RE: IML: Headlamp Switch Trouble shooting

["Michael O. Mann" <mann340s@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dan,

The headlight switch on the 67 and 68 is a known problem.  Since you lost
headlights, dash lights, and tail lights, I'd expect the light switch is the
problem.  If the circuit breaker, all lights but the headlights should
remain (I think this is how it's set up).  Backup lights are switched
separately, so are not part of the equation.

While driving my first 68 from Florida to San Francisco in 93, my lights
began to flicker late in the trip.  I could fiddle with the switch and get
them steady for a while.  Once I got to Alameda and found the hobby shop, I
removed the switch, disassembled it, cleaned all the old grease and coal tar
off the contacts, and reassembled it.  I did some damage to the switch
taking it apart, but assuming that any show it would be in would not be
subject to disassembly for judging, I used JB Weld and small zipties to
correct my mistakes.

I drove it for three years in the Bay area, and three more years in the
Seattle area, without further trouble from the switch.

If you are patient, remove and clean the switch, more carefully than I did.
Use a meter to be sure things are working.  While the switch is apart, you
can tell what posts should be hot in which position.  An ohmmeter will tell
you when it's as it should be.  This is also a great opportunity for some
preventive maintenance on the portion of the switch that controls the dash
lights.  Clean the rheostat thoroughly.

If you have big fingers, back trouble, or a bad disposition, buy a switch.

Please let us know how this progresses.

Michael What Red Wire Mann
67
68




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