Headlight wire burned its connector

[Jeff999]

The low beams on my 1997 Toyota Tercel would not turn on occasionally a few days ago, but the high beams worked every time I turned them on. Also, when the low beams were on the blue high beam light would be on on the dash, or when I turned the low beams on sometimes the blue high beam light would flash on for a split second. While driving around at night a couple days later I smelled something burning and could feel warmth coming through the plastic shroud that covers the steering column at the base of the turn signals/headlights/windshield sprayer control arm. I removed the housing and disconnected the connector or plug that is nearest the control arm. One of the wire holes in the connector is burned black. I guess this is the hole that the low beam or high beam wire goes through. It's the bottom left corner wire hole when sitting in the seat. The metal piece at the end of the wire is charred. Could the connector be faulty and be allowing wires to touch each other, or could the metal piece that attaches the wire to the connector be faulty, or could there be a short along that wire somewhere else? What caused the wire to burn the connector at the end of the wire? Since recognizing the burned plug hole, I turned the dash lights off and have not turned the high beams on for the last couple nights that I have been driving, and I have not noticed any burning at the plug. I've kept the shroud off so I can feel the plug and have not noticed any heat or burning odor, but the plug does feel a little warm at times. On the night when I noticed the burning odor and felt the heat at the plug I turned the dash lights off and am pretty sure doing so reduced the burning. I replaced the original dash bulbs with LEDs a couple months ago. Thanks for any replies.

 

[Oildudeny]

By chance can the connector for the dash lights be installed backwards? Try unplugging and rotating the connector 180°. Can also be the LED dash lights don't have enough resistance for the circuit. So the switch is taking too much load.

 

[Dave1027]

Originally Posted By: Jeff999

One of the wire holes in the connector is burned black. I guess this is the hole that the low beam or high beam wire goes through. It's the bottom left corner wire hole when sitting in the seat. The metal piece at the end of the wire is charred. Could the connector be faulty and be allowing wires to touch each other, or could the metal piece that attaches the wire to the connector be faulty, or could there be a short along that wire somewhere else? What caused the wire to burn the connector at the end of the wire?

Are you running the correct bulbs? Maybe a bulb filament shorted out?

 

[Rand]

I'd probably blame the led bulbs since the switch lasted that long before them.

 

[Kawiguy454]

sounds like an overloaded circuit. are you sure you have the correct fuse in that circuit? you had better remove the over sized fuse then identify that circuit and get it fixed before you burn the car up. Already damaged quite a bit by sounds of it.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Rand

I'd probably blame the led bulbs since the switch lasted that long before them.

That sounds about right to me too. Hot or burned connectors usually means an overload of some sort, shorts will usually blow a fuse unless someone put a high amp fuse in a low amp circuit in which case burned wires and melted plastic connectors will result or if you are really unlucky it can burn the car down (saw that on a Vega, no great loss except it was in the service bay at the time).

 

[Oildudeny]

Just as I said

 

[Trav]

I know, everybody saw your answer and used it with their own words right.

 

[JHZR2]

20 year old car. You're in CA - in an area that's always 75, or an area that's hot and/or desert? LED bulbs could have some minor inrush current that doesn't trip a fuse. That would stress wire insulation until a short forms. But it's not clear to me that LED is the culprit. My gut would be old, brittle wires and failed insulation... does the switch somehow carry current? Are there relays for the headlights in that car? Are they working? Is it a two bulb setup where onnhigh, both high and low are on?

 

[EdwardC]

I would also guess that it's unlikely that the LEDs caused the issue, more likely that when you went in to swap in the LEDs, some part of the disassembly and reassembly loosened or damaged some connection/wire/insulation.

 

[red7404]

did you check for a bad ground?

 

[eljefino]

The LEDs would tax the parking light circuit. Just a WAG but the dash lights should be under 30-40% of the total current when you include all the exterior marker/tail lights. It'd be hard for a change there to totally overload that switch. You also have the dash dimmer rheostat which will provide some resistance to inrush current, unless you have it cranked all the way bright. Seems to me like this car could benefit from a relay retrofit kit underhood for the high- and low-beams. To answer your question, the char started its problem as an area of middle resistance, which caused heat, which caused charring, until the process ran away and charred so much it stopped current flow.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Too much current or high-resistance connection (bad connection, loose, oxidized, etc..) causes heat and can melt wire insulation or plastic connectors.

 

[kc8adu]

leds draw less current than the bulb they replace. chalk this one up to old age and fatigue. replace the connectors or if the others are ok bypass the burnt pair with a jumper. solder and heatshrink.

 

[Jeff999]

Two wires had damaged insulation near the base of the female connector which I noticed when looking at the wires with a magnifying glass: I soldered on a new pigtail (wire with attached Deutsch pin) that I got from a Toyota dealer to the bottom wire as shown in the picture. I used heatshrink on that wire. The insulation on the wire above that wire was also damaged. I have only wrapped electrical tape around that wire for the time being. I guess one of those wires is for the high beams and the other is for the low beams. The upper leftmost hole burned the most as shown in the pictures. I greatly enlarged that hole when I used a screwdriver to get the Deutsch pin out. The plastic separating the two upper leftmost wires is badly damaged, and there is a gap now between the Deutsch pins. WARNING GRAPHIC This is a picture of the male connector that is attached to my steering column: The heat damage to the lower leftmost blade is obvious. That blade connected to the charred Deutsch pin. I took this photo after cleaning that blade and the one next to it with contact cleaner. This is the male connector on my steering column: Ever since I soldered on the pigtail and put on the heatshrink and electrical tape I have not noticed any heat coming from that connector. I removed all of the LED dash bulbs that I installed and replaced them with stock incandescents. These are my questions: 1. Since white female connector is badly damaged I need to replace it. Which tool should I used to get the Deutsch pins out? There are two sizes of Deutsch pins in this connector. The smaller ones are tiny. I don't know the size of either Deutsch pin. If someone can recommend a specific model tool that would be helpful. 2. I bought a new female connector from a Toyota dealer. The middle portion of this connector is removable. Is it designed that way to make it easier to remove the bottom row of Deutsch pins? 3. Should I also try to replace the male connector, or is there not enough damage to it to be a concern? It may be difficult to replace, and I don't know if that connector is even available. 4. Sometimes the seatbelt light on my dash indicating that my seatbelt is not connected comes on when I go over bumps or am turning. Why is that happening? BTW, I emailed corsa-technic.com for help in identifying the parts and what I should do about the problem, and they were extremely helpful even though they did not sell me anything. Thanks for any replies.

 

[mk378]

Working from the side opposite the wires, first push on the wire to move the pin all the way in (this relieves pressure on the catch), then use a sharp object like a large sewing needle to push the plastic catch away from the metal contact (toward the middle of the connector). Then pull the wire and contact out. Remove all the good wires / pins from your old shell and put them in the new shell in the proper place. The burnt pins will need to be replaced by soldering on new pins with pigtail wires. Generally if you don't replace both sides, it is likely to burn again. The male side is part of the light switch assembly, which should be readily available (though likely expensive) from either Toyota or aftermarket.