High Beam Problems!

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

Hi all, I'm having problems with the high beam on my xs, I can turn on my side lights and low beam but when I turn on my high beam all of the lights turn off and when I switch off the high beam the lights turn back on again, I've already changed the light stalk inside the car, what could this be as iv got the mot coming up soon.also I can't seem to get my reverse light to work, the light unit works but when plugged into the car it doesn't work at all, iv checked the reverse light switch on the gearbox and it looked ok but could it be faulty if not what else could I check?

Thanks Matt.

Edited March 17, 2015 by matty205xs

[ATK 158 2 Cars]

Checked your earths? under slam panel either side of lights

[Anthony 1,003]

Earth is common for dipped and main beam, so it is unlikely to be that if the dipped beams work.

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

right ok thanks, ill check that today, hopefully it will be as easy as the earth needing cleaned up.

[welshpug 1,737]

as anthony said, wont be the earth as its common for high and low, it's either the bulbs or the stalk.

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

Ok, so what could be wrong with the stalk if I where to check and what would I be looking for in the bulbs?

[jim205GTI 3]

Might sound silly but are they the right bulbs? Only ask as many moons ago on my bro's clio I put the wrong bulb type in and every time he braked all the lights on the car came on!!!

Edited March 17, 2015 by jim205GTI

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

Ye I think they're the right ones as they're h4 bulbs

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

Is there anything else I can check b4 buying a new light stalk, like the relay if there is one, because I was having a look at the lights today and I managed to get the high beam on a couple of times without any of the lights turning off, once it was on I left it for a few seconds then the lights turned themselves off again and it took a few more attempts to try and get the high beam back on again and occasionally it would flick on when trying it. Also I dont know if this makes and difference but every time I managed to get the high beam back on there was a clicking noise it also made the noise when it turned off again too it sounded like it was coming from the engine bay on the passenger side possibly.

Any ideas y it's doing this or is it still a faulty light stalk?

Thank Matt.

Edited March 18, 2015 by matty205xs

[Pugleyrich 37 1 Cars]

I had exactly the same problem on an old Clio. New stalk fixed it

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Yeah, there's two relays, Dip/Dim and driving lights.

 

http://www.buzzboxx.co.uk/Haynes_205.pdf

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

I've already bought a new stalk not long ago as the old one was doing the same so either it's a dodgy stalk that I bought or something else, where is the relay for the main beam and dipped/dim, is it in the glove box or in the little black box which is bolted to the strut top on the passenger side?

Thanks.

[Anthony 1,003]

There is no relay for the dipped and main beam - it's full current through the stalk, hence the thick wiring.

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

Oh right so it is just the stalk that can go wrong really and as the bulbs do turn on its gotta be the stalk, ill try and get another one then, thanks for all your help.

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

Iv just taken out my stalk and decided to try and dismantle it and see if there was anything that was damaged, once opened I found out that the electrodes inside where all gunked up and black so I cleaned them up and put it back together again, should it be save to try in the car again and if not what's the worst that could happen, bearing in mind it all went back together again how it should have with all of the components in the right places I think and it all clicks like it should.

[Anthony 1,003]

Well, the worst that can happen is that you've reassembled it wrongly and it causes a short on the un-fused light circuits, overheats the wiring, causes a fire and burns the car and house down, resulting in several fatalities.

 

I'm not helping much, am I?

 

Chances are though, it'll either work again or it will still be just as broken as it was before.

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

Ye ur right not much help hahaha I might try it later on, I've got a battery cut out switch so that's my last resort if not ill just buy another one.