94 Cutlass Headlight Switch

[Leadfoot]

The last couple of weeks I had noticed the headlight switch in my Cutlass would occasionally not turn my headlights on.  It would turn everything else on except the headlights.  When I would notice, I could wiggle the knob and the headlights always came on.  Last Thursday I was on the way to work and noticed a strange smell.  Once I got to work and tried to turn the headlights off I noticed the switch was very hot.  Once I turned my lights off, I tried to turn them back on and the knob would only turn 2/3 of the way.  This turns everything on except the headlights.  

 

With 240k+ miles it's hard to complain.  However, I did not realize how hard these switches are to come by.  I found one finally and ordered it.  Because they are so rare, I wanted to see if there are wiring problems or anything specific I should check before installing the new switch.  I was going to verify that a relay feeds the headlights power from the battery rather than the switch carrying the entire load.  If not, I was going to add a relay in.  

 

Is this a common issue?  Is there a common wiring problem I should look into?

[94 olds vert]

Replace the switch. I have 5 switches laying around for when they fail. They do like to fail.