odd hibeam issue

[helowrench]

Throwing this out there to see if anyone else has seen this before.
71 Ghia.
Rolling down the road with lights on, certain bumps cause the headlights to switch to hi beam, bump again, back to low.

Irritating at least.

Horn goes off, but on different types of bumps.

Sharp jolts make horn honk, gentle whoops make lights change hi/lo.

Turn signal switch has been replaced with one used, then one new, to no avail.

I hate electrical gremlins

[Piledriver]

First, an issue with the switch being flake, on the column?
Some percussive troubleshooting might eliminate that.
A rubber mallet should do.

Check the hi/lo relay, full of water or toggle spring died?

BTW, put headlight relays on your Ghia and moreso the 914, save the switch, they be dear on the 914.
Much brighter too, assuming you run a nice fresh bit of 8 or 10 guage to feed it.

Do not forget to fuse the coil either, if not already.

[Marc]

The hi/lo relay will trigger and switch state anytime its signal lead is grounded, however momentarily...trace that thin brown wire back from it and see if there's anywhere its insulation is damaged.
Get under the front with a light and check to see if there's any evidence that the steering shaft has been rubbing on the bottom of the tank - that'll cause the horn to blow.

[helowrench]

Pile, odds that all three switches, one of them new, had the same problem are remote. Coil is fused.

Marc, I have checked it quite a few times looking for exactly that, moving the wires about does not seem to do anything, and percussive adjustments are not revealing anything. Just weird.

Will check the potential tank/column interference tonight.

[Piledriver]

If all else fails, assuming it is the Hi/low trigger wire, one can ~easily (and cafefully) pull it from the connector and physically inspect the insulation all the way to the fuse box... its short and pretty direct.

While out, go find a pothole, if it still does it, that elininates the switch etc, and points at the relay or associated wiring.

The hi/lo wire does not go through the column, just the horn ground.
Inspect your steering coupler while down there, though, I need a new one, just spotted while greasing the tie rod ends.

Are the Febi ones legit? (Febi-Bilstein, right?)

[helowrench]

the trigger wire is new with the signal switch. i think I am going to swap out the relay and see what changes.

[helowrench]

swapped w one from the bug. road test tomorrow at oh dark thirty

[Marc]

Pry the cover off of the old one and examine the guts - it's nothing but a teeter-totter deal, that switches state each time the solenoid strokes (each time it changes it cocks itself to switch back the next time). I've never seen one with your symptom, but I suppose if the spring was slightly weak it could allow switching on jolts while still maintaining sufficient pressure on the contacts to keep the current flowing through them.

[helowrench]

No progress to report.

The newly installed unit from my parts bin/junkpile has no switching capability, whether commanded or uncommanded.

I will doublecheck the wiring, and also look for another in my parts bin/junkpile.

[itawolf]

always check your grounds

relay could be bad, to check find the wire usually marked "S" and brown with a white stripe going from the switch to the relay.


new switch is nothing to hook up

http://www.oldvolkshome.com/ovh_68-71_t ... wiring.pdf

[SCOTTRODS]

Rob... I have had this exact problem before. I cannot for the life of me, remember what I found, but it was something super duper simple... I had a HUGE parts pile back then, so it could have been a parts swap that cured it... I don't think it was, but it very well could have been. I'll try and remember and Maybe I'll go out and take a look at the Beetle in the driveway to help jar my noggin into remembering. I should know this off the top of my head, but lately, the brain has been over-taxed by the place I work (I think you'll understand that...)

[helowrench]

Scott,
I appreciate that.

[mountainkowboy]

Mine would not switch at all, ended up being a ground problem

[helowrench]

update.
replaced the hhighbeam relay, with no change in the issue.

Also realized that is I smack the steering wheel in an upward direction, I can make it happen.

I wonder if a deteriorated steering shaft bearing is the culprit.

More troubleshooting to follow.

[SCOTTRODS]

Rob... Pull all the fuses, one at a time and Clean the ends with Scotchbrite, then clean all the terminals on both sides of the fuse panel one at a time (Easier that way to keep in order). Seems like that did away with the intermittent issue I had. I know I've done that on a couple of occasions to eliminate gremlins... maybe that was the symptom I did it for on of those times...