Headlight Switch December 23, 2009, 07:43:37 AM So my dad and I are driving through the hills of eastern Tennessee, on some winding country road, when the headlights start flashing, then go completely out! Any idea how dark it gets in eastern Tennessee?And so it turns out my headlight switch is toast. The good news is, my rigging of the wires on the side of the road revealed that the cause of my dislike of the brightness of the headlights had more to do with a high resistance connection in the headlight switch than the headlights themselves. Nonetheless, I thought I would share with everyone a few experiences I had while searching for a new switch.O'Reilly Auto Parts claims to have AC Delco replacement switches in stock at their warehouse. As we do not have these in MD, I have not confirmed this.After some research online, I called Bob Utter Ford in TX. They run a web portal for Ford parts, and though they did not have the switch, they ran several locator searches to find one. The gentleman I spoke with was extremely helpful and polite!Bob Utter Ford located the switches at collectorsautosupply.com. These are NOS Ford parts, and I have ordered one for my car. I plan on installing relays for the headlights, with a self-resetting circuit-breaker on the power feed, thus removing the high current load from the switch. I will use 5 Bosch 20amp relays, one for each low and high beam, and the fifth for the fog lamps.P.S. I think the switch may have failed because I asked Vinnie if he had considered utilizing a different switch in place of the factory unit. Merry Christmas!Bill Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #1 – December 23, 2009, 09:27:26 AM I think my light switch may be starting to go too. Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #2 – December 28, 2009, 07:39:59 PM I just lost my headlights tonight! Unfortunatley, I'm 700 miles from home visiting my parents, so I will need to find one FAST! They have a few Ford dealers here in Green Bay, WI as well as O'Reilly, so I sure hope I can get one. Can't really drive back to KS without headlights! I guess if we had to we'd have to split it up into a 2-day trip and only drive in the daylight. :( Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #3 – December 30, 2009, 12:35:14 PM Any updates? Did you call any salvage yards.The switches only take a minute to pull. Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #4 – December 30, 2009, 04:34:57 PM Went around to all the auto parts stores locally, none have it...in fact, it's a discontinued part for everyone including the Ford dealer. Counter guy said he looked on the Ford dealer database and there wasn't one available in the entire US! Interestingly, the book number for the application is NOT the correct part. NAPA thought they had it, and brought out the book indicated part, and it was completely different...not a rocker switch at all. We eventually cross-referenced it to a general Ford part number and matched it to the Ford P/N on the switch itself. I'm going to look online and see if I can come up with something. Didn't try salvage yards since last I checked around here in the late 90s and early 00s before I moved, there were no Fox Cougars/T-Birds in the yards. And, with the upcoming Holiday...not sure I'd even find any open. If I have time tomorrow, I may try to see if there's anyone open...but being close to Newy Year's, I kind of doubt it. Plus, we're leaving here on Saturday morning. The NAPA # for the CORRECT part is: HL6601 Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #5 – December 30, 2009, 04:55:16 PM Quote from: bike70ride;304451Went around to all the auto parts stores locally, none have it...in fact, it's a discontinued part for everyone including the Ford dealer. Counter guy said he looked on the Ford dealer database and there wasn't one available in the entire US! If it turns out you cannot find one before your trip, collectorsautosupply.com has NOS Ford switches for about $100Merry Christmas!Bill Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #6 – December 30, 2009, 05:02:44 PM Try a switch for a Mark VII...they're the same as ours. Should be 1987-ish and up to 1992. Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #7 – December 30, 2009, 05:21:51 PM Hope it ain't like the power mirror switch... The Tbird/Coug uses a female plug while the Lincoln uses a male on the same exact switch... Can plug the dammed things together...I took one from a Tempo, or Escort to replace the burned plug on the daughters '88 TC... I can't remember now, if I used the switch or just the plug and a new switch(was 8-10 years ago, she sold it in '02 or '03)... Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #8 – January 01, 2010, 05:18:58 AM I received and installed the switch from collectorsautosupply.com, and it is definitely the correct Ford item. Happy New Year!Bill Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #9 – January 01, 2010, 06:42:39 AM I had a couple in the garage.A hundred bucks seems high for a switch,BUT,I'm cheap,and when you NEED one,you gotta have it. Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #10 – January 02, 2010, 01:12:41 PM Quote from: ProTouring442;304718I received and installed the switch from collectorsautosupply.com, and it is definitely the correct Ford item. Happy New Year!Billim gonna have to book mark them!-----------editman they are hard to navigate. Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #11 – January 03, 2010, 08:56:12 AM Quote from: vinnietbird;304722I had a couple in the garage.A hundred bucks seems high for a switch,BUT,I'm cheap,and when you NEED one,you gotta have it.I think list price was something like $300 originally... crazy!Happy New year!Bill Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #12 – January 04, 2010, 01:09:23 PM Interestingly, for me it turned out to be a simple fix. I, too, found a Mark 7 switch (and ordered it) just to have when I got back to KS. However, it doesn't have the heat sink (?) that mine does. Otherwise, it looks identical. Not sure it'd be a direct replacement? Anyway, after my no luck finding a switch, I thought I'd just check the obvious since per the Owner's Manual, I should not have had a working high beam indicator if the switch was bad...and mine still did work (as did the high beams, though only in "flash-to-pass" mode). BOTH the low beams were blown! I've NEVER experienced that before (both at the exact same time). I had upgraded to Sylvania "Cool Vision" ones, and they do show as being the shortest life bulbs (though brightest output). So, this time I went middle of the road with the "Ultravision" ones which are kind of a happy medium between standard and the top-of-the-line. Drove home with lights on for 3 hours of the last part of the trip, no problem. Still not sure what caused the original problem...prehaps just coincidence? I did have to also replace the alternator which failed the day before. It was an Auto Zone rebuilt that I only got 13 months life out of! (Original lasted 21 YEARS). I didn't notice any kind of voltage spike indicators from the old alt, however...just the batt light on and clear indication of it not charging the system (lights dim, flasher slow, etc.) Guess I'll see if there's any more problems... Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #13 – January 10, 2010, 12:49:42 AM bike70ridedid you get a switch? i have one from a 1985 cougar not sure if that will work the 1985 is the rocker type switch, and it was just regular, no auto off headlamps . i checked 2 ford oem websites, and found a headlight switch for a 1987 cougar , price was like $73 and $75 . i dont understand that they couldnt find this part , they even have the other part available for the highbeam dimmer/turn signal switch. in fact a few months ago i had to get the highbeam dimmer /turn signal switch. this is weird ?? if anyone knows if they switch from a 1985 will work on a 1987 let me know bike70ride you can have it for the cost of shipping. Quote Selected
Headlight Switch Reply #14 – January 11, 2010, 01:47:32 PM thanks blackcat. I actually didn't need a new switch since mine works. I did end up getting the Mark 7 switch, which *looks* exactly like mine minus the heat sink. Not sure either if the 85 switch would work...but mine is a rocker-type with no auto headlamps... Quote Selected
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