Chrysler Repair: 93 Chrysler Concord, chrysler concord, headlamp switch

Question
Hi Roland,
I must say you were right on the money again,on the low light beam issue. The fuses are ok, but they are not getting any voltage through the sockets, everything else seems to be working and getting voltage. I guess I need to shoot the dimmer switch and trace the wiring. If there is a easy way to do this let me know.
Again, Thanks for your advice.
John. -------------------------
Followup To
Question -
Roland,
I have a 93 Concord, 212K mi. all but 30K put on by myself and kids, A few days ago my son drove it up to the store and when he tried to start it again after comming out, the car gauges and lights flashed and then there was no power of any sort. He tried to jump it thinking it was the battery but it would not respond. I'm thinking it's the alternator or some sort of blown fuses? The car did not show any warning signs of something wrong, it  just died. Before I go troubleshooting, I was wondering if you have come across anything like this before.

Thanks
John

Answer -
Hi John,
Thanks for the report back and the kind evaluation. On the low beams both being off, it is certainly possible that they burned out simultaeously, but you might also check fuses 15 and 16 under the dash, and also verify that 12V is going to those fuse sockets when the headlamp switch is on and the dimmer is on low beams. It is possible that the dimmer switch is not passing the voltage to those two fuses that each run one low beam filament. I am suspicious when two bulbs appear to burn out simultaneously so I look for a common spot which would cause the same result (e.g. the dimmer switch or its wiring).
Roland











Hi John,
If the car seems totally dead, then it has to be either the battery is shorted out or the ground strap from the - post of the battery to the body where it is bolted to the left front frame rail, or the black wire from the + post of the battery to the power distribution box nearby is burned out or disconnected from the buss bar in the box, or the cable clamps/post are corroded and not conducting or are loose. There is no other explanation for a totally dead car. You might check to see if the emergency flasher works which if it does would indicate that the problem is not the ground wire or the clamps/posts but would then implicate the black wire on the + post of the battery as the culprit. If some of the lights work but the rest of the car is dead then check the other ground wire from the battery - post to the engine block.

If I don't understand and some of the circuits are working let me know.
Roland


Answer
Hi John,
The dimmer switch on the steering column is shown to be part of the multifunction switch, and there is a black 7-wire connector that combines its function with that of the windshield wiper. The 3 pins in a row are for the latter, the 4 pins in a row are for the former. With the headlamp switch all the way on, you should get 12v on the light green wire, and on the low beam position of the dimmer you should have 12V on the violet/white. On the high beam position of the dimmer 12v should then appear on the red/orange. There is also the optical horn supply which should be there all the time on the red/white and it should appear on the red/orange when you do the momentary lever action. If you want to do it by continuity testing, the light green is pin 7, the violet/white is pin 5, the red/white is pin 6 and the red/orange is pin 4 of the socket for the 7-pin black plug.
That dimmer is probably bad if you can still get high beams.
Maybe the internal contacts are corroded and you can clean them up?
Roland