The headlights in my ’72
Dart go on and off sometimes,
all by themselves.
Usually when I have the high
beams switched on. My friend
thought it was the floor switch,
but we changed that and it
didn’t help. Where are the fuses,
we cannot find them?
You can’t find them because
there aren’t any!
There is a self-resetting circuit
breaker, it is built into the headlamp
switch (on the dash panel).
If there’s a short, the breaker
shuts off the current for a short
time, then switches it back on,
I guess the idea was that if the
short was momentary, you’d be
good to go. If the short is still
present, the process repeats.
The first thing to do is swap
the headlamp switch, most
often the circuit breaker has
just become weak with age and
trips at normal current flows.
If the problem persists with a
new switch, you’ll need to track
down the actual short. I have
seen intermittent shorts on the
floor, near the dimmer switch—
the wiring’s insulation has simply
worn though.
Incidentally, if you’ve never swapped
a headlamp switch before, you need to
know how to remove the knob, it is a bit
tricky. You need to reach under the dash
to the top of the switch and depress
the button (see pix, ), then wiggle
and yank the knob, with the shaft, out.
The oddball mounting fastener (a hollow
screw, actually) can usually be coerced
out with needle-nose pliers, avoiding a
hunt for the factory tool.
