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Bright/dimmer switch 1994 K3500 not working. lights go out for brights

J

jrsavoie

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New problem last night

The Bright/dimmer switch 1994 K3500 is not working. The headlights go out when you flick the dimmer switch.

Any ideas? I'm guessing it's the switch.

What is the best switch with cruise and delay wipers built in, to buy? GM probably?
 
I've got the same problem. I was going over Santiam Pass before Memorial weekend when mine went out. Needless to say, I almost needed clean shorts when I had sudden darkness while driving over a mountainous road.

The problem is in the dimmer switch on the lower steering column, not up at the turn signal stalk.The dimmer/click portion of the turn signal stalk is connected to the dimmer switch by a wire rod that goes down through the column. All you have to do is replace the switch and not mess with anything up at the steering wheel area.

I've got the new switch (from Carquest), just having problems getting motivated to turn myself upside down to get to the old switch and that part of the column. Maybe sometime next week, after the rain we're having quits.

Don
 
mine may be the odd one of the bunch. my 91 chevy started doing that, but it was the actual headlight switch. It was even sending a bit of smoke out of the headlight switch. this was 100 miles from home, so I pumped it full of wd40 and it works fine now. havent changed it :rolleyes:
 
I remember taking apart the 88-94 headlamp rocker switches and 99% of them have this dried up goop grease that adds huge amounts of resistance.

Clean it with mineral spirits, buff up the contacts and re-lube it with dielectric grease. Problem solved.
 
MY rocker is broken anyway. I will start with that and then go for the dimmer switch.

Whatever it is behind there that holds it in place broke like they all seem to do. On my 89 I put a screw ib the middle to hold it in place
 
jrsavoie said:
Do you have a part number for the switch?
Click to expand...

Carquest # 53-16983

Here's a pic. Not a real good one, but the best I could get since it is too dark out now for natural lighting. Notice the cylindrical protrusion on the end. The rod from the turn signal/dimmer stalk fits into there and activates the switch. The square shape wire hoop that goes over the top of the switch stays in place until the switch as fastened into place, then it is pulled out.

As GM Guy and 3500GMC say it may be possible for the headlight switch to be the culprit. But, in my case, I could work the headlight switch and it made no difference. However, early on, I could wiggle the dimmer stalk and get high beams. But, soon that quit helping.

Don
 

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I just replaced the dimmer switch this afternoon. Problem fixed.

I know this doesn't seem to be a very common problem, but I took pics so I could do a thread on how I did it.

Don
 
bump a 4+ year old thread. had this problem since I got the truck. getting both switches today to fix it. thanks for the write-ups.
 
I also buy the harnesses that run your dims with your brights.

Both sets run off relays, so it cures the over heated switch issue. Plug and play. It plugs into your bulb connectors to trigger the relays and the new harness plugs into your bulbs

This would be another good leroydiesel.com product
 
Jakec said:
I saw something about the dims with highs. kit for around $17. ill definitely be doing that.
Click to expand...
Mine was quite a bit more than that, but was plug and play - like Leroydiesel.com 's lift pump relay upgrade.

I do not like cutting and splicing any wires. Mine was very easy to install. All I had to mount was the relays, plug in the wires to the headlight harness, plug the new harness onto the lights and hook the wires to the battery
 
yea this "kit" is just a couple relays, some wire and some crimp terminals. I have that in the toolbox already. think ill find a better kit.
 
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