73 Brave Headlight Flickering Issue

[CoastalWinnebago]

Hey all,


I have been working away diligently on the 72/73 Brave D18.  Had a few opportunities to enjoy it lately taking it camping, it sure gets a lot of attention!


Anyways, there is a headlight issue, allow me to explain.  When driving with the headlights on, intermittently the headlights will dim significantly.  When this occurs, there is an audible clicking noise coming from the dash area.  Also when the lights dim and the click is heard the amp meter dips significantly.  Pressing the high beams switch will not fix the problem.  At some point the lights will click back to normal. The time dimmed and normal is in the range of minutes and is not the same each time. In addition the panel lights will dim.  No other electronics are effected, radio stays on, and the cig lighter continues to work.  The alternator is new.  New optima blue top battery.  New Silvan lights up front.


I have checked the fuse panel, and the fuse for the headlights is new and rated to the correct amperage.  The PO clearly was not good at electrical work, so I suspect something may be amiss. 


Any thoughts on how to remedy this or test for what is going on?


Thanks -Derek

[Rickf1985]

You have a dead short somewhere which is drawing a lot of power and it will be a good idea to find it before whatever it is lets the magic smoke out. Once the magic smoke gets out then nothing works. N:(

[CoastalWinnebago]

Sounds like I might need some magic smoke of my own  :)rotflmao [size=78%] to find where the dead short is.  This thing is a wiring mess. Any ideas where to start looking first?[/size]

[Rickf1985]

Well the fact the time is in minutes then my statement of a dead short is probably not correct or something would have burned by now but I will say that there is something, from the sound of it, relay controlled, that is creating a very heavy draw. You need to try to find a pattern, what else is going on when it happens? Throttle position? What direction are you turning, starting or stopping? Try to ascertain exactly where under the dash the clicking is coming from and then look for a relay in that area. Look for heavy wires, probably 8-10 gauge minimum going to it. If you see heavy wires under there follow them, they may lead you to a relay. IF you find the relay and verify it is the one that is clicking then hopefully it has a plug on it and you can unplug it with the vehicle off and then see what no longer works. This will be a start in finding what is causing the draw.

[Rickf1985]

Let me add something else in here, get a voltmeter and make sure it is a draw and not just that the alternator has stopped charging momentarily. If the voltage drops to around 11.9 or 12 volts then the alternator is not charging. If it drops to 11.5 or lower you have a massive draw. Dodge ammeters tended to be pretty dramatic over a small draw sometimes.

[Willyboy]

My 72 brave had that problem (it quited on the highway near 12 h ! )
The problem was directly on the swicth and or in a coupler (plastic thing with a metal ring inside) i changed both and now its still like there is two flashlight for head light but they dont flicker anymore

[CoastalWinnebago]

Thanks Willyboy,


When you say the switch, can you clarify?  You mean the dashboard switch that turns the headlights on and off?  Or do you mean the high beams foot switch?


Thanks!

[Rickf1985]

It sounds like he is talking about the circuit breaker that is built into the headlight switch. If there is a short the headlights will flash on and off as the breaker pops and resets. The ring he is talking about is the dash light dimmer.