Whats wrong with my headlights?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 8
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Whats wrong with my headlights? I'm no good with electrical so I'm hoping someone can help me out.
When the low beams are on 3 of the bulbs are dimly lit while the far passenger side one works normally.
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When i put the highbeams on though both passenger side bulbs come on.
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I'm completely lost when it comes to things like this. Please help
When the low beams are on 3 of the bulbs are dimly lit while the far passenger side one works normally.
[IMG]
[/IMG]When i put the highbeams on though both passenger side bulbs come on.
[IMG]
[/IMG]I'm completely lost when it comes to things like this. Please help
When you switch all the bulbs around, nothing changes huh?
If so, sounds to me like a amps issue...
Did the car ever have sockets in the front changed, headlights, DRL's, etc? If one is the wrong type, all the headlights will function incorrectly.
I once got the wrong part number for DRL sockets when my old ones were corroded. I wired them in and they worked fine, except that my headlights then, with perfect headlight bulbs, started doing exactly what you are describing...
Something worth checking out maybe...
If so, sounds to me like a amps issue...
Did the car ever have sockets in the front changed, headlights, DRL's, etc? If one is the wrong type, all the headlights will function incorrectly.
I once got the wrong part number for DRL sockets when my old ones were corroded. I wired them in and they worked fine, except that my headlights then, with perfect headlight bulbs, started doing exactly what you are describing...
Something worth checking out maybe...
It's the connection to your headlights. Mine did the same thing. There is a large connector that is below the passenger headlight. Take the front cover of the passenger headlight off, turn them on and wiggle the big connector. You may have to slightly pull it out or push it in a little more. I guarantee that will fix it. The connectors for the headlights are known for corrosion and going to ****. I had to slightly pull mine out to get them to work properly for now until I either rewire them or replace the connector.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,329
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Specifically, it's the ground for the left side headlights. It's possible that it's the ground itself on the left side radiator mount but as Streetlegal? says, it's much more likely that it's the ground terminal in the headlight connector on the left side.
What you have are classic symptoms of a missing ground on dual filament bulbs. With the low beams on, you should only have the two outer lamps working but you have all four. This is because the left side low beam has no ground so current back flows through the high beam filament then through the left high beam lamp and finally through the right side high beam lamp to the good ground on the right side. All those extra filaments cause the lamps to light dimly while the right side low beam lights normally because it still has a good ground. When you turn on the high beams, both lamps on the right side work fine because they have their own good ground but the two left side lamps don't have a good ground and they can no longer back feed through the other side (because there's power there) so they stay off.
What you have are classic symptoms of a missing ground on dual filament bulbs. With the low beams on, you should only have the two outer lamps working but you have all four. This is because the left side low beam has no ground so current back flows through the high beam filament then through the left high beam lamp and finally through the right side high beam lamp to the good ground on the right side. All those extra filaments cause the lamps to light dimly while the right side low beam lights normally because it still has a good ground. When you turn on the high beams, both lamps on the right side work fine because they have their own good ground but the two left side lamps don't have a good ground and they can no longer back feed through the other side (because there's power there) so they stay off.
