weirdman
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- Knoxville, Tennessee
No, only one bulb worked. But we were not getting anything at the connectors. We ordered some new bulbs, but we are stumped on the wiring to the headlights.
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Head lights not working
- Thread starter weirdman
- Start date
- 10,444
- 6,500
- 113
- Location
- Camp Wood/LC, TX
The two wires from the headlight buckets go directly to the dimmer switch, then a single wire goes to the light switch (within a harness). See if you are getting voltage going into the dimmer switch.
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- Nova Laboratories, WA
Headlight switches go bad.
I assume you have the 3 lever switch and not the push button?
Have you tested power OUT of the switch? If you have power IN to the switch, but no power OUT, you found your problem.
I assume you have the 3 lever switch and not the push button?
Have you tested power OUT of the switch? If you have power IN to the switch, but no power OUT, you found your problem.
weirdman
Member
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- Location
- Knoxville, Tennessee
Have not tested that. If nothing is coming out from the headlights, does that mean that it needs a new dimmer?
weirdman
Member
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- Location
- Knoxville, Tennessee
Sorry not dimmer. 3 lever switch is what I meant to say.
- 10,444
- 6,500
- 113
- Location
- Camp Wood/LC, TX
Yes. Very unlikely that the wire between the light switch and the dimmer is cut.
weirdman
Member
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- 13
- Location
- Knoxville, Tennessee
Eureka!!
Apparently the problem was in the foot dimmer switch. After taking it out and checking for ground, we cleaned the attachment area in the cab and undercarriage, removed wiring and cleaned, replaced everything, reattached....low and behold 24v at the headlight buckets.
Such an easy fix with all of your advice. Sorry if I confused anyone, not good at what Dad calls "nomenclature"
Thank you all for your help on a frustrating issue!!
Please stand by for beginner questions?!?
Apparently the problem was in the foot dimmer switch. After taking it out and checking for ground, we cleaned the attachment area in the cab and undercarriage, removed wiring and cleaned, replaced everything, reattached....low and behold 24v at the headlight buckets.
Such an easy fix with all of your advice. Sorry if I confused anyone, not good at what Dad calls "nomenclature"
Thank you all for your help on a frustrating issue!!
Please stand by for beginner questions?!?
From the sound of it, when the service drive function ( 2 clicks to the right of "off") is lit, the lights on the back of the truck and the dashboard work. Nothing on the front in either high nor low beam ? Parking lights in front will remain off unless "park" setting on lower left lever is set. The problem is either in the dimmer switch itself or the power lead from the master light switch to the dimmer switch. This is circuit 16 in the diagram in post 3. Instrumentation to resolve this should not surpass the capabilities of a volt meter or a test light.
Most often, as noted in previous post, these lighting and electrical gremlins in older vehicles frequently involve bad grounds. Or you can be the Army and put a boatload of FMTVs on the broad ocean for a month going to Iraq and find out most of the electronics are fubar from salt air corroded grounds.
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- Alexandria, La
Good job bud! This is a small lesson on troubleshooting. I always go "E" to "H".... easy to hard.
Checking the dimmer switch would have been one of my first steps, but I've been doing this a bit longer, so... Anyway, feel free to ask any questions you may have, I will gladly answer to the best of my knowledge. I'm sure the other members here will be glad to chime in too!
Don't be discouraged that you went through all of the steps you did. If nothing else, you are now intimately familiar with the lighting wiring of your truck!
Great job, stay grounded and keep the positive (see what I did there?) attitude!
All Army vehicles that have the same circuit, like the light switch to dimmer switch feed # 16 will muse the same circuit number to identify it. As then only difference in the lighting circuits on the common MVs raging from 1/4t to 10t is the length of the wires dictated by then length of the frame, then logic and skills needed to fix one will work for all. Needless to say check the circuit diagrams in the applicable -20 manual for guidance on any circuits unique to that vehicle like work lights on a wrecker.