Headlight Switch Problems

[Aaron]

Today, my plans were to perform the infamous fog light switch fix on my '87 GT. I wasn't having any problems with the fog lights, but I figured I could have problems down the road, so I decided I may as well get it done.
However, I ran into a bit of a problem...when I pulled the headlight power harness from back of the switch, I found this:

The good news is that the wiring behind it seems fine:

Is there an underlying problem that caused the harness to heat up at some point? Is there anything I can look for now to try and uncover the underlying problem? I've owned the car for about 5 years and never had headlight troubles, but putting this harness back on scares the crap out of me because I have no clue when it happened. Should I buy a new harness? Like I said, the back of the harness and the wiring itself looks fine.

Any ideas?

 

[StangItMan]

Ugly ... though to be expected. Evidence of one of Ford's not-better-ideas.

The fog light wiring is a darn good mod IMO. Do it and replace that plug.

BTW - No snow in sight down here, hah!

 

[Aaron]

Hey - there is no snow projected here...this week!

 

[StangItMan]

No snow

Have relatives and friends in Upstate N.Y. --- love heckling about our warmer weather for fun, no offense.

Good luck with the re-wire for the fog lamps --- replace that plug!

Say hello to my friends in West Seneca for me.

 

[Aaron]

Have relatives and friends in Upstate N.Y. --- love heckling about our warmer weather for fun, no offense.

Good luck with the re-wire for the fog lamps --- replace that plug!

Say hello to my friends in West Seneca for me.

Will do - I am in Cheektowaga and my parents are in East Aurora.

 

[HISSIN50]

The heat from driving with fogs probably started to warp things. As suggested, get a new connector. You might be able to release the old pins from this connector and reuse them in the new connector (depending upon how they look).

Good luck.

 

[93 LX]

The heat from driving with fogs probably started to warp things. As suggested, get a new connector. You might be able to release the old pins from this connector and reuse them in the new connector (depending upon how they look).

Good luck.

If you get a new pigtail you could take out the new wires from the connector housing then just cut the old ones out since you dont need the old housing anyway....

 

[iwashmycar]

wow good thing you caught that in time!

 

[Aaron]

That's for sure! I just wondered when it happened. I hardly ever use my headlights OR fog lights. The car is almost never out past dark.

 

[savegoodautonfg]

Well, i did'nt do the headlight fix yet but i did have the same problem. got the plug from rockauto.com for like $10 shipped.

just used the old existing wiring and took them out of the plug and put them in the new plug.

was'nt bad at all. a few minutes thats all it took.

 

[Aaron]

How do the wires come off the old plug?

 

[Saleen0679]

Inside each compartment there is a little plastic hook that grabs the terminal and keeps it in place. You can unhook the terminal from the front of the connector with any small tool by pushing the hook (looks like a plastic tab from the front) while pulling the wire out. The wires slide out easily once unhooked.