[paarlberg]

I had one of my headlights go out the other day. I thought I would replace it and everything would be ok. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I tried with 3 known good bulbs to make sure I wasn't crazy. I also took the suspected bad bulb and put it on the other side and it worked.

The parking light works on that side.

I got a maintenance required light about 2 weeks ago, but I would assume that is for the timing belt since it is just over 192k miles.

Any suggestions? Relay? Bad wiring?

 

[paarlberg]

Did some troubleshooting.. getting weird

Both lights work fine on high beam

Replaced fuse (under hood) for right light no change.

Replaced fuse for left light (just in case it was looking from front) no change.

I did notice that with the left side fuse removed the right light came on.

I swapped the relays (left to right, right to left) to see if the issue moved, no change.

 

[paarlberg]

The service manual shows a "Low beam cut relay" but only for Canadian models, but sounded like a place to look if I was north of the border.

 

[William Wiles]

The fuse feeds both hi and lo beam element so it would loose both. I believe your problem is in the combination light switch as in another thread recently. A little tracing with a voltmeter could isolate it.

 

[paarlberg]

Thanks

Would this apply to only 1 light, or both?

 

[paarlberg]

I just tested something else.

If I pull the relay and/or fuse for the left side, the left side goes dim and the right side works up to a dim level. If I replace the relay and fuse the left side works and the right side doesn't.

I looked at the other posts about the low beam issues. I don't think it is the same (could be) due to those being both lights not just one.

 

[Kurzweil33]

When lights start dimming as a result of other switching being done (removing a fuse is the same as opening a switch), there is usually a bad ground somewhere. You could identify the ground lead on your bulb connector (usually black or green or brown) and run a separate wire that can be touched to ground.

Check the wire with a voltmeter (lights on) first. One lead should go hot on high beam and another on low beam (probably nothing on the defective side but will do so on the working side). The remaining terminal is ground and is the one in the "middle". The good news is that such a connection can be made permanent, if it fixes it, and you're done.

 

[paarlberg]

Thanks, I will give that a shot. I have the service manual, it has the color codes in it.

 

[paarlberg]

I tested ground from the plug to the battery and it is fine. I also pulled the combination light switch and tested it as well, it was fine.

I tested the voltage at the plug across the various options and it blew the fuse. I thought maybe I had touched something together, so I replaced the fuse and tried again. Same thing.

Any suggestions?

 

[William Wiles]

What do you mean by tested? You need to use a voltmeter and check each pin to ground.

 

[paarlberg]

I licked the plug while my wife turned on the lights :tongue:

I used a voltmeter to test all of the above.

 

[William Wiles]

If using a voltmeter blows a fuse something drastic is wrong. This is a simple electrical circuit and with the correct wiring diagram should be a no brainer to trace out with a voltmeter.

 

[paarlberg]

I will pull the relays tomorrow and test them out fully. Then start testing the wiring back to the under hood fuse box, then back to the switch.

 

[paarlberg]

I blew the fuses because I was an idiot.. that is my story and the end of the story. :huh:

Didn't get a chance to test anything yet. I will try to fit it this week.

 

[paarlberg]

Ok, found the issue.. operator related short

The "known good" lights I tested with were not actually "known good". So I screwed myself on that one.

Everything tested perfectly circuit wise, so I scratched my head and decided to test the bulb with the meter.. found an open on the low beam, tested the left light and showed a short. Bought another bulb and it was fixed..