VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Headlight Switch Shorting

When I rotate the headlight switch on my 48 Fleetline to turn on the dash lights, it seems to short out (the headlights dim and the generator gauge goes to discharge). Is there a way to determine if this is a problem with the switch module or a short somewhere in the dash lights?

Take a look up under the dash and see if the resistance wire that controls the dash light brightness has come out of the groove and is the source of your problem.

You could also remove the switch from the dash, disconnect the dash light wire, and then see if it still shorts.

Hi, I dealt with this problem off and on over a 5 year period in my 41. It was as Ray says. The resistance wire in the light dimmer switch (dimmer modular). In the 41 the light switch and dimmer switch are in one assembly with a fuse backing them up in case of shorts in any part of the light system.

My resistance wire was broken causing a short when the lights were on for about 15 minutes, AND THE DIMMER LIGHTS TO NOT WORK. The short would cause the fuse to blow. The wire is very thin and corrodes over time. It is probably an area needing a little lubricant every 5 years or so. When the wire finally breaks the problems starts. The problem maybe intermittent because the wire has to heat up enough to finally cause the fuse to blow. Several times I thought the fuse holder was the problem (bad connection, and the fuse would blow) so I would stick my fingers on the fuse holder to wiggle it and get a real surprise, burned finger from the hot metal. This should have been a warning of where the problem was but what did I know about electronics?

I finally dealt with the problem when the buddies and I were coming home, at night, from a football game in the dark. The lights went out for about 2 seconds, and then came back on( lucky for us). This scared all of us because we were about 10 miles from home and in the middle of wide open country side, with a big ditch along the road. The next morning I checked the lights, they were not working and the fuse was blown. I had had the problem before I replaced the wiring harness and after. So I took the switch out and the broken wire in the resistance switch was obvious. I just cut the wire off, or took the wire out of the switch and now the lights work fine. Now the dash lights are always on there brights setting, no more dimmer switch. I kind of like the brighter lights so have been in no hurry to replace the switch. Good luck, Mike

Is it possible to rebuild your headlight switch? I know that its feasible, but can a person purchase the stuff to do it with? Thanks Don