I have a '04 Mazda3 Hatchback. My headlights will turn off randomly. It seems like a bad/loose wire under the steering wheel. If I hit the cover panel in front of my right knee, just below and to the right of the steering column the lights will come back on. It doesn't matter if the switch is set to ON or AUTO.

It also seems to happen more when with higher temperatures. When I have the heat on the floor in the winter it happens more frequently and in the summer time it happens more often.

Has anyone seen a similar problem and know of a possible fix? Is there some specific wiring I can look for under the cover panel to try and find the problem? Does anyone have wiring diagrams that I can use to troubleshoot?

I took it to my mechanic a while back and they couldn't recreate the problem so there was nothing for them to fix.

Any help would be great. When it happens, my headlights stay on but all my dash light turn off and my taillights go out. I'm not sure how I'll explain that to the cops if they stop me for not having my lights on... Thanks.

 

That sucks! .......or blows a fuse eventually.
I think you have an intermittent contact or an intermittent short.
I think the light switch is highly suspect. Also the wiring going to the switch may have chafed through.
Sometime just disconnecting and reconnecting a harness can fix a weak contact.

I would take the switch out and look for something obvious, clean everything with electronics cleaner or MAF sensor cleaner and put it back together.

Good luck.

 

I am having the same problem with my '05 hatchback. Except my "fix" it to hit the bottom of the main fuse box, under the dash on the passenger side. I think I read somewhere that it is this fuse box (there is another name for it) that needs to be replaced. Expensive.

I keep a stick nearby so I can hit it when need be, if my wife is not next to me to kick it. How do I know the lights went out? I keep my dashboard light dimmer control in the dimmer nighttime mode. So when I am driving at night, the dash lights are that blue-ish color. When the fault happens, the dashlights go to bright mode, and I know the lights are out. Same with me, the headlights seem to stay on, but the taillights go out. Certainly a recipee for a ticket. In the daytime, running with headlights on, the dash lights are so dim that with shades on I can't see my speed, but I can still tell if there is a fault.