All headlights go out when the high beams are turned on

fishrod

fishrod

New member
Just wondering if anyone has seen this problem before. When driving at night and I turn the high beams on, all the headlights go out. Not cool at 100 and whatever k's an hour.

I can however pull the lever back to "flash" the high beams on without a problem.

Turning high beams off switches back on the normal headlights.

Im thinking its just a loose wire/connection in the lever on the steering column, but that looks like a bit of work pulling it all apart.

I once owned a ford which did the same thing (cept sometimes the lights wouldnt come back on at all until you stopped the car) With the ford, there was a relay switch (kinda like a fuse) under the hood which needed to be "reset" simply by pulling it out for 10 seconds and plugging it back in.

Im pretty sure this is an issue with the lever behind the steering wheel, but thought id ask if anyone knew about any possible relay switches which might do this in the 4runner.
 
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When you turn on your high beams, the low beams are supposed to turn off, that's normal in any car. It's also normal that flashing the high beams will leave the low beams on. It sounds like something's wrong with your combination switch, and when you push it forward it's not hitting the contact to turn on the high beams.
 
Thanks for the link, but the site isnt up at the minute.

Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.

Guess it might have to wait until July 1st :bash:

I tried to get the damn steering wheel off last night, but it wouldnt budge!!!

I dont have the "special tool" my manual thing mentions but it also mentions "if required" I guess its just stuck but it wasnt going anywhere fast.

Could/Should I lube it up a bit with WD40 or something and try again?

I really dont want to drive to the Calgary Stampede at midnight with no High Beams!!

8)
 
Shit, project 4crawler is one of the bes resources for us... Hopefully it's not a long term thing, I've always worried that he'd long stopped paying attention to his site...
 
Heh

You dont remember the steps in that link to 4crawler do you?

I just found another forum (toyotanation) referencing the same link. They were saying not to bother pulling the steering wheel apart until you try the things listed first!
 
I took my combo switch apart, cleaned what I could and checked everything out, put it back together and it still didn't work so I'm a low-beam kinda guy now. If I need the hi-beams I'll hold the lever. :twak:
 
Justinlhc said:
I took my combo switch apart, cleaned what I could and checked everything out, put it back together and it still didn't work so I'm a low-beam kinda guy now. If I need the hi-beams I'll hold the lever. :twak:
Click to expand...

Hmm, I have a 94 and I couldnt get the bloody steering wheel off for the life of me. Any tips or tricks? I dont have a steering wheel puller offerer.
 
fishrod said:
Hmm, I have a 94 and I couldnt get the bloody steering wheel off for the life of me. Any tips or tricks? I dont have a steering wheel puller offerer.
Click to expand...

All I did was loosen the nut(not removing it all the way)and grabbed the wheel and rocked it back and forth, pulling at the same time. It came off pretty easy.
 
headlight problem

I had the same problem on my "86 4 Runner. It was the dimmer switch under the steering wheel. I got a used assembly from the junk yard and took the switch out and put it in my assembly.Now I have brights and dims. It takes a little mechanical ability and patience but its not that hard. I had to extend the wires on mine but that maybe of the yr. models difference.
good luck.
 
Heh, going back a bit here. I went to a junkyard, got another switch from a 90 4runner (mine was a 94). Looked almost identical but was missing an extra cpl of cables that hung down under the main combo switch cables. Plugged in the junkyard one, high beams worked but other minor things did not (front window wipers wouldnt come on when the water was turned on) and I also noticed the back window wiper/water didnt work at all. Turned out these extra wires I mentioned above were for the back window.

Looked at my old combo switch again, went to 4crawlers site again, my combo switch looks a fair bit different to his pic (plus his pic aint that great!) But managed to figure it all out, filed it down like he said, put her back in and tested and I now have high beams!!

Guess ill just return my junkyard combo switch for a store credit.
 
removing the steering wheel

to remove the steering wheel without a puller.Loosen the retaining nut to the end making sure as much thread contact as possible.Strike it with a hammer and pull at the same time you may need assistance.A puller is cheap but it's also slower and I worked at a mfg plant where we built over a hundred a day ,you wouldn't believe the number of wheels we had to pull because they were one tooth off.I have a puller in my box now.I'm not in a hurry any more.
 
Well check the relay, sometimes tapping it lightly will allow it to work so if that's it then get a new one. My 1988 4Runner had the same problem and I could not figure it out, in frustration I lightly hit my fuse box with my fist and all of a sudden my lights worked, so try that, it might save you some time and money.
 
My headlights cutout on me last night while I was on the interstate. Maybe the headlight/turn signal switch needs replacing? I have a 1997 4runner
 
I had the same problem with my '88 some years back. I got a used combo switch from a wrecking yard; problem solved.
 
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