Headlight On/Off Switch

[MICAH1]

My headlights are stuck with the lamps on in the closed or open position, so what I would like to do is install a duckbill switch under the steering wheel to control the electrical power to the units. I want to keep the lights flipped to the open position. What color(s) are the wires and where is the wire location in the fuse block for connection to the switch?

[houserc]

Have you rewired your headlights where they go through the rotator?

What you might want to do is rewire your complete headlight harness to include a relay.

You'll get 14 volts to the headlight instead of 11 volts. Makes them way brighter.

Do a search on Wire diagrams here and you will find what you need to trace the wires.

[greensmurf20]

there will be a yellow wire with a black stripe that goes to the relays and such in the fuse block, if you energize this wire, your headlights will work.

[MICAH1]

HouseRC, The wires are in the orignal harness in seem to be in fair condition so I am not ready to rewire.

Greensmurf20, The ligts are working, they just do not go off. That is why I want to install and use a switch under the steering. So is the yellow w/black stripe wire all I need to connect the switch?

[greensmurf20]

your microswitch is probably stuck like mine was. if i am right, cut the yellow and black wire, run both ends to your switch, the switch can make and break its contact, not my recomended way of fixing it but it would work until you can figure it out i guess. if the microswitch is sticky, it may begine to work right again on its own like mine did.

[houserc]

You can do a search here on rewiring the headlights through the rotators, but to make a long story short, the original wire was insulated with rubber which becomes brittle over the many years, cracks, and can cause fire. That original wire for the Headlights extends up to almost the firewall in the engine compartment. As long as the wire is inside the original harness cover, it will remain plyable, but the original intent was for the cars to only last about 10 years, then junk.

Do a search here to find out more.

[jimsky]

I was down right astounded just how bad the headlight wiring in my GT was! Considering the headlight circuit is not fused it scared the pants off of me. The day I found the problem & realized the implications (can you say FIRE .... I thought you could) I disconnected the battery and would not reconnect it until I had the headlight circuit was re-wired complete with fuses. If you love and cherish your GT, see if it has the OEM headlights wiring today. If it does, make rewiring the headlights your top priority.

[benncojr]

If your microswitch is stuck, you can gain acces to it by takeing the frount drivers side tire off. In the wheel well you will see a access panel. Take the panel off and the microswitch is there.

I had the same trouble and all I had to do was rebend the pickups on the switch and that solved the trouble.

Good luck

Rick

[opelgtmaster3]

you might need to get a relay form them. the relay on my gt went out and the lights didnt work at all. so i out a new one in and now the work fine

[greensmurf20]

read his post more carefully, they work, they just never shut off, he needs a way to kill the power to them, and re-supply the power when he wants to.

[namba209]

Micah, After reviewing J. J. Wheatley's wiring schematic, which is a must for any GT owner, There are 3 wires you can put a switch in to turn your lites off and on. All are at the headlight relay which is attached behind the fuse panel towards the firewall. This is presuming the headlight relay is operating correctly and the microswitch in the driver's side headlight mechanism, closest to the engine, is stuck closed in the normally open position. 1st, you can put the switch in the RED 12 gage wire at terminal 30/51, to the hot side of the fuse panel terminal studs. 2nd, you can put the switch in the YELLOW/BLACK 12 gage wire at terminal 85 to the headlight microswitch, or 3rd, you can put the switch in the BROWN wire at terminal 86 which is the ground for the headlight relay. The Red wire powers all lights through the relay, the Yellow/Black and the Brown wire operate the relay itself. My personal opinion is to put the switch in the Brown wire, it is the shortest and will have a ring terminal for the switch where it hooks up to the stud that holds the fuse panel in place, and it is an easy thing to run an additional wire from the switch back to the stud where you took off the Brown wire. The best thing to do is of course get the microswitch unstuck, but to do that you have to remove the rotating mechanism to get access to the switch. HTH.

Ron

[greensmurf20]

Ron: is is possable that microswitches can start working well again on their own by forcing voltage through them, such as a switch as we've been discussing. i had to use a temporary "jumper switch" with the yellow and black wire, one of the three you mentioned. i'd flip the lights over, they wouldn't turn on, turn the switch on, lights would come on. but i could shut the switch off and the lights would stay on, the only way to shut them off was to close the headlights. eventually after continous use for a week or two, they began to work correctly, and there was no need for the switch, so i took it out.

my switch was used to energize the headlights, not kill as MICAH needs to do. its really a simple thing to do, takes all of 10 minutes to wire up, using any of the 3 wires ron mentioned, since all you need to do is "kill" instead of "energize". i wired mine up through the factory fog light switch, and once they worked good again, i pulled out the wires, threw them out, and wired up some fog lights with the same switch

[nobody]

just to back this up a bit, I would start at the beginning. Unplug the yellow and black wire from the light relay. This will tell you if your swith is stuck or your relay is bad. If the lights stay on then it's the relay, if they go off it's the switch. I personally hate altered wiring, it makes it twice as hard to fix later on. You can get a relay from OGTS and I'm sure a bit of looking will turn up a switch. I would do this just so that if for whatever reason like the switch starts working again or the relay goes completely, you don't have the headache of modified wiring on top of a problem part. Another possibility is a short in that lovely wiring to the switches. JM2CW

[namba209]

Grant, that's a great idea on trouble shooting. After thinking about it and knowing what a PIA it is to get to the relay, I believe disconnecting the ground wire from the relay would do the same thing and it's easier to get to at the fuse panel attaching nuts. But as you stated, the switch could be working just fine and the Yellow/Black wire could be shorted to another positive source in the harness and there are a few of them in that wire bundle going from the fuse panel to the engine compartment.

Ron

[nobody]

Just in case you don't have one here is a good link to a print of what you are working on.

http://opelgt.com/photos/showphoto.p...sort/1/cat/529

HTH

[MICAH1]

Big thanks to all who have sent a reply to my headlight issue. I will start working the wiring and trobleshooting the switches and relays this afternoon and will informed the site of my progress .... or not ?

[DESTEC]

You need to determine if the Head Light realy IS picking up or not.

Pull the Yel/Bk wire, keep the brown ground wire connected.

Get some jumpers from Radio Shock and go from any of the 4 nuts on the fuse block to (where) the yel bk wire was. Is the HLR clicking?

If you have a voltmeter, check to see if 12V is always present at the Yel/Bk
wire. (It may be but should not always be) My guess: micro switch stuck closed or being held closed (maybe I am jumping in too late and you all said that). The HLR is easy to get at; it's the microswitches that are the PIA.

Two of the GT's micro switches do nothing but run that silly white light on the dash IP. The one that picks up the HLR is the most important one.

NOTE: the Micro Switched ARE servicable. Yep. you can pop the top off them and take out the spring (watch out for the springgg) and contact lever and clean them up a bit. They are like points, you can file them, but that is not a good idea, you do not want to remove the protective metal coating on the contacts.

I use brake cleaner and a Qtip.

I think the switch is BEING held shut by some lever out of wack though. (that's a technical term)

JJ