We're about to dig into my daughters '94 Escort.

When driving it the other night I noticed the headlights weren't coming on & my son explained that you have to "hit a bump" to turn them on. Disgusted (at not being told before driving at night ) I stopped at a gas station & kicked one of the lights... it came on. Went & kicked the other light, it came on as well (much to the dismay of the fellow pumping gas ).

SO - I have TWO headlights that only work with a swift kick (or a bump). They did stay on the half-hour drive home after that. This appears to be an independent issue (had to kick each light individually) but both are having the same issue?

Couldn't find any obvious loose wires. Any suggestions?

 

I had a similar problem on my '88 Escort several years ago and it ended up being a loose ground wire for the headlights.

 

I had a friend say the same thing, as we checked everything we did notice that one of the connections was quite corroded so I cleaned them & picked up some dielectric grease to try that... same issue. Brights worked, low beams had to be "bumped" (a solid fist to the front of the lens worked).

We happened to be in Wal-mart & I spontaneously decided to just try picking up some new bulbs before dumping more money into diagnosis... Replaced them both this morning & they both work.

Feeling a tad silly, but I've never had a headlight go out so that I can punch it back on... and what are the chances that BOTH bulbs did it at the same time? I'm just thankful it was only a $12.98 fix!