You replace the whole switch, its an assembely. What happens is there are a total of 5 contacts in the switch. One for the parking lights and dash lights, two for high beam(one right, one left) and two for low beam (one for right one for left). When you push or pull on the switch to activate the high beams then it lifts the contacts up for the low beams, and lets the contacts down for high beams. The contacts either get dirty, corroded, and then burn up.
Tools needed
1. a philips head screwdriver
2. a flat blade screw driver(optional)
To get the switch out follow these steps:
1. remove the 4 screws that hold the plastic piece below the steering wheel off.
2. remove the 4 screws that hold the plastic surroundings off the steering coloum.
3. lower the steering wheel as much as it can go
4. remove the plastic ring that surronds the ignition switch(pull out)
5. pull up on the top piece of the steering coloum surrondings, remove it
6. pull down on the lower piece, but dont try to remove it, just pull down on it.
7. remove the two screws that hold the switch assembelly on
8. unplug the switch
9. put new switch in
10. install all the plastic crap back on
11. enjoy your headlights!

does anyone have the part number for this? or is this something i can get from carquest/advance/autozone...? this might be my problem of the random passenger side high beam not working even though i have dim power to the bulb. otherwise... where are the grounds for the highbeams?

Have you checked the fuses on the drivers side? There are two blue 15amp fuses for the high beams.

Have you checked the fuses on the drivers side? There are two blue 15amp fuses for the high beams.

oh yeah... checked them, they were good, then i replaced them anyways, just for kicks. i have a test light... there is very low power going to the high beams. and its not the bulb, cause it works perfectly on the drivers side. thats why i think its a grounding problem.

I have a B13/NX switch assembly in the storage unit.

Its the switch.

sweet. where do i get one? its a 92 infiniti g20.

Dunno if they're the same as the Sentra/nx, but a pick'n'pull, dealer, autoparts store,etc.

thanks.... got a new one at carquest for $42.

uhhh.... special order item, and they sent me an ignition switch. i got the headlight switch coming, but it was $56.

Will this fix the bright lights from staying on all the time? Ever since I replaced my headlights my brights stay on every time I turn my headlights on.

Which car do you have? B13, B14, etc? I'm guesing you got the wrong bulbs...

I have a B14

whats the part number of the bulbs you got?

maybe that's the reason why my parking lights wouldn't switch on. i made a thread about this a while back. hopefully this works for me. thanks.

Would a bad switch cause a short for the parking lights? I'm trying to diagnose a hard short right now and the wires leading to the switch on the the column looked fine. Thanks!

what do you mean a short? are the parking lights not working?

I just don't use my brights/flash anyone anymore. My switch is toast, but I really don't wanna screw with it. I'm lazy. I would go from low beam to high beam, and either the driver side light would go off altogether, or when I turn off high beams, the driver side lamp would stay on high beam. :rofl:

It's the beater. It passes inspection. HAHA

what do you mean a short? are the parking lights not working?

The 10A fuse for the parking lights kept blowing (meaning no parking or dash lights,) so I spent some time troubleshooting the problem. When I measured the resistance on the fuse block for the 10A fuse, it was showing a hard short.

After testing all of the lights on that circuit with a multi-meter, I found that the driver's side parking lamp socket had an internal short. To be sure I removed all the bulbs and put them back in one by one (turning the lights off when adding another bulb) until the fuse blew.

I replaced the socket and it appears that the new socket may have resolved the issue. If the fuse doesn't blow within the next few days, that was the culprit.

The 10A fuse for the parking lights kept blowing (meaning no parking or dash lights,) so I spent some time troubleshooting the problem. When I measured the resistance on the fuse block for the 10A fuse, it was showing a hard short.

After testing all of the lights on that circuit with a multi-meter, I found that the driver's side parking lamp socket had an internal short. To be sure I removed all the bulbs and put them back in one by one (turning the lights off when adding another bulb) until the fuse blew.

I replaced the socket and it appears that the new socket may have resolved the issue. If the fuse doesn't blow within the next few days, that was the culprit.

Sweet! Glad you got it figured out...it was probably an aftermarket lamp, which I have seen shorted out before. I work at a body shop, so yeh, I see that junk every day.

The one good thing about this being a common problem is that it turns up in search results!

The cluster, tails, corners, markers, and HVAC would not light up when I turned on the headlights on my '93.5 G20. Brake lights okay when pedal pressed and turn signals, too. Just not when the headlight switch was turned on.

I borrowed the headlight switch (which is the stalk assembly) off my '92 SE-R. They are the same part exactly, so at least any B13/P10 should interchange. Fixed it. :biggthump

I'm not sure what wore out on the faulty switch. I took it apart to see how it works. Maybe some contact points are worn?

http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/601/head_switch.jpg
1. Off - no pins touching
2. Park lights - only middle pin contact
3. Headlights (low) - left three pins contact
4. Headlights (high) - all pins contact

Man, I wish I could fix this one instead of bothering with a replacement.