Re:69 Giulia Super headlight switch problem

["Bill Sinclair" <bills@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dana,

Normally I would suspect that smoke coming from the switch was caused by a
short somewhere in the harness, but the fact that the high beams come on when
you push the contacts together seems to eliminate that likelihood.  What is
probably happening is that the contacts in the switch are so cruddy that they
won't pass the current.  When you push the contacts together, there is still
enough resistance in the connection to create a voltage drop and some heat.  A
poor ground could cause some overheating too but I'm assuming that the
headlight bucket uses the same ground for high beams and low beams (don't have
much familiarity with Supers, though).  Is the high beam switch on your Super
on the stalk like it is on my Duetto?  If so, I'm not real clear on how you
pressed the contacts together manually.  I actually got some added life out of
the stalk switch on my Duetto by spraying some lubricated electrical contact
cleaner in the switch housing and switching it back and forth.  You don't want
to use so much that you displace  all the grease in the switch that is
supposed to keep it from wearing out mechanically.  I think LPS 2 is one
cleaner that has some lubrication in the fluid but be sure to check.  I have
fixed toggle switches a couple of times using the method that George Nunez
described and it's definitely worth a try.  Open it carefully though, and try
to see where everything goes before it all flies apart!  Good luck.

Bill Sinclair
Hampton, VA
67 Duetto
73 Berlina
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