Yet another "flickering headlights" thread....

[The_Tomato]

But wait! There's more!
So if I run high beams on my '89 for a while, or low beams for an even longer time, the headlights start to flicker, getting really dim/off, then coming back on. Here's the difference from the other threads: my dash lights aren't affected at all. They stay perfectly normal!

One other issue I have is separate. My dome light never turns off, and yes, I've twisted the switch knob. I ended up just pulling it out and living in the darkness.

I'm a complete and total dummy when it comes to electrical. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[K30Blazer]

Check the door jam for the switch. The door could be worn so that when it closes it doesn't activate the switch or the switch could be bad. Both happened to mine.

The headlights sound like a bad ground somewhere in the system. Also could be a short. Do you have access to a multimeter? The flickering sounds like a short.

 

[The_Tomato]

I'll check the door problem first. Still, if I mess with the headlight switch knob enough (e.g. pushing hard on it, wiggling it side to side), the light momentarily turns off. Maybe I just have another bad headlight switch, but that would make multiple in a row.
I should have access to a multimeter very soon. What locations should I hook it up to check?
Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[livid4dirt]

Check the Alternator too. I just went through this myself. Is your amp gauge needle moving also? My needle moved back and forth when the flickering was going on. I checked all connections, grounds etc. Turned out to be the Alternator.

 

[diesel4me]

Might be the dimmer switch...old floor mounted ones often showed symptoms like that--not sure how often the colum mounted ones go bad..

 

[The_Tomato]

Might be the dimmer switch...old floor mounted ones often showed symptoms like that--not sure how often the colum mounted ones go bad..

The whole turn signal stalk and dimmer switch have actually been replaced very recently, but the problem existed before that.