I have a headlight issue

[Clay Henry]

So my headlights dont come on all the time for some reason. They will come on when I pull the lever towards be in the bright position but I have to hold it. Sometimes they work and sometimes not. Anyone else have a bad switch on these or know what else is the culprit?

[Clay Henry]

So this morning they lights came on and as soon as I backed out of the drive, they went off. The fog lights stayed on so I could still see okay but I have to pull the turn signal lever forward like when your flashing your brights at someone and I hold it and the brights stay on but if I let it go, they go off completely. What do you think this could be? A bad switch?

[Acidsniper]

I haven't seen or heard of this problem directly, but to me it sounds like a short / switch connectivity issue. As far as diagnosis I'd try the following:

1. Check all fuses (both under dash and hood) to make sure they have good connectivity and none are burnt out
2. Check all harness / wiring connections (switches, headlight blubs, fog light bulbs, etc)
3. See if you can accuartely reproduce the issue (i.e. do the headlights work when you turn them "On" instead of the switch on "auto", does jiggling the switch cause them to come on, do the same with the high beam switch, etc)

Also make sure you check your trailer plug harness as well as if there's any frayed / cut lines there it could be shorting the system out.

Anyways, that's where I'd start to make sure the bases are covered for something quick and simple being the culprit. If none of those work then we're on to the next steps:

Are any other lights affected? Turn signals, parking lights, brake lights, backup lights, etc, etc? If not then we've narrowed down our focus. If it's strictly head light related then we have 3 main things to focus on:

1. Fuses (already checked above)
2. Connections (already checked above)
3. Faulty "high beam" switch (this would be the first culprit I would suspect if it's just your headlights being affected and not your parking lights, turn signals, brake lights, etc)

Hope that at least gets you off on the right track.

[Acidsniper]

Oh... also check your bulbs themselves too. I've had bulb filaments break and will intermittantly get a connection so sometimes they would work and other times they wouldn't unless the little filament bounced up and got a connection. Just take the bulbs out and give them a light jiggle to make sure the filaments are soundly connected still.

[Ryan Rønning]

I am with him. Check the filaments and check continuity in all the wires when they are working and when they are not.

[Dave]

bad multifunction switch.

[Rob]

My money is also on the multi-function switch. This very same issue came up on a dodge Dakota I used to have. New switch= no more light problem.

[Davey~do]

Switch contacts are dying. Replace the switch.

[Clay Henry]

I have lights when I pull the colunm lever back like when I flash my brights so that means bulbs are good and so are fuses. I have no lights with dash switch on auto or manual but I do when the column switch if pulled back so that eliminates the photo cell based on this wiring diagram and also points to the column switch I think. Right?

[Rob]

You are correct. This is exactly what I dealt with before. Change out the lever, and you will be good to go.