headlight switch

[65rbdodge]

a friend of mine is having problems on his 69 with the headlights. the rocker switch get really hot. i was told on another board that you could rebuild them and the info was here, but i couldn`t find it.  can someone show me the way? thanks!!

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

The reason the switch gets hot is because all the current for the lights runs through the switch.  The stock headlights get their power from the dash harness, feed the full current through the headlight switch and dimmer switch, and back though the bulkhead connector, through another few feet of wire and then finally out to the headlights.

The fix to alleviate the load on the switch is to incorporate relays into the headlight system.
This is a fairly cheap & easy modification.  This also stops the dimming of the headlights at a low idle as well.

The rebuilding of the switch I think you are referring to is rebuilding the vacuum headlight doors part of the switch

A good article to read....
http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/brighter-headlights.shtml

A nice schematic courtesy of Moparts.com


And a crude drawing for 69 Charger use....


PS----welcome to the site

[zoobz68]

I am not having any problems with the doors,but that is awesome info!! I am having the problems with the parking lights in the front valance down below the grille.They work when I have just the parking lights on but when I turn on the headlights they go out.The turnsignals and 4 ways work when I just have the parking lights on but they quit working as soon as the headlights come on?? Please help this has gotten me crazy

[FLG]

Not sure about your 4 way problem...but on 68's the parking lights are supposed to turn of when you pull the headlight switch.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Not sure about your 4 way problem...but on 68's the parking lights are supposed to turn of when you pull the headlight switch.

not sure what year you are working on but this was a 68 only feature to turn the parking lights off when the headlights are on...

[bearbqd]

I have that same issue and I was wondering if that was a factory thing. Why did they wire it like this? It drives me crazy that they go out when you turn the headlights on. How can I rewire it for them to stay on?