65 mustang headlights shut-off.

[65mustangscott]

well i have the mustang running good but when i turn on the headlights they will stay on for a few minutes and then shut off. I flip the switch and turn them on again and then a few minutes later the same thing happens. I remember this happened a while back with my old motor and i changed the switch but i rarely drove it at night to really test it out. The headlights are dim anyway and i know alot of guys run relays to brighten them up but i dont want to mask a problem or make another problem. Im not sure were to start. Voltage regulator, alternator, another switch, maybe a short somewhere. Let me know if any of you have any ideas. thanks.

[12second5.0]

What brand of switch did you buy? I always bought Motorcraft on my classic stuff. I have heard horror stories using Wells stuff.

[65mustangscott]

truthfully im not sure what brand it was. it was one of those deals that i just got on the internet and ordered one.

[RacerX]

It's a bad headlight switch. Thjey have an internal circuit breaker that trips when overloaded (or old, or ???). Anyway. The headlight switch is the culprit.

[1BigBad4d]

Scott if its drivable bring it by sunday or I can take some stuff over to your house but all my tools are at mine and it would be easier. Lmk!

[65mustangscott]

thanks chris, just ordered a new oem switch. by the way my inspection and registration is due and there is no way i will drive thru leon valley like that. if the switch doesnt work ill probably need some help.

[1BigBad4d]

Thats cool , jlmk! And also lmk if you need help with the inspection . Call me n I'll go by and ck it out.

[Sonic Blue 85]

Sound like there is some high resistance in the wiring. Once you figure out which part is causing the problem you should also run some new wires for the head lights. The two componets that will cause the problme you are having is the head light switch and the dimmer switch. My '69 had a bad dimmer switch, I have seem multiple old Ford with bad dimmer switchs, so if the head light swich does not fix the problem try a new dimmer switch.

[65mustangscott]

thanks ron, chris just called to let me know. I totally forgot about the dimmer, and that would make sense. ill order one a.s.a.p.

[1BigBad4d]

I tell you Ron knows his stuff! I had to do that on my Mach 1 and my old bronco. I didn't know if you had seen the post so I had to call him and let him know. It was like a lightbulb went off and said " oh ya!" hahahaaa! Hope it works Scott if not I can take you out to rons he's really reasonable on price. He's been working on all my stuff lately. Atleast you don't hv the problem I had on the Mach ! Remember everytime I would hit my brake the horn would blow! Hahahaaa! That was the custom wiring job by the mustang guys ! Alamo classic ! Hahahaaaa!

[carlosmtg]

hey scott, the old stangs are bad about burning headlight switches if youre running halogen headlights or try bar lights, we see it all the time at the shop, i recently installed on a customers car with try bar lights a harness that powers the lights through the battery with a set of relays instead of pulling the power from the headlight switch, its like night and day works great, let me know ill show u i got one at the house ima use in the ranchero.

[65mustangscott]

thanks carlos, i tried the dimmer switch and they still shut off. But my oem headlight switch is on its way. I do need to get with you to do the headlight relay deal. ill call you or im sure ill run into you as always.