Could a stop light switch cause a dead short. I put a headlight relay on many years ago. I just had the car worked on recently to replace a head gasket and now I have several things that seem different. Last night I had it out after dark and when I came home to put the car away my wife was opening the door, I stepped on the brakes and it almost killed the head lights, hit it again seemed OK, hit it the third time done the same as the first time and had the relay really clicking. Second item is when I do shifting of the transmission with vacuum shift reverse and second seem normal, first and third seem quite stiff (like no vacuum assist). Third item is the car really surges while driving, runs nicely when accelerating but when basically just cruising is when is acts up. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.