mjr46

check the switch for overheated pins as well as behind the fuse box for melted wires / pins

19stang88

i'll do that. does the switch have some sort of circuit breaker?

67mustang302

If it shuts off and comes back on later then the switch has a breaker or there's one somewhere else in the system.

As a general rule of thumb in any electrical system, if it shuts off and then comes back on after a while, an auto resetting breaker was tripped. They trip from too much heat usually caused either by a short or too much current draw.

19stang88

my guess why the switch is over heating is because the bulbs are 110/50 watts, which could be trying to flow too much current and then the breaker kicks in.

87 T TOP GT302

I had the same thing happen to my mustang many years ,15 to 20,ago.It turned out to be the multifunction swich wiring .It controls the bright lights ,turn signal, and wipers.When the light went off and on you could move the light swith from dim to bright lights and the lights would go back on eventually.

19stang88

just looked at my headlight switch contacts and a few of them they just look black on the ends.

mjr46

switch does not have a breaker guys!!!!!! el-101- when such occurs in a system, as an electrical circuit heats up things expand, and if there is high resistance in a connection, often the added heat will cause just enough expansion to break the circuit/cause an open and as it cools circuit contracts/shrinks and closes the open = no general rule of thumb in that = simple el-101 knowledge, know your circuit construction first before assumptions

19stang88

so would my wires heat up by using a bulb that requires more watts?

mattdel

yes. the fix is adding a relay that can handle the current. if mjr's link is too gray and difficult to read, use this.
http://www.corral.net/tech/maintenance/foglights.html
same thing, better pictures.

19stang88

oh well i'll just buy bulbs that require watts. but the relay would be a good idea too