[s-cars] E-Code High Beams Stuck On

[weski at verizon.net]

Patient is my 95 S6 with e-code headlights.

  I've been running the e-codes for over 10 years.  They have always 
been relayed - one relay for highs, one for lows, and one for fogs.  
 From the beginning, the high beams would not turn off immediately when 
I turned them off - some times they would stay on and other times they 
would turn off after 20-30 seconds.  Needless to say the on-coming 
traffic was not appreciative.  For a quick fix, I installed a license 
plate socket under my hood and added it into the passenger high beam 
circuit.  This worked great by draining off just enough power after I 
turned the highs off to actually turn them off with less than a 1 second 
delay.

Fast forward 10 years.

I've been having trouble this summer with keeping all lights working 
consistently - highs, lows, and fogs.  The relays and wiring was getting 
somewhat corroded in places so I redid all the wiring this weekend and 
also upgrade all the bulbs to Sylvania Osram SilverStar H1, H1, H3 bulbs 
(I had been running these in my lows and they were noticeably brighter 
than what ever bulb that came with the headlights and I wanted the same 
temperature and light level for all lights).  After I was done, once 
again the highs would not turn off when switched off - even with the 
extra drain of the little license plate light.

Anyone have any ideas as to what I can check next to try to correct 
these latching high beams?  Do you think the new bulbs draw less current 
so my original quick fix isn't drawing enough circuit to work any more?  
The lows are bright enough to get me by at night in the short term and I 
can flip the lights off and on quickly when I need to turn my high beams 
off but I don't want to plan to drive it like this into the winter but 
it's good enough to get me to and from the airport once a week until I 
figure this out.

TIA,

Paul Dooley
95 S6 - 256,000 miles and counting