Headlight relay switch?

[jsmoke]

My headlights flicker when on and i'm getting frustrated. Most people are telling me its the relay switch, but when calling the part store they say there is no such part. The dealer says maybe its the switch that you actually pull to turn the lights on. ANY help will be appreciated. Especially if you had this problem and fixed it. Thanks

[Eyelawdoc]

The contacts in the selector switch in the steering collumn can pit and erode over time resulting in loss of voltage to the headlights. Pat Pearson installed relays that are activated by the steering wheel selector, so the whole amperage of the headlight current does not have to flow through the switch. It solved his problem and probably would fix yours as well.

You might want to do a search on "headlights" and see what turns up on this board. I know we have discussed this solution before.

[Pat_in_L.A.]

BAD GROUNDS!!

As well as the relay trick,all Fords are notorious for bad headlamp wiring grounds at the core support. Pull the grounding screws out, sand away the crud and corrosion on the sheet metal and the wire terminal and reassemble.

[KevinK]

The headlight switch design hasn't change since the sixtys cars. When the switch goes bad, there is a relay built into it that will turn the lights off and back on when it resets. I would guess it is a current or heat activated relay. Replacing the head light switch will usually fix it. External relays are great especially if you run off road lights. Pretty simple to wire up but there is the extra cost of the parts and the time to install it. Cost is probably what kept Ford from doing it.