Headlights not turning on until I hold the highbeam stalk for a second

[neonshaun]

I went to drive home from work tonight... started the car, and turned the headlights on. They popped up fine, but wouldn't light up! I tried turning them off and on a few times, and then held the high beams down via the stalk, so the high and low beams are switched on.

Initially, they didn't light up, but after about a second, both the high and low beams came on as they should. They headlights then stayed on like normal, and I drove home fine.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be?

Maybe related, this morning driving to work, my turn signals were staying on, and weren't auto canceling...

 

[69XSN]

I went to drive home from work tonight... started the car, and turned the headlights on. They popped up fine, but wouldn't light up! I tried turning them off and on a few times, and then held the high beams down via the stalk, so the high and low beams are switched on.

Initially, they didn't light up, but after about a second, both the high and low beams came on as they should. They headlights then stayed on like normal, and I drove home fine.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be?

Maybe related, this morning driving to work, my turn signals were staying on, and weren't auto canceling...

Sounds like a sticky switch. However, it may also be a deteriorating condition in your wiring harness or tired relay.

 

[Old Guy]

First, check the easy things. The lighting relay (main relay box) controls the operation of both the high and low beam filaments (the retractor operation is separate). If the relay is non functional or intermittent, the head lights can pop up; but, wont light up. Get the service manual and check the operation of the relay as per the service manual. If you are lucky the relay is faulty because that is an easy and cheaper fix.

As 69XSN states, it is more likely the lighting switch. It sounds like the failure is intermittent since you were able to get the lights operational. Wait until it fails again (try the headlights every time you drive ???) and then get the service manual and go through the lighting switch test procedure in the manual. Testing and replacement is more work and more expensive than testing and replacement of the relay.

If its not the relay or the switch, then you may have an intermittent wiring connection some place which can be absolute misery to find.

 

[neonshaun]

Time to pull stuff apart....

 

[neonshaun]

Welp, I guess this might be due to corroded battery terminal wires.

There was a lot of green crust underneath the positive cover. I cleaned it all off with baking soda and re-seated the terminals before applying dielectric grease. Hopefully that was it.
This weekend I'll take apart the headlight/turn signal switches and clean them out too I guess.

 

[Old Guy]

Having clean battery terminals is always a good thing. However, if the battery terminal connection was the problem you would be having other / additional problems like random engine hesitations and starting problems.

Just a heads up about the OEM battery terminal clamps. It is really easy to damage them by over tightening the clamping bolt. You can deform the clamp, at which point it will no longer grab the battery post resulting in some interesting intermittent problems. Try twisting the clamp on the post. If it doesn't move you are OK.

When I bought my car, I could pull the clamp right off the battery post even though the clamping bolt was tightened to the max. I ended up fitting some aftermarket clamps to fix the problem.

 

[neonshaun]

Yep, they're all stretched out. There are 2 lead shims on there and the terminals don't twist.