Ford Explorer, headlights blinking

When running and turned off, after 5 minutes of being on, the headlights blink on and off randomly. The only way to stop it is holding the brights/blinker/wipers wand back to temporarily engage the brights. Pushing the wand forward to fully engage the brights does not stop the blinking. Not fun for night driving! Anyone else have this problem?

Replace the headlight switch.

You never said what year, but my 92 had that problem.

Replace the headlight switch. and consider a possible relay problem.

Sounds like the circuit breaker built into the switch is getting weak and shutting off the lights. Then it cools and the lights work again. When you hold the stick back for “flash to pass”, the lights are powered through a different circuit and the breaker gets a ‘rest’ which enables it to work again for a while.

Another possibility is that something in the headlight circuit is genuinely drawing too much current and causing this. You could have a defective headlight, but it’s probably the breaker.

Yep, it’s a 1992 alright! I think you have nailed it. I notice when I shut the lights off for a few minutes, they will work fine for a little while.
Thanks!
Michael

Thanks for the suggestion! This sounds exactly right. I appreciate the responses!
Michael