1997 "mercury sable" "Headlighs not working"

Hey hope some one else has an Idea. I have a 1997 "mercury sable"
and the headlights have bee nacting flacky I guess yo uwould call it.
Sometiems when I turn on the headlights the drivign lights come on but
the headligths don't. If I flash the High Beam a few times usualy the
lights would come back on and stay on while I'm driving. Tonight no
headlights at all. I can use the flash feature where I pull back on the
turn signal switch and the headlights come on but as soon as I release
it they go back off. Pushign forward no Hig hbeam and in the middle no
low beam. I tried swapping the relays under the hood (Well the ones in
the power distribution box) and checked all the fuses but still no
Headlights. Does anyone know where the headligth relay is acualy? Or
has anyone expieranced a similer problem. Teh car is stock with al lthe
factory frills but no acceseries and I can't find a lose connection or
blown fuse. Is the headlight relay some where else besides the fuse
block or power distribution box? I can't find any relay labbled
Headlights but could find the fuses. There is 1 10amp fuse in the dash
for each headlight. and advice would be appriciated before I take the
car in to a sho pand get ripped off like it seams happes with most
mechanics here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. PS car does have a slow
drain where if the car sits for a few days the battery may have to be
jumped but takes about 4 or 5 days of being parked before it dies.

"CaptainHDY" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hey hope some one else has an Idea. I have a 1997 "mercury sable"
> and the headlights have bee nacting flacky I guess yo uwould call it.
> Sometiems when I turn on the headlights the drivign lights come on but
> the headligths don't. If I flash the High Beam a few times usualy the
> lights would come back on and stay on while I'm driving. Tonight no
> headlights at all. I can use the flash feature where I pull back on the
> turn signal switch and the headlights come on but as soon as I release
> it they go back off. Pushign forward no Hig hbeam and in the middle no
> low beam. I tried swapping the relays under the hood (Well the ones in
> the power distribution box) and checked all the fuses but still no
> Headlights. Does anyone know where the headligth relay is acualy? Or
> has anyone expieranced a similer problem. Teh car is stock with al lthe
> factory frills but no acceseries and I can't find a lose connection or
> blown fuse.

There's a loose connection somewhere, probably a ground wire. I have no idea
where.
Or maybe not loose but corroded so much that it can't conduct electricity
too well.


> mechanics here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. PS car does have a slow
> drain where if the car sits for a few days the battery may have to be
> jumped but takes about 4 or 5 days of being parked before it dies.

Some light is being left on. Trunk light, underhood light or glove box light
would be the likely candidates if they exist on your car. Or your battery
is bad and/or the alternator is not charging it very well. Check the two
battery posts; maybe the posts are corroded and just need to have the gunk
removed. (This could fix your headlight problem too)

Probably a faulty combination switch (turn signal/beam selector/etc, in
steering column).

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005, CaptainHDY wrote:

> Hey hope some one else has an Idea. I have a 1997 "mercury sable"
> and the headlights have bee nacting flacky I guess yo uwould call it.
> Sometiems when I turn on the headlights the drivign lights come on but
> the headligths don't. If I flash the High Beam a few times usualy the
> lights would come back on and stay on while I'm driving. Tonight no
> headlights at all. I can use the flash feature where I pull back on the
> turn signal switch and the headlights come on but as soon as I release
> it they go back off. Pushign forward no Hig hbeam and in the middle no
> low beam. I tried swapping the relays under the hood (Well the ones in
> the power distribution box) and checked all the fuses but still no
> Headlights. Does anyone know where the headligth relay is acualy? Or
> has anyone expieranced a similer problem. Teh car is stock with al lthe
> factory frills but no acceseries and I can't find a lose connection or
> blown fuse. Is the headlight relay some where else besides the fuse
> block or power distribution box? I can't find any relay labbled
> Headlights but could find the fuses. There is 1 10amp fuse in the dash
> for each headlight. and advice would be appriciated before I take the
> car in to a sho pand get ripped off like it seams happes with most
> mechanics here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. PS car does have a slow
> drain where if the car sits for a few days the battery may have to be
> jumped but takes about 4 or 5 days of being parked before it dies.
>
>

Ouch is taht easy to get to or do I have to rip the whole colum appart
to get at it? any test point's I can use to test the power before /
after this switch to see if it is that switch taht went bad?

Well the battery and alternator were both replaced so I know it's not
either and ca nnot find a loght on but wil ldouble check those. Thanks
for the sugestions. On the Headlight issue any ideas where I can find a
Wiring Diagram of this car's electrical system? (Short of the Dealer,
Those Technical servcie manualas are pricey)
Bob M. wrote:
> "CaptainHDY" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Hey hope some one else has an Idea. I have a 1997 "mercury sable"
> > and the headlights have bee nacting flacky I guess yo uwould call
it.
> > Sometiems when I turn on the headlights the drivign lights come on
but
> > the headligths don't. If I flash the High Beam a few times usualy
the
> > lights would come back on and stay on while I'm driving. Tonight no
> > headlights at all. I can use the flash feature where I pull back on
the
> > turn signal switch and the headlights come on but as soon as I
release
> > it they go back off. Pushign forward no Hig hbeam and in the middle
no
> > low beam. I tried swapping the relays under the hood (Well the ones
in
> > the power distribution box) and checked all the fuses but still no
> > Headlights. Does anyone know where the headligth relay is acualy?
Or
> > has anyone expieranced a similer problem. Teh car is stock with al
lthe
> > factory frills but no acceseries and I can't find a lose connection
or
> > blown fuse.
>
> There's a loose connection somewhere, probably a ground wire. I have
no idea
> where.
> Or maybe not loose but corroded so much that it can't conduct
electricity
> too well.
>
>
> > mechanics here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. PS car does have a
slow
> > drain where if the car sits for a few days the battery may have to
be
> > jumped but takes about 4 or 5 days of being parked before it dies.
>
> Some light is being left on. Trunk light, underhood light or glove
box light
> would be the likely candidates if they exist on your car. Or your
battery
> is bad and/or the alternator is not charging it very well. Check the
two
> battery posts; maybe the posts are corroded and just need to have the
gunk
> removed. (This could fix your headlight problem too)

CaptainHDY wrote:
> Hey hope some one else has an Idea. I have a 1997 "mercury sable"
> and the headlights have bee nacting flacky I guess yo uwould call it.
> Sometiems when I turn on the headlights the drivign lights come on
but
> the headligths don't. If I flash the High Beam a few times usualy the
> lights would come back on and stay on while I'm driving. Tonight no
> headlights at all. I can use the flash feature where I pull back on
the
> turn signal switch and the headlights come on but as soon as I
release
> it they go back off. Pushign forward no Hig hbeam and in the middle
no
> low beam. I tried swapping the relays under the hood (Well the ones
in
> the power distribution box) and checked all the fuses but still no
> Headlights. Does anyone know where the headligth relay is acualy? Or
> has anyone expieranced a similer problem. Teh car is stock with al
lthe
> factory frills but no acceseries and I can't find a lose connection
or
> blown fuse. Is the headlight relay some where else besides the fuse
> block or power distribution box? I can't find any relay labbled
> Headlights but could find the fuses. There is 1 10amp fuse in the
dash
> for each headlight. and advice would be appriciated before I take the
> car in to a sho pand get ripped off like it seams happes with most
> mechanics here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. PS car does have a
slow
> drain where if the car sits for a few days the battery may have to be
> jumped but takes about 4 or 5 days of being parked before it dies.

CaptainHDY wrote:
> Hey hope some one else has an Idea. I have a 1997 "mercury sable"
> and the headlights have bee nacting flacky I guess yo uwould call it.
> Sometiems when I turn on the headlights the drivign lights come on
but
> the headligths don't. If I flash the High Beam a few times usualy the
> lights would come back on and stay on while I'm driving. Tonight no
> headlights at all. I can use the flash feature where I pull back on
the
> turn signal switch and the headlights come on but as soon as I
release
> it they go back off. Pushign forward no Hig hbeam and in the middle
no
> low beam. I tried swapping the relays under the hood (Well the ones
in
> the power distribution box) and checked all the fuses but still no
> Headlights. Does anyone know where the headligth relay is acualy? Or
> has anyone expieranced a similer problem. Teh car is stock with al
lthe
> factory frills but no acceseries and I can't find a lose connection
or
> blown fuse. Is the headlight relay some where else besides the fuse
> block or power distribution box? I can't find any relay labbled
> Headlights but could find the fuses. There is 1 10amp fuse in the
dash
> for each headlight. and advice would be appriciated before I take the
> car in to a sho pand get ripped off like it seams happes with most
> mechanics here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. PS car does have a
slow
> drain where if the car sits for a few days the battery may have to be
> jumped but takes about 4 or 5 days of being parked before it dies.

I just went through a similar experience with my 1998 sable wagon. The
first thing you should do is check the fuses and relays under the hood.
There is an engine compartment fuse box. If you open up the box, there
are a bunch of bigger fuses, 20, 30 & 40 amp fuses. There are also a
couple of 15 amp blue fuses. One of these fuses is for the parking
lights, and one is for the driving lights. You should check these out.
If you have the lights on and pull these fuses, you should here a relay
de-energize when the fuse is removed. To the right of the fuse box, you
should have a relay holder which holds 3 relays. It has a cover on it.
Remove the cover and check out the relays. These rlays are associated
with the lights also.Swap them around in order to isolate a faulty
relay. I had a relay once where the hermetic seal broke. Moisture got
into the relay and rusted it in the "on" position. It drained my
battery overnight because it kept the EEC computer on with the key
switch off. good luck.