just be the relay (I hope it is). Anyone know where I could go to find out how to take the switch out and make the change? I found a replacement @ Ricambi - they are not cheap...but that's the nature of it I guess unless anyone knows of a substitute for the time being. I'd like to do the work myself if possible - just feel like it's one of those things I should be able to do. Any suggestions/recommendations would be gladly welcomed - thanks.

 

Jack...which part of the switch do you suspect?...the lever that switches up/down, or, the one that rotates? From your description, it's the one that rotates. You can pull the plastic 'cap' off and see the connection switch inside. It could be a connection in there.

Also, if you need / want to pull the steering wheel and hub, I've got the special 4-prong socket you'll need. We can also ohm the connection to pin-point the trouble spot.

My guess is that it'll be something simple.

 

Thanks Greg, It's the switch that rotates. Sometimes it catches / makes the connection mid-way between the turn, sometimes it doesn't. It does sound and feel like a loose wire or bad connection.This just started happening about a week ago. So it's been daylight drives only for right now. I appreciate it.

 

Jack...like I mentioned, the black plastic headlight switch cap pops off and you'll be able to see switch inside. If you want, bring it by this weekend and we can take a look.

 

I think fellow fchatter Verell fixes those. But I am not sure exactly what the limits of his repairs are I have read several favorable review of the work he has done. Should not be too hard to find a thread about it or just contact him if the repairs are beyond your abilities.

 

Hmm, unless you put one in I don't think there is a relay in there.....and that is likely to be a large part of the reason your switch is failing.

Do a search for "308 headlamp relays" or "Daniel Stern" and you should come across several threads that explain how to resolve this & put some relays in to make your lights work better and protect the switch. Verrel should be able to fix the switch for you if it is going south.

 

I believe Verell fixes or has a mold for the plastic housing, but does not necessarily fix the switch itself...but I could be wrong.

 

thanks to all.

 

are you sure it's the switch? mine had about the same but it turned out to be the relay

 

I can repair just about anything that can go wrong with these switches. The exception is the main molded plastic body that the levers mount onto is not always repairable. For some pix of previous work, see this thread:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21548

I believe you're saying that your problem is with the headlight twist knob, not with moving the stalk.
In either case I can help you.

Here are instructions for removing the twist knob:

----------------------------------------
HEADLIGHT TWIST KNOB SWITCH DISASSEMBLY

Get a large plastic bag like a dry cleaning bag to work inside, as there's a spring & a small steel ball that gives the knob the 'click' feeling when it's in the OFF & ON positions.

Working inside the bag, You can remove the knob to see what's wrong:

The knob is removable by holding the stalk firmly (so there's no stress on the mechanism inside the steering column), then pulling firmly outward on the knob until it pops off of the end of the stalk. As it pops off, the ball & maybe the spring will come shooting out (hence the bag to catch it).

There are a couple of styles of the contact setup inside the knob, your QV's knob should have the 'newer style'.

The early style style wraps around the knob & is just pressed together by a ridge inside the knob. Usually the only way these fail is either one of the brass contact strips breaks off, or the plastic switch body cracks. In either case, send the switch to me & I'll repair it.

The newer style has the contacts extending out past the end of the switch body, and a small blade inside the switch separates them or lets them come together. The common failures are:
1) A wire comes unsoldered from one of the contacts. (You can solder this yourself).
2) The blade inside the knob becomes too worn, or breaks off. I can make you a replacement knob.

 

Ten year old thread, but I made use of it today. The headlight switch on my QV had gotten so wonky that the lights were hard to keep on. It felt like the detente was failing and the switch was rolling past the "on" position. It turned out that the wire that was supposed to soldered to the brass fitting under the twist knob at the end of the stalk had come loose. I pulled the black plastic twist knob off--just pull straight, away from the steering column and it comes right off. Watch the detente ball and spring. Mine didn't go far, but you don't want to lose those. From there, I slid a business card between the contacts to keep the lights off, and then cleaned, sanded, and re-soldered the wire into place. Snapped everything back together and now everything works as it should. Thanks to 20 years of FChat@

 

Just to add our .02 we have sent two main switches to Jim Simpson with Odd Parts.com and he fixed one for a 308 GTS QV and one for a 328. Both repaired to VERY high standards and both work great. Thumbs up for Jim Simpson.

 

Well since this has been resurrected - Kind of off topic and I may have asked this before but my ‘83 has weird column switches. They look like the stalks in a 328 but the lettering is white, not orange. There is nothing in my maintenance records about them ever having been replaced. They work fine except the wiper stalk has a twist function that doesn’t seem to do anything.

Anyone else have or have seen anything like this or have any idea where they might have come from?

 

As you know, I have seen your steering column. It is the strangest thing. I am convinced they put a 288 GTO column in your car. It makes no sense that it was ever changed post-factory, particularly since you have the service records. It is just the strangest thing.

You might post a separate thread asking about it so that production history experts such as Nerofer notice the thread. Maybe its been seen before.

 

Has anybody got a photo or diagram of how the ball and spring fit into the switch?

 

Here's a thread including a picture (post#4), where's the ball located. The spring is beneath the ball.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/instructions-for-fixing-a-headlight-switch.257534/

Best from Germany
Martin