Headlight switch...

[caymann]

I always try to avoid driving in the dark.
But today i had to leave the campground early.
When i turned on my headlight, all my gauges started
acting weird...
Coolant temp rose from 175F to 200F
Tranny temp rose from 140F to 160F
Batt dropped to 10.5 Volts

When i turned off the headlights, everything was back to normal. What seems to be the problem?

My guess is...something to do with a poor ground in the headlight switch? Anything else?

[texnet]

Check the output of your alternator...

[njs42]

Alternator---could just need to tighten the belt.

[HeapBigEngin]

Suggest you check the "usual suspects" like chassis battery ground, battery (2) condition and corrosion within the battery compartment and at nearby connections. Any of these act as a major source of resistance within the vehicle's electrical and charging system and can easily play havoc with gauge readings downstream. PLEASE let us know what you find out....thanks!

[gprince]

I had the same problem and couldn't ever find the ground problem. A forum member told me how he fixed this problem by taking a piece of wire with an alligator clip on each end and clipped one end to the one of the instrument panel ground cluster grounding wire bolts that loop from one to another and the other to a bolt on the steering wheel column.