Help: I can't see my blue high beam indicator unless it is pitch black, no street lights and there are no oncoming headlights. In that I have those Euro Barnbuner 100W high beams, I try to minimize their use. But since I do a lot of daytime signaling with my lights, I'm constantly finding that I'm riding with the high beams on. I finally understand why the Japanese do their switches differently.

There is no switch in the instrument light circuit to give a day/night choice and this thing is just plain dim. Before I go to Radio Shack to look for a bright 12V LED to substitute for that bulb, has anyone else had and solved this problem?

Dave,

Had this situation in the 66 1800S. The high beam indicator bulb is located on the rear of the speedo unit (actually there are three of them) towards the bottom. If you lay on your back under the steering wheel the lowest bulb on the right is the high beam indicator. (center is turn signal and left is generator) You can pull the bulb out of the speedo and clean it with some glass cleaner or what ever. I found that a Q-Tip was not long enough to reach the blue lens, but if you go to your doctor he/she will have really cool Q-Tips about 8" long that work great. (May also be available at a pharmacy) I used de-natured alcohol on the swab and repeated until the swab came out clean. (About 20 swabs for all three lights)

The generator and turn signal can now be seen in normal daylight, but the dark blue high beam indicator is still a little hard to see during the day. No problems at night.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

Oliver
66 1800S

If you are laying on your back under the steering wheel the high beam indicator is on the left and the generator light is on the right. Sorry for the confusion but I am use to looking at the speedo from the drivers seat.

Oliver
66 1800S

Dave;

"87" has the best idea of what to check! First make certain the lamp come from its seat, or hasn't been other wise been dislodged...also, sometimes, as lamps get old, they start plating carbon or bits of the filament onto the inside of their envelope further decreasing their light output (if that's the case replace lamp)...so just pull the lamp out, inspect and clean it...you MIGHT be able to find a higher wattage lamp to go with those "barnburner" lamps you're running.

John Mc also has it right...even when the headlights are OFF, and you momentarilly use the directional signal stalk for signaling, the momentary function ALWAYS energizes the brights, but since the mechanism of the bytable latching relay is a see-saw arrangement, see:



...upon release, it will now fall to the other state, so that if you turn on your headlight switch latter, they can come up in either state...but totally predictable (depending on what state they were in when you last turned them OFF, and if you used the momentary signal an even or odd number of times). The point is... after turning ON headlights, just check the (fixed) indicator briefly, and as necessary switch to low beam.

Cheers

Haven't had that problem, but some other bulb problems in the car (780). Have you checked to see that the bulb is in it's proper spot? Check it for dirt? Maybe the plastic in front of the bulb is dirty? Hope some of this helps. Good luck!!

To the best of my knowledge the headlight relay always selects bright for
signalling when the lights are off.

I haven't been into the dash of an 1800 and thus don't know what kind of
bulbs they use, but I would think you could get a brighter bulb.
Or maybe there is dirt behind the blue lens.
--
George Downs, The "original" Walrus3, Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Pulling back on the lever does always engage the high beams, but it cycles the 'state' of the relay, so the next time you turn on the switch they might already be on the high beams.

I'd pop out that bulb, clean it, and use a Q-tip un it socket to ensure there isn't any dust on the inside of the little blue whatzit.