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    #1

    Brights have a mind of their own

    Hey everyone, I own a 1991 Grand Marquis and I'm pretty new to grandmarq.net. I joined because I've had trouble with just about everything electrical. Most recently I've had problems with my brights turning off and on at their own will. I'll be driving along and all the sudden my lights go out for anywhere between 1 second and 20 seconds and they kick back on for however long they want and it happens again. This only happens when I've got my brights on. I have some other trouble with the lights too, the left blinker completely shuts them off. The right blinker has no affect on the lights but sometimes it will turn off my windshield wipers. Now all this together made me think it was in the blinker lever since that also controls the wipers and brights so I replaced it and nothing changed. So I started taking the dash apart and I pulled out the headlight switch and found this

    Click image for larger version Name: IMG_0766.jpg Views: 1 Size: 57.9 KB ID: 1301166

    I guess my question is, where do I go from here and is this the source of all those problems?
    Tags: brights, Lights
    #2
    Its possible that the multifunction stalk switch on the column is no good. I had two '91 MGMs that had issues with that particular part. So, its kind of common. Many note of an electrical clicking noise coming from it too. When you say brights, you mean high beams right?

    1981 Mercury Marquis Brougham 2-Door 302/ 5-speed -special blend (GMGT)
    1987 Lincoln Mark VII 5-speed (Errand runner)
    1989 Mercury Grand Marquis (Base Runner)
    2007 Lincoln Town Car Signature Limited (Hustlyn)
    2011 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (Down with O.P.P)

    Comment

      #3
      Yes I mean High Beams. I replaced the multifunction stalk switch and the left blinker still turns off the lights. I haven't driven at night so I'm not sure if the high beam issue is resolved. When I saw that the blinker still turned off the lights I assumed nothing was fixed.

      Comment

        #4
        You must have a grounding problem somewhere. I believe the headlights ground to the same spot the turn signal does up front. Its somewhere on the rad support, right around the headlight. Find the black wire off the headlights and trace where it goes. REmove that and clean it and the other wires going to the screw. Put it back together and see if anything changes.
        86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
        5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

        91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

        1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

        Originally posted by phayzer5
        I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

        Comment

          #5
          I had a very similar problem once with my 88 Town Car. Turned out to be the headlight switch after. Changed it and everything was OK after that.
          Summer car-> 1988 Lincoln Town Car, triple blue, 335,xxx km. New HO 5.0 in and running. Bought 2006/08/22. June 2017 PotM!
          Winter vehicle-> 1995 Ford F-250 XLT SuperCab 4x4, 284,xxx+km. AKA "Brutus" 460/E4OD/4.10 axles and 12 MPG. Bought 2019/08/14

          Originally posted by phayzer5
          I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

          Comment

            #6
            Originally posted by nfldfordltd View Post
            I had a very similar problem once with my 88 Town Car. Turned out to be the headlight switch after. Changed it and everything was OK after that.
            Same with my 91 MGM, after replacing the switch my lights stopped turning off randomly as I was driving.
            Making and installing my own headlight relay harness didn't hurt either.

            A lot of other good possibilities mentioned above as well. Starting with checking the ground should be the cheapest and relatively easy if done as described by gadget.
            Last edited by VicCrownVic; 01-17-2014, 09:25 PM.
            Vic

            ~ 1989 MGM LS Colony Park - Large Marge
            ~ 1998 MGM LS - new DD
            ~ 1991 MGM LS "The Scab"
            ~ 1991 MGM GS "The Ice Car"

            Comment

              #7
              Thanks everyone, I finally got a day off so I'll be looking into all this today.

              Originally posted by VicCrownVic View Post
              Same with my 91 MGM, after replacing the switch my lights stopped turning off randomly as I was driving.
              Making and installing my own headlight relay harness didn't hurt either.

              A lot of other good possibilities mentioned above as well. Starting with checking the ground should be the cheapest and relatively easy if done as described by gadget.
              How did you make the relay harness? Would making my own be better than buying a new one on ebay?

              Comment

                #8
                This thread is a good read:
                http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...=relay+harness

                I was actually looking for a different thread but I think the above thread has input from the same author as the one I was looking for.

                If I had to do it again I may consider buying a kit. It's not difficult to make the harness but can be a little tedious.
                Vic

                ~ 1989 MGM LS Colony Park - Large Marge
                ~ 1998 MGM LS - new DD
                ~ 1991 MGM LS "The Scab"
                ~ 1991 MGM GS "The Ice Car"

                Comment

                  #9
                  Started looking around for a grounding issue and pulled the headlight out (furthest right as you're looking at it head on.) I didn't see anything wrong so I put it back in and now that light doesn't work in low beam. When I flip on the high beams it works just fine but the lights still turn off periodically with high beams. What could be causing this? Thanks for all the help so far, it seems if it's not one thing it's another.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    According to my EVTM for 91, the pic below shows the ground that gadget mentioned.
                    Click image for larger version Name: 91-headlight-ground[1].jpg Views: 1 Size: 77.1 KB ID: 1273640
                    The wire bolted to the inner fender behind the hood release cable in the above pic.

                    The low beam could have gone bad/filament broke while working with it but I would turn the low beams on and wiggle the connector to make sure it's the bulb and then plug the pass side bulb in or get a spare for $10-15 (depending on what's in stock) at Autozone.

                    If ground the ground is good, a new head light switch seemed to fix my 91 when it had the lights randomly going out.
                    It used to happen to me only when I was near my parents house, but after reading your post it may have been only on high beams, I don't get to use the hi beams often where I live but my parents live in the middle of nowhere so I use them more near them.

                    Also, I found the thread that I was looking for:
                    http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...ll=1#post59908
                    He has a link to Daniel Stern Lighting which I found to be very useful along with that thread.

                    If you have a grounding issue, the relay harness should not fix anything. With the problem still present, it would cause the relays to open and close, in turn causing the headlights to turn on and off, leaving you with the same issue and wasted time and money. I do recommend doing the mod, but I would say fix the headlights first then worry about adding a relay harness
                    Last edited by VicCrownVic; 01-22-2014, 07:18 PM.
                    Vic

                    ~ 1989 MGM LS Colony Park - Large Marge
                    ~ 1998 MGM LS - new DD
                    ~ 1991 MGM LS "The Scab"
                    ~ 1991 MGM GS "The Ice Car"

                    Comment

                      #11
                      that looks like it. I knew it was somewhere in that area. Pull and clean it, the one on the opposite side, and clean both headlight sockets and the pins on the lamps themselves. Bad connections in the lighting circuit do all sorts of stupid things. There is also a large plug a few inches back from that ground that connects the body harness into the harness feeding all of the lights on the front of the car. Those have been known to develop bad connections too. Might not be a terrible idea to open it up, clean it out, re-tension the female sockets a bit, and re-assemble it with fresh dielectric grease.

                      its very possible the headlight switch has gone TU but its worth checking the no-cost things just to be sure.
                      86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                      5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                      91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                      1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                      Originally posted by phayzer5
                      I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                      Comment

                        #12
                        The ground looks good and I switched the left and right headlight, looks like the filament broke or something when I pulled it out so I'll have to pick up a new one today. I have a new switch on the way, should be here in a few days. I'll let you know if that fixes it. Thanks for everything.

                        Sent from my N9810 using Tapatalk

                        Comment

                          #13
                          if you put a dab of dielectric grease on the headlight sockets, it makes it much easier to jack with and you won't have the issue of possibly breaking the bulbs by yanking on the leads.

                          Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                          rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)

                          Originally posted by gadget73
                          ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.

                          Originally posted by dmccaig
                          Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Looks like the new headlight switch did the trick. So far the high beams haven't gone out, but the left blinker still kills the lights. That's on the back burner for now though because it's 12 degrees here in Kansas and my heater is blowing ice cold air.

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Turn signal killing the lights could possibly be the multifunction switch.
                              If the new headlight switch seems to have fixed the headlight issue I would recommend that relay mod to help protect that new switch.
                              Vic

                              ~ 1989 MGM LS Colony Park - Large Marge
                              ~ 1998 MGM LS - new DD
                              ~ 1991 MGM LS "The Scab"
                              ~ 1991 MGM GS "The Ice Car"

                              Comment

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