97 Escort left headlight intermittently out

[paqman]

Hey, sorry for posting a question asked many times in the past, but all the instances I found in my search were permenant problems due to bad ground or connection. But my front left headlight is out intermittently. Sometimes it won't work, sometimes it will.

A couple years ago, it had a similar problem, but I could run the high beams. Now, when it's out, neither high nor low beams work. It happens to be working right now, but you never know. Oh, and when it's broken, the high beam indicator will be stuck on in the dash, even if the high beams are not on.

Have I given enough info for a diganostic?

Also, when it happend a couple years back, it fixed itself after a few days, and I did nothing to it. I think I may have changed the bulb, but the bulb wasn't bad.

[mightymoose_22]

Well with no further information my guess would be a problem with the switch. I would assume so because of the screwy thingsg the high beams are doing.
If you have the electrical know how, isolate the individual circuits and test the high and low beams (by pass the switch to test).

[butch h]

It sounds like you have a chafed wire(s)that intermittently short to ground,or another circuit.A little wiggling should locate it.

[paqman]

Thanks, I expected as much. I don't really have all that much electrical know how, but I may be able to figure it out. I guess I'm just going to have to take a good long look at the wiring diagrams.

[Davescort97]

If the filament of the bulb is broken sometimes they will come back on if you hit the housing with your hand. I had a low beam that did this on mine. The vibration would allow for the ends of the filament to connect again.

[paqman]

Originally Posted by Davescort97

If the filament of the bulb is broken sometimes they will come back on if you hit the housing with your hand. I had a low beam that did this on mine. The vibration would allow for the ends of the filament to connect again.

Oh man, I hope that's the case. I haven't actually looked at the bulb. I guess I should do that first, lol. Anyway, I sure hope that's it, cause I'm not too experienced with the electral parts.

[bowtieboy12]

check the bulb first, if not that, take off the wiring harness from the back of the bulb, ford is crap and these burn out. had it happen, you can buy a new harness at auto store and splice onto old wires.

[paqman]

Originally Posted by bowtieboy12

check the bulb first, if not that, take off the wiring harness from the back of the bulb, ford is crap and these burn out. had it happen, you can buy a new harness at auto store and splice onto old wires.

Thanks, I'll do that to. I sure hope it's something simple like that. I'm actually going to go out and check it here in about 10 minutes. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[paqman]

I just went out and removed the wiring harness and pulled out the blub. Actually, first thing I did before doing anything was I turned on the lights, then banged on the headlight housing with my hand. The light came on. So I knew that it must be something with the bulb or the wiring harness. I pulled the bulb out, the filaments are intact. In fact, the blub looks pretty brand new, probably because I replaced it year or two back when it was having this problem before, lol. Well, I plugged everything back in, and it stays on steady, even after banging on the housing again. The harness probably is loose, even faulty, but unplugging everything and plugging it back in again, forced a good connection. So I guess I know where the problem lies now, and if it ever gets so bad that I can't fix it temporarily, I'll just get a new wiring kit.
Thanks for your help!

[paqman]

Problem Fixed.
Just thought I'd give an update, for anyone interested. After my last post, the light was staying on steady for quite a while, but a few weeks ago, it started going off again. Funny enough, I work on an Air Force base, so every time I go to work, I get some guard telling me to get my headlight fixed. Pretty annoying, and a good insentive to fix it.

So the other day I finally broke down and picked up a new wiring harness. Pulled out the old one and wired up the new one. Problem fixed. Another funny thing, I looked at the other headlight, and it didn't have the stock wiring harness on it either. So it looks like the same problem had happened on that one in the past, and it was only a matter of time for this one.

Anyway, thanks for your help in resolving my problem! See you on the next one.