If I install a toggle switch to control my headlights, will my car pass inspection?

Background:
My car failed inspection because the right high beam won't turn on. Replacing the bulb and the socket did not fix it. Switching the two bulbs doesn't change operation: left side is still fine and right side high beam still won't come on, so the bulbs are ok. Checking the sockets with a voltmeter seems to indicate everything's ok: 12V on the middle wire with low beams on, and 12V on the right wire with high beams on.

Jumping the connections to the headlight switch in the steering column with a wire, I am able to turn all headlights on - this seems to indicate the switch is f@#ked. I checked the resistance between contacts on the switch after pulling it out of the car, and I get <1 Ohm for the left high beam and ~90 Ohms for the right high beam. I'm trying to pull the switch apart now to clean it, but this might break it. New switches are $50-80, and used ones are $30, so I'd like to temporarily replace it with a toggle switch if I can't fix this one. I'd also like to pass inspection ASAP, b/c I'm 2 months overdue.

2/10/2007 6:15:30 PM

As long as you can turn on the lows and highs, it should pass.
Give me a call.

2/10/2007 6:59:11 PM

yeah, it doesnt matter what it looks like inside.

your highs, lows, parking, and turn signals need to work (in the front of the car).

hell you can rig a button for each light and have 50 buttons in your car and as long as they turn on, you good to go

2/10/2007 7:52:33 PM

^yep

there's nowhere in the code that says things have to be operated by the factory switches/methods. just as long as they work.

2/10/2007 7:54:25 PM

Fixed it.

Thanks for the replies, I will try out toggle switches if this breaks again.

Here's what the switch looks like on the inside:

Contact cleaner didn't help. The copper thing on the left is the one for the right side high beam. I had to bend that down with the switch on. Sometime in the last 14 years / 183000 miles it had bent a little out of shape.

2/10/2007 8:14:28 PM