Roymg

My 94 Max left headlight has decided to come on without me turning it on by the switch. I had noticed before I turned on the ignition a swirl of smoke that came up off the top of the steering column. I thought it might be some vapor coming off the vynil because the car was parked in the sun that day. Anway after driving 50 miles to my home I noticed the left light was on and the switch was off. So I diconnected the battery and reconnected and the left light was now off. Turn on the lights by the switch and they both came on but when I turn the switch off the left light stayed on. Disconnected battery again and now all works fine after reconnecting. Only problem is I dont trust the car sitting in my carport with battery connected. Is there a harness connector on top of the steering column and is it hard to remove that top vynil cover to get to it?

Anyone had this problem before and is it maybe the headlight switch fixing to crater on me? Is there any proceedure discription to removing the covers around the headlight and wiper switches?

Wew!!!

Thanks

BuckFutter

iTrader: (5)

I don't really know much about electric components and wiring but I have a sugguestion to what it could be. Are you the orignial owner of the car? If not a previous owner could have done some **** job repairing the electrics or installing a security system or remote locking and half assed the wiring. Just my two cents.

gapboi210

Definitly a short and the entire headlight switch assembly is in the column. I'd say something in there got hot and you may have a few wires melted together. Thus giving the left headlight power. Not hard to replace that switch at all. I got mine for my old 3rd gen for $6.00 at the JY

Jeff583

for the headlight switch, these are actually quiet common to wear out, once you take it out u will understand what is going on. but there are little copper tabs inside that lose their rigidity and stop making contact or make contact when they should not.
This is pretty easy to remove, just remove the plastic case around the colum and then remove the two phillips screws from the switch assembly and the harness plugs and thats it. Then get another switch,new or used whatever your budget allows.

Maxima9750

How hot was it outside and how long was the car in the sun for? Sounds like your wiring for the light swith may have melted or fried. I'm not much of an electrician either but it sounds like the sun really got to the headlight switch. In order for there to be smoke, something was definatley burning. Did you smell anything?

gapboi210

lol if the sun was shining hot enough to melt wiring in a car then we are all in trouble....

Roymg

Thanks for the info. Yeah well I'm sure over the yrs that as the parts age things can go wrong electrically. Even thpugh I normally use a sun shield on, this particullary day I did not and it was in the 90"s. I've got it parked in the sun today with a sun shield and vented to see if I can get a failure agian. So far since the first time this prob. occured it has not repeated.

Yeah prob the switch and no I smelled nothing burning..I just saw a swirl of smoke. I doubt the wirng is at fault. Wire temp ratings are pretty high..but I think there is also a connecter on top of the str column that could have come together due to heat expansion.

Is this cover over the column a snap on-off cover? I have the full manual but it dosen't show how it comes off.

I'm the original owner of the car and it's been babied over the time I've had it.


Thanks...

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

The steering wheel cover has 5 screws on the under side holding it together..



But before you replace the switch,check the headlight bulb harness plug for signs of melting,i had this same issue with my D-side headlight,If i recall correctly,it was the melted plug end that caused my headlight to stay on even when the switch was off..

If it is a melted headlight plug,just stop by your local junkyard/cut one off a junker maxima/splice it into the current wiring..

Roymg

This is great!!! thanks I will do so on the connector, but because of the fact I saw some smoke at the str column I believe the prob is with the sw or the connector it feeds.

thanks much.

Roymg

Tquick

I'm not sure how a melted plug at the headlight could cause the light to stay on. The light only gets power when the switch is turned on. If it's staying on when the switch is off, either the switch it's self is shorted out, or there is a short in the wiring harness going to the switch. Since the car is 13 years old, I'd say the switch is due for replacing anyway, so get a new switch, and take the column apart, and give everything a good once over. If you see damage to any of the insulation on the wiring harness going to the switch, then it is time to disconnect the battery, and repair the wiring. As long as all the wiring looks good, pop in the new switch and call the job done.

Roymg

Thanks,

I was looking at the photo showing how to remove the 5 screws that hold the cover together. If I just remove the lower half I think I can access the sw easy enough but if I wanted to take off the top cover to.. to ck for a harness connecter the sw harness goes to, what about the ignition key assembly. Does it just float as part of that cover with its harness that can be lifted out of the way or is it mechacally tied to the wheel lock mechanism?

So far the problem has not re-ocurred but I still park it out on my drive way.A friend of mine lost his $350,000 house because of a elect short in his 4- wheeler.

Ha..I went and got a brake sticker today (we do that yearly here in LA.) and after I cleared the checks and paid my $10 the dam battery died with no warning. The guy there had to jump me off...battery was 5yrs old an I knew it was time to change but I got no warning. New battery installed!!


Thanks

Tquick

The lock mechanism is very firmly attached to the steering column. The two halves of the cover are just screwed together, so once the screws are removed, both halves of the cover are free to come off. This is a pretty easy thing to fix, I did mine shortly after I got my car, after replacing both headlights, and checking for fuse / relay problems, I finally figured out that a bad switch was the reason why I had no drivers side high beam.

Roymg

Thanks, that's a relief. I priced a new sw block at the dealer for about 60 bucks and bought some TV tuner cleaner which I will try first before I buy a part. So far still no repeat of the orignal problem. These cars seem to fix themselves. I ran into a prob several weeks ago where I got a missfire and light for about 15 sec (no matter if first start or not) and then it would clear. Did this about five times. It may have been some reg gas(or bad gas) I put in. I normally run mid grade.Has done fine for couple weeks now no repeat of this either. Seems as I have an angel for a mechanic.

Tquick

Mine was sputtering and running rough intermittently for some time. It wasn't often enough, or long enough to be a problem, then one day it started running really bad, stalling out, and it just wasn't getting better. I grabbed a used MAF off Ebay for about $10, and slapped that in, and most of the problems vanished. I believe that the wiring harness connection to the TPS is in need of some cleaning, and that might cure the rest of the problems. I would expect that your intermittent problem will eventually return, and probably get worse with time.

Roymg

I suppose so but so far things are good. My left light came back on again, but this time I was ready. I took the switch out and sprayed some TV tuner cleaner on it. I did NOT fool witht he reeds themselves but just shot some spray in there. So far no problem.

Roymg

Well it happened again. Its been since 2003 the last time this occurred. Again I took the switch out and sprayed some Radio Shack TV cleaner into the reeds and BINGO we are back on line. Always check to see if the power cord is plugged in before you replace the device.