Club 80-90 Forums

Sadly I have found yet another problem with my beauty.
The headlamp fuse is getting hot enough to be uncomfortable to keep my finger on.
Although it has not got hot enough to blow the fuse , I am worried as surely it should not get this hot?
As I have stumbled upon this problem, I don't know where to start and due to my lack of knowledge in this department am in need of some advise......
My van is a 1983 westy which I have converted to square headlamps, and am wondering if this could be the problem?
many thanks ......
lhd.............................

When you converted your van to square headlamps did you also upgrade
to H4 Halogen headlamps? Does your square h/l conversion have 2 or 4 lights? If it has 4 lamps ie: outer headlamps & inner driving lamps are they all on one fuse or are they seperately fused?

Just trying establish all the changes that you've made to the lamps, then this may help to solve the problem.

hot = dirty or bad connection in anything other than fuses....... try cleaning the fuse connections all the same, ifit is getting hot on the ends and NOT in the middle.

and check its the correct fuse too

square headlamps are wrong......like square crisps

I think, although I'm not 100%, that there is no headlight relay and the main power just goes throught the fuse to power the lights. Maybe it's just this that's causing the heat? I have heard some people put a relay on so they can get more power to the lights and make them shine brighter, but again I'm not 100%.

It'll be like Mocki said. Those ceramic fuses are silly. Mine keep getting hot enough to melt the fusebox cover! I've now 'trained' myself to open the box and give each fuse a little twist to make sure it has a good contact, before I drive anywhere!!

Have you got a multimeter (ammeter) that you can use to measure the actual current flow? If you have, stick it on a decent range (20A?) and temporarily shove the meter in place of the fuse. That way you can see if there is more current than there should be, or whether it's just a case of a high-resistance dirty contact getting hot.

Wire in relays instead, taking a power feed (with fuse) from the battery or main feed to the fuse box.. this will "save" your headlamp switch and give full voltage to the bulbs, this makes a massive difference.

The original h/lamps were not h4's and the new ones are the caravelle four square ones, which basically I bodged on.... The fuses are the old style and the fuse is hot in the middle.
They have been on for over a year, and I have not noticed it before.
I will check out what you have all said on Thursday and see how it goes.
Thanks very much for your replies..
Rob............................