Running and head light switch

[skywalker77]

Good evening Delorean community. Very odd question for you, but will try to explain it to the best of my ability. When first starting my Delorean and when needing to turn my running lights on, the switch clicks once for the running lights and again for the head lights. if i go out to dinner, turn the car off, come back to the car and start it after dinner, i can't get the running lights nor the head lights to stay on as the round button won't stick and grab either the running lights nor the head lights. i often have to drive home with my finger on the switch so that the lights remain on.

Any suggestions, does this make sense?

[Bitsyncmaster]

Your head light switch is faulty. Try taking it apart and cleaning out the old grease with solvent.

[AugustneverEnds]

I assume you are running with the factory headlight switch? The plastic tracks might be getting weak from electrical current and heat from the light bulb in there. You will have to take it out and see. Now would be a good time to install a relay to protect the switch from having to carry all of that electrical load. Good Luck :wave2:

[skywalker77]

Thank you for your help, any thoughts on how to take out the headlight switch along how to install a relay? i'm a bit of a rookie, any help would greatly be appreciated. i assume delorean has a replacement switch. thanks again.

[mburshtain]

Thank you for your help, any thoughts on how to take out the headlight switch along how to install a relay? i'm a bit of a rookie, any help would greatly be appreciated. i assume delorean has a replacement switch. thanks again.

Take a look at this link, it explains how to do the job.
http://delorean6575revisited.blogspot.com/2013/07/installing-dpnws-headlight-switch.html

[skywalker77]

Thanks for all the help, greatly appreciated!!

[davidrucker11387]

Where are you located at? This would be a great task to tackle at a tech session if there are any meeting in your area. Or even if you happen to live close to someone with more experience that could help in person to give pointers and advice.

David R.
DeLoDave, 6410

[Tillsy]

Also don't forget the reason your switch is likely faulty is there is far too much current running through it.

Solutions include fitting LEDs in all your lights and/or installing a relay to offload the current from the switch.

[skywalker77]

I'm located in Southern California and love the LED suggestion. With my limited experience in electrical, replacing the switch and LED inside would I think be pretty easy. Any thoughts on the size and/or the correct LED for the light behind the switch? I replaced my door lights with LED's and I love them!

[David T]

I'm located in Southern California and love the LED suggestion. With my limited experience in electrical, replacing the switch and LED inside would I think be pretty easy. Any thoughts on the size and/or the correct LED for the light behind the switch? I replaced my door lights with LED's and I love them!

Pull the front side marker lamps out and check the sockets for corrosion. Big cause for excessive current draw and will melt the headlight switch. SpecialT Auto has a relay set-up to handle the current so the switch only controls the current, not handles it all. DMCH also sells a something to fix this problem. Be very gentle with the headlight switch, they are rare (read expensive).

[skywalker77]

Awesome, thanks David. If I replace the headlight switch, I will be sure to put it behind glass!!

[David T]

Awesome, thanks David. If I replace the headlight switch, I will be sure to put it behind glass!!

If it is the first time it melted you should be able to fix it up by taking it apart, removing what melted, lightly greasing it up, and reassembling it. Might be able to do it a second and maybe even a third time. While you have it apart there is a TINY bulb inside that illuminates the front. If it is bad you can buy another from your favorite Delorean vendor. Same bulb in the hazard switch.

[Rich]

if i go out to dinner, turn the car off, come back to the car and start it after dinner, i can't get the running lights nor the head lights to stay on as the round button won't stick and grab either the running lights nor the head lights. i often have to drive home with my finger on the switch so that the lights remain on.

Any suggestions, does this make sense?

The symptom you describe has to do only with the mechanical detent mechanism of the switch. Anything having to do with electrical contacts or the (recommended) relay retrofit upgrade will not solve your problem, which is caused by wear or interference within the switch that's in your car now.

With mine I found that my original (very old) switch would not cycle unless I manually pulled the knob outward between each cycle. It acted as if the return spring was not strong enough. It was merely an issue of internal switch friction that was solved via a teardown, cleaning and slight lube.

There are at least 3 routes that will result in a light switch that cycles through the sequence (OFF-PARK/TAIL-HEADLIGHT-OFF) normally, assuming the switch contacts are OK. It sounds like yours are. Adding a relay later is a good idea.

1. Get a replacement switch from DMC or other vendor.
2. Take your switch apart and clean/lube/modify it, with special attention to the detent rod-and-groove mechanism on one side. You need to be adventurous/handy to pull this off because the switch body is a bit of a 3-D puzzle to tease apart and even trickier to get back together properly. But it can be done. There is a kind of bent-hairpin rod on one side of it that is pushed through a kind of labyrinth groove to achieve each of the two lights-on positions. Sounds like yours gets gummed up some of the time. The fact that it works if you hold it in tells us the contacts are OK but the mechanism is glitchy.
3. Have somebody repair your switch for you. John Hervey at SpecialT says he can do it. http://www.specialtauto.com/delorean-parts/electrical.html I'd phone him first to be sure your particular problem is something he thinks he can deal with.

Fortunately, it is fairly simple to get at the switch itself and remove it in order to get on with any of these fixes.