[ORTRED]

Noticed a burning electical smell in my 94 chevy silverado the other day, and a pop when I turned my headlights on. I removed the dash faceplate which houses the switch and notices a significant amount of grease that had run out of the switch and down my dash. It had the smell that I noticed previously and appears to be the electical grease that is applied when the switch is manufactured (kind of looks like loose vaseline). My question is this: I ordered a new switch cause this one is obviously toast, but then I got to thinking.... Was this problem contained to the headlight switch only, or could the dimmer switch right next to it be over heating, melting the grease in the headlight switch, causing it to short out? The dimmer has a heat sinc on it which means it is suppose to get hot, and I've noticed that the dash where the dimmer is located is warm to the touch when the truck has been running, but I'm not sure how to test this idea.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ORTRED]

Sounds like my situation is not that uncommon. I was playing around with it a little more last night and noticed that now I have to wiggle the switch to get the dash lights on. I'll just replace the switch and leave the dimmer alone for now (sounds like the heat from the dimmer is normal).

And I'll have to disagree with tbplus10.... For 17 years my 94' Chevy's electrical has been way more predictable than a woman... ;-)

Thanks for your help guys!