High beam switch

[Tim7139]

This may be of some help to those with intermittant or failed high beam switch. As has been suggested as a first step, replace the relay. This I did to no avail.
In anticipation of replacement got an assembly from Rick Muck since I really did not want to waste time on parts after I removed the unit.
Once you pull the wheel and slide the unit off you can get behind it to access the switch itself and what I found, I'd assume is a very common cause of issues. All you need is to tease the harness back through the dash an inch or so without the need to unplug anything.
The switch itself is mounted to the stalk with a single small screw. Once you unscrew it and pull the plastic cover, all is revealed. There is a simple spring uner the cover and two simple brass leaves that make contact when the switch is pushed,triggering the relay.
Two wires come up the stalk, each soldered to one of the leaves and in my case, and I suspect, most cases, one joint failed.
5 minutes with a small butane soldering iron......working switch, and now with a spare, unlikely to ever fail again.
Total tools.....one small screwdriver....one small soldering iron.

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by Tim7139

This may be of some help to those with intermittant or failed high beam switch. As has been suggested as a first step, replace the relay. This I did to no avail.
In anticipation of replacement got an assembly from Rick Muck since I really did not want to waste time on parts after I removed the unit.
Once you pull the wheel and slide the unit off you can get behind it to access the switch itself and what I found, I'd assume is a very common cause of issues. All you need is to tease the harness back through the dash an inch or so without the need to unplug anything.
The switch itself is mounted to the stalk with a single small screw. Once you unscrew it and pull the plastic cover, all is revealed. There is a simple spring uner the cover and two simple brass leaves that make contact when the switch is pushed,triggering the relay.
Two wires come up the stalk, each soldered to one of the leaves and in my case, and I suspect, most cases, one joint failed.
5 minutes with a small butane soldering iron......working switch, and now with a spare, unlikely to ever fail again.
Total tools.....one small screwdriver....one small soldering iron.

Thanks for sharing!

[vatdevil]

high beams would flash on and off when hitting bumps in the road. In my case, readjusting the brass leaves fixed the issue.

[ACHiPo]

Originally Posted by Tim7139

This may be of some help to those with intermittant or failed high beam switch. As has been suggested as a first step, replace the relay. This I did to no avail.
In anticipation of replacement got an assembly from Rick Muck since I really did not want to waste time on parts after I removed the unit.
Once you pull the wheel and slide the unit off you can get behind it to access the switch itself and what I found, I'd assume is a very common cause of issues. All you need is to tease the harness back through the dash an inch or so without the need to unplug anything.
The switch itself is mounted to the stalk with a single small screw. Once you unscrew it and pull the plastic cover, all is revealed. There is a simple spring uner the cover and two simple brass leaves that make contact when the switch is pushed,triggering the relay.
Two wires come up the stalk, each soldered to one of the leaves and in my case, and I suspect, most cases, one joint failed.
5 minutes with a small butane soldering iron......working switch, and now with a spare, unlikely to ever fail again.
Total tools.....one small screwdriver....one small soldering iron.

My hi-beam switch is flaky--it turns on usually in one press, but I need to fiddle with it to turn it back off.

From your description it sounds like I might be able to access the screw for the switch without pulling the steering wheel and turn indicator?

Thanks!

[Tim7139]

Truth be told, it is just far easier to sit there, pull the wheel and slide the switch off after you back off the screw. It takes five minutes, start to finish.
Sounds like you have the connection issue at the terminal end. You cannot really fix it until you slide it off and you have enough room to do that and reverse it for proper access/resolder without disconnecting anything.

[ACHiPo]

Originally Posted by Tim7139

Truth be told, it is just far easier to sit there, pull the wheel and slide the switch off after you back off the screw. It takes five minutes, start to finish.
Sounds like you have the connection issue at the terminal end. You cannot really fix it until you slide it off and you have enough room to do that and reverse it for proper access/resolder without disconnecting anything.

The surgery was pretty easy. I pulled the switch and cleaned the contacts. Now every time I press the switch I can hear the relay activate. About half the time the high beams turn on/off, so I'm pretty sure I have a relay issue.

I pulled the relay and ordered a replacement. The picture looks correct, but neither of the cross-reference numbers I had came up in a search at the auto parts store or online.
[ame]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009PQA9W4/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame]

I pulled the relay by feel, but will need to see what I'm doing to reinstall it. What's the best way to get in to see what I'm doing?

[Renlady]

Last time I tried my high beams they seemed to work fine. Until I tried to dim them. And ALL the lights went out. Luckily, when I clicked it again, the lights came back on. Now I just try not to get caught out late at night.