Mk3 Headlights dont work

canadianmk3 · Post by **canadianmk3** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:00 pm

The headlights dont work on my Mk3 Cortina. I have the dash switch and the colum switch. At the headlight plug I get between 1.5 and 3 Volts. I dont have any other lights hooked up. Anyone know the problem?

Post by **peteleo** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:31 am

Hi David,

Welcome to the forum.

You may want to check the lugged ground wires. These are usually attached with a sheet metal screw in the engine dept. Remove the grd wires and wire brush the lug and screw.

Pete

zephyrgary · Post by **zephyrgary** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:25 pm

Also, check the bulbs themselves. Sometimes it is the most obvious answer.

enfoprefect · Post by **enfoprefect** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 8:41 am

If you have less than 3 volts at the headlight plug they will not light regardless of the ground or bulb although those are always the first things to check. Something is seriously amiss upstream from there. First be sure you have a good ground for your voltmeter. Then work back a step at a time from there. Check at the switch, both sides, then the fuses, etc, until you find where the voltage loss occurs.

Sky · Post by **Sky** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:25 pm

A quick cheat is to disconnect the power feed to the switch . Then run a jumper wire from the battery to the switch . If the lights then work , the problem is the power to the switch . That's assuming the battery is fine lol .