bypassing the high beem floor switch <HELP!>

[71 LONG BED]

Which wires do I need to splice together to bypass the floor switch? My daily driver is layed up with a bad alternator and no one has a new one on the shelf. I need the bump to get to work tomorrow, but the head lights are blinking real bad and are not reliable. I thought I could just bypass the switch and get my low beems working. I'm going to order the alternator now, then I'll be tackeling the bump.

[ToughOldFord]

Pull the plug on the switch. Use a tester to see which one is the hot one, I'm going to guess the center one. Then run a wire from that slot to one of the other slots. If you get low beams, cool, if you get high beams then use the other one. You can't go wrong here, it's only a mechanical diverter switch so there's no ground involved and you can't short anything out.

[bluef250]

Another way to run low beam is to run a wire from solenoid B+ to light. Black is ground. Other 2 are high and low. Low beam is Red with Black stripe if you can see colors for the age. High beam is green with black stripe.

[ICEMAN6166]

after you get your alternator you should really consider this mod.
i set it up so i can use hi and low beam at the same time, no more blinking worrys which is caused usually by the circuit breaker in the headlight switch itself.
jumping wires across the plug in at the switch will defeat the circuit breaker and could cause those skinny wires to melt.
http://www.fordtruk.com/index41.html

[72hiboy4x4]

or you could order a pre-built harness from our very own 390nut to do the same thing.

[71 LONG BED]

Thanks ICEMAN, that is a great mod, I'm going to look into that. I appreciate all the replys, guys. As far as the harness from 390nut goes, I'd love to in the future, but I have to clear my plate a little first.

[ToughOldFord]

after you get your alternator you should really consider this mod.
i set it up so i can use hi and low beam at the same time, no more blinking worrys which is caused usually by the circuit breaker in the headlight switch itself.
jumping wires across the plug in at the switch will defeat the circuit breaker and could cause those skinny wires to melt.
http://www.fordtruk.com/index41.html

I'd like to know how removing a mechanical switch somehow increases the load on the system and melts the wires.

[spartman]

The switch has a circuit breaker built into it. That is what is protecting the wires from melting.

If you bypass the switch there is no circuit protection and thus if you have a short, the wires will melt.

[71 LONG BED]

Well, I'm glad I decided to take my chances and not mess with the wires. She made it all the way to work with no troubles. The last thing I want is a melt down. I should just order a new switch.

[ToughOldFord]

No, the dimmer switch is 100% mechanical, it does not have a breaker of any kind in it. The breaker, I believe, is in the headlight switch itself, but is definitely is not in the dimmer switch.

[spartman]

Yeah I meant the headlight switch.

From reading his first post it looked like the internal circuit breaker was tripping all the time and he wanted to just wire them on all the time.

If there is actually a short in the wiring then bypassing the headlight circuit breaker would eliminate the protection and possibly send the wiring up in smoke.

There is no circuit breaker in the dimmer switch. I fully agree with that. It is just as you said TOF just a switch.

[bluef250]

For a temporary work around fix to get to work, wiring the low beam light directly is a calculated risk. The worst that could happen is the wire burns up which then starts something else a blaze - definitely not good. If the light switch is bad (flickering) all the circuits (and lights) must still be intact with no shorts. I would want to correct the problem as soon as possible.

[ToughOldFord]

All he wanted to do was take out the dimmer switch, there's no harm in that.

[fordman]

i wouldn't do that myself. i would get a new light switch first. i hate cut wires that have been rigged together.

[ToughOldFord]

I'm with you Fordman, I hate to butcher up a wiring harness. However you can bypass that switch with a short piece of wire and two male spade connectors. Then you don't have to cut your wires at all, I've done this myself as a quick fix until I could get to a new switch. I think they're under 10 bucks so obviously there's no reason not to do it right ASAP.