Headlight Help

[Spedie]

My headlights have been giving me a bit of trouble. They stopped working, I checked the fuse and it was rusty and broken (not the actual fuse, but the housing). Thinking this was the problem I replaced it, but no dice.

 

The fuse has power, but when I turn on the headlight switch the fuse has no power running through it. This is both positions of the switch, and the dimmer flipped on both.

 

Any advice? Bad dimmer switch or headlight switch? I'm going out to chase wires right now.

Thanks!

[MikeRL411]

Had identical problem. Turned out to be a cracked solder connection between the fuse element and the metal cap on the fuse. Just enough contact to show continuity with a multimeter, but would not carry current and would open. Throw away the fuse and insert a brand new one before you try anything "heroic" like messing with the wires or switches. If it doesn't work, you are out maybe 25 cents.

[SHAMUS'WAGON]

Just duct tape a couple of flashlights to your fenders and call it good.

[Spedie]

Thanks Mike

 

Ill try a brand new fuse.

[ppeters914]

If the housing, fuse holder clips, etc were rusted, it's highly likely the entire fuse block needs a good cleaning. Easiest way is to just remove it (don't forget to diagram all wires before disconnecting) and giving it a vinegar bath for an hour (longer if needed). Here's mine, nice 'n' pretty:

 

 

The fusebox location is poor, i.e. bolted directly to that shelf area above the firewall. There's several ways water can get there, and the fusebox will sit in it....like mine did. :poop: I modified mine by gluing plastic cabinet door bumpers.

 

 

 

You'll probably need to use longer screws to reattach the fusebox. Just tighten 'em snug so you don't bend/warp/crack the fusebox.

 

My long-term plan is to replace the stock fusebox and wiring with an EZ Wiring kit, either the Mini-12 or -20. Modern fuses and larger gauge wiring! :thumbup:

 

Pete

[MikeRL411]

[quote name='ppeters914' date='01 March 2011 - 09:21 AM'

The fusebox location is poor, i.e. bolted directly to that shelf area above the firewall. There's several ways water can get there, and the fusebox will sit in it....like mine did. :poop: I modified mine by gluing plastic cabinet door bumpers.

 

Also, any wet debris under the fuse box can short the battery directly to the chassis melting the cover over the 20 amp fuse location [don't ask me how I know]. The door bumper fix is a very good answer. I took a less obvious track in order to keep the OEM look. I cut a piece of about 1 mm thick plastic sheeting and placed it below the fuse box. Your advice to document all connections first is right on. Write it down or take a good closeup photo and add the wire color code. P.S. Belt and suspenders approach - then tag each wire with its location [a small strip ofmasking tape works well]. Some where in the electrical section there is a good wiring schematic of the 411 including wire color codes if all else fails.

[DanielC]

I do not know about the wiring on a 411, but I am fairly familiar with a 521. Looks like you have the same fuse block, and issues.

 

In my experience, the wiring on a Datsun is actually pretty well though out, and really not that bad, provided it is not hacked. The weak areas are the fuse block, and the connectors can sometimes get water in side them, making it necessary to clean them.

 

The glass tube fuses are a weak link. The fuse element inside the glass tube is just soldered in the end caps, and as the clips on the fuse block lost tension, they get hot, and the solder inside the fuse melts, and a looking good fuse becomes bad. The heat can also sometimes take the spring out of the clips.

 

On my 521, I replaced the six fuse block once already. I have considered replacing it again with this.

http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcatalog/largeview.php?SearchField=70107

 

This is the 70107 fuse block, with seven circuits.

 

This fuse block is protected with a circuit breaker, and more importantly, the ignition switched circuits are actually switched by the relay, and that removes that load off the 40 year old ignition switch.

[erichwaslike]

http://www.olddatsuns.com/data/411schematic.pdf

[MikeRL411]

The 521 fuse block is almost but not quite identical to the 411. Close enough for comparison though. The RL411UAK version of the 411 [with automatic transmission] already comes with a very hefty starter relay. If you can find the carcass of one of these beauties, grab the relay. I have schematics showing both automatic and manual [RL411UTK] transmission wiring if you need them [yes, they are different in how the starter switch and starter pull-in coil are wired].

Edited March 2, 2011 by MikeRL411

[DanielC]

Here is a poor picture of a replacement fuse box I made for my 521 years ago.

 

What I did was figure out what fuses were connected together on the stock fuse box, and how they got power.

You will see four of the fuses are connected with a piece on copper bus bar. It is really just a piece of 1/4 pipe, flattened, and with holes drilled into it. The copper bus bar is fed power fron the battery.

The two fuses, on the right of the picture are also hooked to each other, what is hard to see is a white wire under one of these two fuses. The white wire supplies power when the key is on.

 

On the bottom of the fuses in the picture, I just clipped off the female 1/4 spade connectors, and replaced them with #10 ring terminals.

 

I mounted the new fuse block in a plastic box, I could put a cover on, to help protect the fuse block from the elements.

 

For you 521 people out there, the wiring will look a little different because my truck has an ammeter in it.

[Spedie]

THANKS THANKS THANKS for all the responses. I replaced the fuse with a brand new one, no dice. I chased wires all under the dash yesterday with no success, but did figure all the switches were working properly. The fuse panel is a bit rusty, I'll go about cleaning it tomorrow and see if that helps!

[Paul G.]

There is a funny headlight relay on the inner fender just in front of the battery. There should be some sounds (clicks of contacts) coming out of that as you play with the light switch. It is also a good place to go poking around for power. This relay has to many wires going into it to be simple. You should be able to identify at least some of the wires by color and with a wiring schematic all of them could be tested for having power when they are supposed too.

[DanielC]

I am not familiar with a 411 headlight system, But I am starting to guess how it works based on bits of information in this thread, and how the headlights work on my 521.

Power on my 521 goes from the battery, to the fuse box, to the headlight switch, then to a relay.

The relay connects power to high, or low beams depending on how it is wired.

When you move the dimmer switch, the relay switches the headlights to the other beam.

After the headlights, power then goes to a body ground, and back to the frame of the alternator, and then back to the battery.

 

If indeed the 411 has the headlight relay, check for power on the relay terminals. If you could look at the color on the wires, that might help me, or somebody else help you.

[Spedie]

I checked all the terminals on the relay already, and they have no power. I'll go there next if cleaning the fuses panel doesn't help.

 

Thanks.

[DanielC]

Again, I do not know the details of the car, but I am going on what I do know about my 521.

 

On my 521, the fuse box is located on the right rear corner of the engine compartment. It is more or less exposed to the weather. The engine room harness wiring harness then goes into the cab of the truck. Behind, or above the glove box, is a bunch of connectors that plug the engine room wire harness to the cab wire harness. These connectors could have dirty contacts, and prevent electricity from going through them. The cab harness goes to several plugs again, one that is for the light switch. This plug could have a bad connection. The power goes in the switch, and back through the light switch plug, into the cab harness again, back through the plugs connecting the cab harness to the engine room harness. It could be the same connector, or a different one. Then, the power goes to the relay, in the engine bay.

 

On my 521, the wire from the fuse box, through the connectors, to the light switch is a fairly thick red wire. After the light switch, to the relay is is a fairly thick red, with a yellow stripe wire. After the relay, thick red wire, with white strip wire, high beams. thick red wire with black stripe, low beam.

 

Here is a picture of the headlight relay connections on a 521.

[MikeRL411]

I am not familiar with a 411 headlight system, But I am starting to guess how it works based on bits of information in this thread, and how the headlights work on my 521.

Power on my 521 goes from the battery, to the fuse box, to the headlight switch, then to a relay.

The relay connects power to high, or low beams depending on how it is wired.

When you move the dimmer switch, the relay switches the headlights to the other beam.

After the headlights, power then goes to a body ground, and back to the frame of the alternator, and then back to the battery.

 

If indeed the 411 has the headlight relay, check for power on the relay terminals. If you could look at the color on the wires, that might help me, or somebody else help you.

 

The 411 headlight relay is a one of a kind unit. It has two relays inside the elongated box. It was designed this way for the Japanese domestic personal car and taxi markets. When you are on low beam and come to a stop light, flick the switch and you switch to parking lamps only. Reduces battery draw, extends battery life [a bit], but more importantly reduces very expensive gasoline comsumption. By the way, the schematic pin numbers have absolutely no logical connection to the case pinout, they refer [in some way] to the internal connection to the interconnected relays inside the box. Go by wire color code! If you need the physical pin number vs schematic wire location, I have worked it out and labled my switch. I could go to my garage and write the pin connections down for you if that would be of some help. This headlight is in no way obtainable from Nissan but then "It doesn't fail" is their mantra and reason for never stocking it. I doubt it has failed, but your option would be to get 2 510 headlight relays and cross wire them to emulate the 410 and 411 interconnections.

[ppeters914]

The 411 headlight relay is a one of a kind unit. It has two relays inside the elongated box. It was designed this way for the Japanese domestic personal car and taxi markets. When you are on low beam and come to a stop light, flick the switch and you switch to parking lamps only. Reduces battery draw, extends battery life [a bit], but more importantly reduces very expensive gasoline comsumption. By the way, the schematic pin numbers have absolutely no logical connection to the case pinout, they refer [in some way] to the internal connection to the interconnected relays inside the box. Go by wire color code! If you need the physical pin number vs schematic wire location, I have worked it out and labled my switch. I could go to my garage and write the pin connections down for you if that would be of some help. This headlight is in no way obtainable from Nissan but then "It doesn't fail" is their mantra and reason for never stocking it. I doubt it has failed, but your option would be to get 2 510 headlight relays and cross wire them to emulate the 410 and 411 interconnections.

That's some seriously interesting $h!t, Mike.

 

Pete

[MikeRL411]

That's some seriously interesting $h!t, Mike.

 

Pete

Actually I should have been more specific about the relay operation. When the 411 has the lights switch on the first notch [PARK] position, hitting the HIGH beam position on the column turns on the low beam headlights. Returning it to the normal Low Beam position puts you in parking lights only condition. Normal Tokyo Taxi operation. The 411s were my favorite cab while I was in Japan. "Good car! Strong engine! Never break" to quote the cab drivers I ask why they chose the Datsun.

[Spedie]

:lol: Were back in business! I took out the fuse panel, and it was pretty corroded. I soaked it in vinegar, then used emery cloth on all the contacts to buff em out. I reinstalled in cleaning all the contacts as I did.

 

Headlights work! From the looks of it, I think the whole electrical system might get a boost.

 

Definantely a must do for any 411 owners, even before any problems arise.

Thanks Mike!

[ppeters914]

Gotta love it when the simple fix works.

 

Pete