car is a 93 civic dx hatch
ok well first off...my buddy rigged up my foglights to my corners so that when i switch on my corners, my fogs come on. Well ive been riding like this for awhile now with no problems. Then one day i was driving back up to school, i pulled over to use the bathroom, go to turn off my headlights, and the switch feels like it doesnt want to turn off...i put a little force and it clicks off....i wait a min..the go to turn the switch back on....no more headlights...i check the headlight switch and it is burning up...a part of the plastic case has accually started to melt...well my turnign signals still work..and if i hold the switch back the brights work....well i got a new switch and immediately after pluggin in the corner lights turn on...even if the switch is in the off possition. The headlights still will not turn on, but the running lights are stuck on. I have no idea what to do. I unhooked my fogs so just incase that was overloading the current..but what should I do? Someone please help with imput..im not electrically inclined.
Thanks

 

btw no fuses are blown

 

you need to check all the wires, relays, and switch...is the switch new? use your helms and check each component seperately.

 

my buddy accually gave me the switch out of his eg shell..it was in perfect working order though...i dont know much about wiring at all..from what i can see no wires are damages...im just confused as to why with one switch the running lights wont turn on at all and with one switch they are stuck on no matter what...the turning signals work with both switches and so do the brights as long as i hold the switch back...but no headlights...and the turning part of the switch has no effect on anything for both switches...

 

bump

 

someone please help

 

might want to ask how your friend wired everything up.. with relays and what not .. im guessing he wired it into the headlights and the draw on it toasted your switch and maybe even afew wires...

 

what he did was he just took the power wire and wired it into the corner lights..so when i turned on the first click..the corners and fogs came on...which im sure was too much and fried the first switch...but now even with the second switch the headlights wont turn on...and the running lights are stuck on as long as the switch is pluged in, no matter what possition the switch is at.

 

im just trying to figure out what wires i should check....it looks like there is a little burnt mark on the big white plug that goes to the headlight switch...its a big redwire with green stripe....my buddy told me thats for blinkers and hazards..but my blinkers and hazards still work...they are accually the only things that still work properly

 

your little click wasn't a click.... it was a snap. that littel arm that moves the slider in the switch is not very big. It doesn't take much force to snap it so you have no headlight control.

here is how to get in there to see the damage.
http://www.b18c5eg.com/how2/lightswitch/

if he didn't wire up a relay to the fogs it will weld the contacts together and cause this problem.
send him back to wiring 101, remove the fog light wire from your lights and pick up a new switch.

 

see thats what i did....i unpluged the fogs and replaced the switch...and now the running lights are stuck on as soon as i plug in the big white plug into the headlights stem switch...and the twist part on the switch has no control over everything....you think maybe i was sent another bad switch???

 

does the switch feel right or is it mushy feeling?
you could have melted some of the wiring together...

 

I say undo the whole thing and re wire it all. My fogs atarted acting wierd once only turning on when they wanted and I just ripped everything out and rewired it...come to find out the wiring was fine, it was a bad relay. But its still a good idea to inspect all your wires.

 

well i think i have it narrowed down to the switch...it seems that when i twist the toggle...the piece that slides back and forth inside the switch is not moving....its hard to explain so here is a picture of what im talking about




ok the green rectangle is teh part that slides back and forth...the red piece is connected to the twist part of the switch...it seems that the red part is supposed to make the green part slide back and forth...inturn controling the corner lights and headlights...well...the red piece isnt touching the green part...it seems like the piece broke or maybe im just missing something...but i know when i slide the green piece with my friend down, everything turns off, if i slide it to the middie, the corners turn on, and if i slide it up, everything is on.....so im guessing the guy sent me a bad switch..

does anyoen know if the little piece that is circled in red looks broke?

 

holy ultra blurry pics batman, try macro mode next time. That little peice is exactly what I was refering to in my first post.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Relic1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">your little click wasn't a click.... it was a snap. that little arm that moves the slider in the switch is not very big. It doesn't take much force to snap it so you have no headlight control.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

sorry for the craptastic pics...i posted another one......its just weird that both switches have the same problem

 

so that red piece is supposed to be bigger right? cuase right now if i set the rectangle in the middle position...the red piece doesnt even touch the rectangle even if i twist the switch...thats why the running lights were stuck on becuase it was set in the middle, and the red piece wasnt turning if when i twisted the switch

 

it's impossible to tell with the pics you took.

here is what a good one looks like.
http://www.b18c5eg.com/images/headlight_switch.jpg - insides
http://www.b18c5eg.com/images/..._.jpg - remove this
http://www.b18c5eg.com/images/...1.jpg - removed
http://www.b18c5eg.com/images/...2.jpg - ball on arm
http://www.b18c5eg.com/images/...3.jpg - another shot of the ball on the arm
http://www.b18c5eg.com/images/...4.jpg - last pic of ball on arm

 

yea mine must be broke cuase i dont have a ball on the end at all....well looks like its time for a new switch...thanks man for all the help