92 headlight switch melted

[gmail]

ive seen this a few times in the past but now i noticed this getting worse in my 92...

the plug that goes to the switch for manual headlights starts to deform and brown.

well this time it got much worse and i dont know how it didnt catch fire...

im wondering if someone might know why this happens?
ive seen this on many different cars but have come across a few that are still mint..


heres a pic

 

[Jh8990]

whoah! first time ever seeing that! hope it doesn't happen to my 92!

 

[gmail]

also forgot to mention im running HIDs and i have relays hooked up to the headlights... this could be before all that tho...

o and also i got lights in my fishtanks...


also the reason i checked this is because i recently lost parking lights in the search for my wiring issue with my power locks and seats

 

[gmail]

just discovered this

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/p...r=EA96019&SearchType=QuickSearch&summary=true

looks like ford has a special circuit breaker switch they replace it with....

guess ill be calling around

 

[gmail]

got it all sorted out, i put a new plug on with a new switch from a dash i had out of a 92 which strange thing i noticed it had much thicker wires in there (same color). this was a well used switch im guessing since the car had 200k+ miles on it and looked unmolested..

my problem with no dash lights was from a LED i put in place of the factory 37 bulb in the auto light switch area i messed up and had it a little loose which was touching inside.

i found that out threw playing around with about 10 fuses.

anyways im gonna keep a eye on the new plug and im gonna get my inferred thermometer to keep a eye on plug temps... i guess this could have been a faulty switch.

i never use the manual switch besides for a very short time im all about the auto so i dont know if that helps or not but i guess ill find out

 

[kevinspann]

I think the voltage for all of the lights runs through the switch. The replacement connector and pigtail have larger wires. There are relay kits out there that help the issue, as you have found. I haven't seen a taurus without a melted connector yet.

 

[Eric VerValin]

Well I have.. had a post about it not too long ago.. but mine is only the center conductor on that harness.. which happens to be the parking lights. And I added fishtanks to it.

Thats the only thing that I can imagine would cause that to get warm is that minor addition in load on that line. I'm planning to relay the parking lights and hopefully mine wont cook too far..

 

[SHOtimer]

This happened on my '95...i'm running stock headlights.

I called up my friendly Ford dealer, he had a new headlight switch and new pig-tail in stock.

The new pig-tail had much thicker wire. He said that used to sell a lot more when these Tauri were more popular.

I replaced the switch/plug and all has been well.

All that to say, is as you have found, you are not a fluke.

Doug

 

[JATO]

I've seen this happen a lot with older F-series trucks. My take on it is over time the contacts in the switch get corroded/dirty/whatever over time causing things to draw excess current and therefore heat up. About 4 years ago this started to happen to my '93 F-150, I replaced the switch before the plug melted and haven't had any problem with it since.

 

[greengiant]

does this problem also cause the dim headlight issue with tauri?

 

[Eric VerValin]

does this problem also cause the dim headlight issue with tauri?

Sounds logical to me..

 

[mike25]

The plug is kinda melted in my 92 also mine's all stock do u have to put a new plug with relay's in or is there another way to stop this, I dont want anything to catch on fire.

 

[93SHO24V]

94 headlight switch

My 94 has melted twice this being the second time I have my Fog lights wired to parking lights up in front under the hood i spliced the big parking light wires to fog light wires so im thinking this could be the issue