Hit the brights and all lights shut off?

[dkn1997]

68 charger.  headlights work fine, but when I press the foot switch for the brights, all of the headlights shut off.....all other lights ok, dash, etc...anyone ever had this happen. 

I recall it happening to another 68 I had in highschool and I replaced the high beam switch and it did not fix the problem.

the car is not operational (changing manifolds, steering box, etc...) so I can't really go out and check anything. Just wondering if this was a common problem.

[Plumcrazy]

The dimmer switch is the most likely cause.   I'd try another one first.

[dkn1997]

instrument panel dimmer, right?

[Plumcrazy]

instrument panel dimmer, right?

The floor dimmer switch.

[resq302]

I had the same problem with my 85 Jeep when I had it.  It turned out that I guess from a water leak, the contact corroded and when it switched to the high beams, there would be no power or intermittent power from a broken connector lead.  Try swapping out the dimmer switch and it should fix the problem.

[nh_mopar_fan]

I had this issue on my 67. It was the floor dimmer switch.

[472 R/T SE]

Funny... I mean what a bummer. 

My car's just the opposite.  I accidently bump the dimmer switch and the stinkin' bright lights come on without the switch even being on.  I think that's the first thing that should be replaced in a car when you get it.  They're the source of so many problems.  I'm eliminating mine completely, I can't use it anyways.

I'm putting a new wiring harness in from Bill Evans and bought a used headlight wiring harness.  I had a wiring nightmare when I got the car.

A little OT.  When I was in the oilfield we mounted the dimmer switch up on the dash of the trucks.  On the floorboard they're exposed to mud, water,etc.
You'd be driving along and all of a sudden all of your lights would go out.  We run all the backroads so it got kind of interesting sometimes. 

[warlock]

I agree, most likely dimmer switch, but once had problems with the high beams not working because of corroded bulkhead. An idea to look at.

[MyMopar]

I had the same problem, it wasn't the dimmer for me.  I had a corroded connector in the engine comparment, I believe it was the connector  located near the battery (nothing to do with battery).  I would wiggle it and hear a little snap and the lights would come on.  The conenctor was a bit melted 

[nh_mopar_fan]

Ok, I'm having an issue with the 66 Valiant that is somewhat similar to this. I lose my cluster lights when I turn on the headlights. I am thinking headlight switch. Any opinions?

[71_deputy]

NH- check the ground to the dash or better yet- make one from the back of the dash to the dash frame!!!!!

[nh_mopar_fan]

Believe me, I am checking everything at this point. It's obvious that this car had an issue at one point. The fuseable link has been replaced and there are a couple areas where you can see that a wire had a meltdown.

Anyway, I can rule sout the headlight switch because I swapped in a known working one and there was no change. Here is what I forgot to mention, the switch works backwards. When i hook up the battery, the cluster comes on. The light switch is still off at this point. When I pull the headlight switch to the point where the custer should go on, it goes off and then it stays off when I pull the switch to the last part to trun on the headlights. The headlights do come on and the high beams work fine as do the blinkers etc.

The other issue that I have is that I get NOTHING out back. No tail lights no brake lights, haven't checked on reverse lights.

I did have passenger side lighting, at least partial, when I had another cluster in there. But that cluster had other issues, none of the cluster lights would work.

I'm about ready to order new harnesses from Year One.

[472 R/T SE]

I had a wagon that would do that.  No lights out back.  It ended up being the dash dimmer switch, it was tied into the headlight switch tho.

Gotta let us know what it was when you find the problem.

[Nacho-RT74]

remove switch from plug and make a jumper between green and violet wires ( low beams ), and after that green with red wires ( high beams )... both with lights switch on of course.

If you get lights, then is switch... if not, then problem is wiring or all 4 beams.

one thing for sure is not ground. Ground is shared by all front harness. You can not get ground on some parts and some not.

[nh_mopar_fan]

Well, today will be a wire by wire check on everything under the dash. yesterday I hooke dup the cluster, properly grounded to the dash and got the following results.

Pull the switch out slightly,right side of cluster comes on. Pull further, right side goes off, left side comes on! Pull again, headlights come on. Problem is, this is one position earlier than they should come on.

I have already found one wire add that was done incorrectly, the emergency brake light was on all the time. Checked the wiring, one was a replacement and rather than going to emergency brakes switch it went back to the fuse box!

I am relatively sure that the meltdown and following repair all had to do with the genius who spliced in the alarm at some point.

I'll be out there today with a wiring diagram and tracing every single line to make sure it's right.

Someone else mentioned that the LED replacement lights could be part of the issue with the cluster only lightly up 50% of the time so I will swap back to the old style bulbs as well to see if anything changes. Otherwise, no idea who only 1/2 the bulbs which are on the same circuit would light at a time.

[nh_mopar_fan]

Update: We traced every wire. Fixed two broken connections on to the headlight switch. Here is where we stand:

The cluster sppears to be lit. The speedo very well lit, the rest dim. But lit. The alt gauge bounces quite a bit. The temp gauage pegged but then dropped back down and seems to be ok. Have no idea how much gas is in the car so can't atest to the functionality of the gas gauge.

The headights, high beams, parking lights, and turn signals all work fine in front.

We still get nothing out back.

I checked the fuse for the rear and it's fine.

Any ideas where I should look next? The wires at the tail lights have been cut and spliced together on both sides. I didn't get into them to look any further. We decided to call it a day.

That will be my next area to start checking the diagram vs what the idiot left behind.

Thanks for all your advice...

[phat69charger]

Checkout what I posted last:  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,9816.msg128983.html#msg128983

[69rtmuscle]

Its a long shot, but on my Charger, I had the same problem, and for me it was as simple as replacing the high beam lamps.  It seems that one of the connectors on the back of the lamp had broken off in the plug and made contact on an intermitant basis.

Dave