Headlight relays?

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d21demon

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Hey guys, probably a stupid question, but I have been having dramas with my highbeams (10 second delay before only one of them comes on) so if anybody knows where to find the relays that would be cool :questionmark:
 
Older Nissans usually did not have relays. the headlight power comes up all the way to contacts in the indicator stalk. There are seperate contacts for left and right lights as well so you could have a damaged or dirty contact in there and only have problems on one side. A test light around the connector for the indicator/headlight stalk could track it down if the fault is in there.
 
I'll back that up. I had to replace the stalk at one stage because of stuffed terminals. NOW I have relays for the high beams :)
 
It is about the best thing you can do for light output. I have done it on most of my older cars. Some of them have a really strange arrangement. I had a 240C which actually had a toggling relay. The light switch on the dash provided the power and the relay flip flopped the ground between high and low bean each time you pulled the stalk. It menat the earth side was relayed right down near the lights but the power still went up to the dash and back so it had around a 3V drop through the wiring.
 
Thanks for that guy's, probably explains why I couldn't locate them. Might be a good Idea create a whole new loom with relays I thinks.:top:
 
I jsut used the existing loom. Cut the loom where it passed the battery, and at the cut connected the wire from the stalk to the trigger, and the wire to the lamp on the output of the relay. 12V and earth were easy as it was right next to the battery. Fused it, of course.
I can provide a photo if you wish, but it's all pretty simple
 
yeah ive got the exact same problem the right beam comes on then ten seconds later the right one comes on, how hard is it to change the indicator stalk
 
yeah ive got the exact same problem the right beam comes on then ten seconds later the right one comes on, how hard is it to change the indicator stalk

Very easy but good used ones are rare - and aftermarket ones might be crappy, never tried them.
 
Very easy but good used ones are rare - and aftermarket ones might be crappy, never tried them.


your not wrong about $130 and its not the exact same one, might pull it apart and clean the contacts,see if that does the trick
 
your not wrong about $130 and its not the exact same one, might pull it apart and clean the contacts,see if that does the trick

I've got four - three don't work great, and one is from a Pulsar and doesn't really fit.

Cleaning the contacts is the best option, but be gentle, they're easy to stuff by being over-zealous. Use some very fine wet wet'n'dry sandpaper softly to clean the contacts mechanically, then clean liberally.
 
yeah cleaned up the contacts, made no difference i think that the contacts are just plain and simply worn.... might be forking out for one after all
 
I just put a some relays in my old girl and it has really done the trick. 2x 40s for the high beams, 1x 30 for the headlights and another one for the spotties. Now she gets a full 12 volts as apposed to the 9 volts bofore the relays and really turns night into day. Definately the best mod Ive done so far.
 
I just put in head light relays in my old D21. For both low and high beam. It looks good.
 
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Just very carefully pull the existing switch apart and clean the terminals with some fine emery paper, add some lube and re assemble. Be very carefull as little bits can fall out. I did it on the bonnet of the car in about 20 mins. All worked fine since then...
 
My headlights aren't currently functioning, so I'm driving around with just parkers and the odd high beam for dark streets. Sometimes when I flick the indicators, the low beams all of a sudden engage, but the next time I flick the indicator they'll disappear again. The high beams still work without fail, but the intermittent function of the low beam seems to be triggered by the indicators. Prior to this occurring, there was a stage when a delay existed between turning the headlights on and their beams illuminating. Could the suggestions above have some effect in solving my 89s problem also?
 
Well I got in there and had a good look at how the switch box works, gave all five headlight contacts a hit with some 2000 grit (indicator also), cleaned it all, sprayed it up with silicone, then gave it a test. Success! All my lights now work like new without any hesitation or unreliability. Here's hoping for another 25 years of illumination! Cheers guys.
 
I had a similar problem, both low and high beam would drop out, or not turn on when you turned on the switch. But most annoyingly my parkers would come on randomly when nothing was switched on. Usually happend about half hour after parking the ute. Had several flat batteries because of that, I had to disconnect battery each time I parked it.

I found that if I wiggled the multipin wiring connector for the headlight stalk, it would show all the symptoms, lights going on/off erratically, etc. I thought it was the pins in the connector not making contact, but someone suggested the whole switch could be dodgy, so got a complete new indicator and wiper stalk assembly off ebay, about $45 delivered, and works perfectly. Haven't had the problem since.

Fairly easy to install, take off steering wheel and column plastics, and then it's obvious.
 

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