alternator and voltage regulator (grounded correctly with a wire) are both new - had alternator tested and it passed..

headlight switch is relatively new (1 year?) - i'm running good grounds and the wires connecting to the switch have new terminals on them, the switch itself is also grounded with a wire to dash


there is no discharge at idle with the headlights on, although they do dim slightly, when i give it a little gas they become brighter, but that's normal i believe.

when i start the car, the amp gauge shows for about the first 30 seconds that it is recharging the battery, after that it drops down to normal and shows neither charge or discharge..

i can run the car for about 10 mins, and then the headlights start cutting out.

it's the weirdest thing:

while i am driving, the headlights will cut out for about 2 seconds, and then turn back on, giving it gas doesn't make a difference, jiggling the switch doesn't help it either, if i turn the headlight switch off for about 30 seconds and turn it back on, they don't cutout immediately, it takes about 5 minutes...
the problem got worse when i was running my windshield wipers tonight, the amp gauge doesn't show a discharge at all, but the lights still cutout.. i've been poking around under the dash, and under the hood, tracing all the wires, making sure they are grounded correctly, i'm running out of ideas over here.

would a bad battery cause this kind of trouble? i'm asking because as my bank roll is dangerously low, i don't want to go out and drop some money and start buying parts that i don't need to change....

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

Sounds like a bad headlight switch. More specifically, a bad circuit breaker within the headlight switch. If you add headlight relays most of the load is taken off the headlight switch. With the minuscule current draw going through the headlight switch the circuit breaker won't get hot, open up and kill the headlights. For this little bit of added complexity you get brighter headlights and reduced load on some of the most heavily taxed wiring and switches in the car.

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Joshua

What about the headlight connectors?

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

joshua.. that makes sense.. the headlight switch does feel really hot..i can feel it through the metal panel i have it on..

time to pay a visit to Dan's website and do this thing up right!

as for the headlight connectors.. i cut the bulk connector after it melted and gave each wire it's own female terminal.. so they're pretty spot on..

i popped the tops on my battery and it looks like one cell is dry and the other is burnt out.. maybe i should drop the cash and get the switch first then the battery?

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

Put in headlamp relays. See this Allpar article and my relay site. Shop carefully no matter whom you buy from if you're after better headlamps; there is a lot of junk on the market.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

once again, thank you guys.. i've installed the relay per Dan's awesome easy to follow instructions.. i can see now! now it's time to adjust them properly so i'm not blinding people on the highway.

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr