1976 Town Car Headlight Questions

Hello Bill –
I purchased a 1976 Continental Town Car about 2 years ago. I am the third owner. The headlights started to give me issues in the fall. I have had two issues and am wondering if the switches are starting to fail. It had a bad voltage regulator. Just recently replaced that.
First problem. When i pull the headlight switch all the way out everything opens up and comes on, however when the lights are on in the “low beam” function i noticed the high beam bulbs have an orange glow in the center. The low beam bulbs work fine. When i click the dimmer switch to turn the high beams on, the passengers side works fine, but the drivers side high beam bulb does nothing.(not even the orange glow from the low beam position) Put the dimmer switch back to low beams and the orange glow comes back. The previous owner said he replaced the dimmer switch. If he installed the wrong switch could it cause this?
Second problem. When i push the headlight switch to shut off the lights, the switch starts clicking rapidly. The lights turn off, but the headlamp doors stay open until it stops. A few times i tried to turn the lights back on and they wouldn’t turn on!! This doesn’t happen every time i use the lights, but it is starting to happen more often and i would like to fix it before something major happens. Am i in the midst of a failing headlight switch?? I have replaced every fuse in the car.
The switches with the auto lamp and delay are up there in price (along with the correct dimmer switch to go with it) I would like an experienced opinion before i make the investment.
Thank you very much for your time.
Ben
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Hello Ben –
I understand your view on the high prices for some of these parts as they become rare and hard to find as the years go by. The situation is even worse if some issues are diagnosed incorrectly and good parts are replaced in error.
The first part of your description strongly indicates to me that a wiring problem could exist at the headlamp Ground circuit area at the front of your Lincoln. Therefore as a first step the ground circuit should be examined carefully from each of the headlights and corrected as necessary. Also look for possible non factory wiring etc. at the same time. A factory wiring diagram would be a great asset for these kinds of problems. If you have no luck with the above advice, the circuit will need to be diagnosed with the use of the wiring diagram and a 12v test light from the headlamp switch and on to the headlamps. As stated above though a good location to start is with the headlamp ground circuit. Let us know what you find out.
Sincerely,
Bill