hey guys im new, im on here for my girlfriend. she just recently bought her 98 with 104k it seeems like when her headlights on are on at night and she turns on the the turn signal and her headlights flicker. im guessing it could be a relay problem or maybe a bad wire connection.can anyone help me? coud this be a common problem? the car was bought threw an auction, so im guessing its not gonna be a great car. i can also already tell that the rotors are gonna need a good turning maybe new pads. give me a shout back guys, id like to get this problem fixed, as i dont really like the idea of my girl driving at night runnning the risk of having the headlights go out on her while shes on a twisty road. thanks again
drew

 

any ideas yall? is there a book i can pick up? maybe a helms? today i tested the headlights again and i had the lights on and put on the turn signal and the headlights went out and stayed out untill i jiggled the stalk so im thinking it could very well be in the steering wheel. btw this is a 4 cylender i was wondering if it has a timing belt or chain? thanks
drew

 

You could always get the FSM and test each circuit with a multi-meter. You could also check the alt and make sure it working properly.

Good luck.

 

Tough question. Try to isolate the problem, like instead of hitting the blinker, while the headlights are on, try another high amp draw, like hitting the fan on and see if that does it. If you narrow it down to only the blinker that zaps the headlights, go looking into the stalk, I agree. Check the fuse box also, make sure it hasn't been molested, and wouldn't hurt to get up under the dash and check for any extra wiring that looks like it didn't come on the truck. I hate electrical gremlins, because I know very little about them.

 

It's the switch in the lever? My 98 does the same thing if I manually cancel the turn signal sometimes. You can verify this by turning on your headlights and slightly wiggling the lever in its on/off headlamp position. My guess is over time the switch wears and you can cause a intermit contact. My lights have never went out but I can make them flicker at will. No biggie to fix/relace I think?

98Ltd 80K

 

thanks alot for the help guys

 

I was looking to see if anybody else had this problem because mine is doing the same thing. The lights go out sometimes but only on low beam. I haven't tried to take the stalk out because of the air bag. If I am not mistaken the steering wheel has to come off to get to the bolts that mount the stalk. I guess I will have to get the repair manual out and do some reading.

 

I had the same problem. With the lights on, the Headlights would flicker when I would turn the turn signals on/off or let the signals turn off on their own.
I Changed the headlight switch and it fixed it. Dealer wanted $140 for a new one. I got one from a junkyard out of a 99 Camry for $40 and it has been flawless (I have a 96 4Runner - newer 4Runners (99 and up?) have a different switch housing that doesn't fit).
You'll need a steering wheel puller (I made one) to take the wheel off to change out the switch. I swaped the bad one for the good one in a half hour.

 

I had to change out the stalk that the headlight swich is on because of the same thing...When I would flip the stalk to turn on my blinkers the headlights would cut out. The stalk isn't that much and you DO NOT need to take off the steering wheel to change it, you just take off the plastic surroung to get to the screws that hold it in....takes 5 minutes to change out. This was on a 98