Rewiring headlight harness?
08-22-2017, 12:31 PM
#1
Rewiring headlight harness? Hey guys. I have an 01 Trans Am that I replaced the headlight gears a few months back and everything has worked fine since then. My bright headlight stopped working on the passenger side and I traced it to a bad connection in the harness/connection. I was told you can just cut them and splice them together with butt connectors. I did that and the everything works fine except the headlights stay in the up position. I disconnected the battery and took the linkage off the motor and re-connected the battery. The headlight motor stays running until I disconnect the battery.
Should I have not done it this way? Did I not hook up the correct wires together? I am 99% sure I hooked up each wire that was across from it in the connectors. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.
Should I have not done it this way? Did I not hook up the correct wires together? I am 99% sure I hooked up each wire that was across from it in the connectors. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.
08-23-2017, 06:44 AM
#2
This is a very common problem. I assume that you had corroded terminals in the connector. Did you bypass the connector entirely, when you did the butt splice?
The motor should not run continuously. There is a timer circuit in the headlight module that cuts that action off. So, if the motor is running continuously, I would guess that you have the motor re-wired to constant power (like the headlight power) and not the proper motor power feed wire.
In the connector, coming to the motor, there is a common ground for the headlight bulbs, power for the low beams, power for the high beams, and two wires for the head light motor. (If you log on to Autozone.com and register, you can access the car's electrical schematic and match the wire colors.)
The two wires for the motor reverse when the motor controller signals up or down, so if the wiring is crossed the motor is only going to go one way and it would keep running if it has a constant source of power.
The motor should not run continuously. There is a timer circuit in the headlight module that cuts that action off. So, if the motor is running continuously, I would guess that you have the motor re-wired to constant power (like the headlight power) and not the proper motor power feed wire.
In the connector, coming to the motor, there is a common ground for the headlight bulbs, power for the low beams, power for the high beams, and two wires for the head light motor. (If you log on to Autozone.com and register, you can access the car's electrical schematic and match the wire colors.)
The two wires for the motor reverse when the motor controller signals up or down, so if the wiring is crossed the motor is only going to go one way and it would keep running if it has a constant source of power.
08-28-2017, 04:05 PM
#3
Okay, The old motor stopped working it just stayed in the down position. It did feel hot to the touch a couple times. I figured it burned itself out so I replaced the motor today thinking that was the problem but it just stays in the down position or up position depending on where I put it manually. The drivers side goes up and down like it should. On the pass side I connected the light blue wire to the red wire that goes to the motor and dark blue to the black wire that also goes to the motor. The light blue wire has constant power whether the headlight switch is turned off or on, which matches the drivers side light green wire.
I am lost. It looks to me like every wire is hooked up correctly and has power going to the motor. Could it be the headlight control module not sensing the correct load so in turn not moving the motor?
I am lost. It looks to me like every wire is hooked up correctly and has power going to the motor. Could it be the headlight control module not sensing the correct load so in turn not moving the motor?
08-28-2017, 04:26 PM
#4
So I pulled the control module out just to check the connections and it def smells like something electrical cooked inside. I will order one from ebay and go from there. I cant recall if both headlights where in the same position when I hooked up the battery so do you think that could have caused it?
08-28-2017, 05:15 PM
#5
Start reading at post 1838: https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-f...o-here-46.html
The two wires reverse polarity when the lights are supposed to go up or down. If they aren't doing that at the connector, then you could have some of the motor controller problems discussed later in the thread.
The two wires reverse polarity when the lights are supposed to go up or down. If they aren't doing that at the connector, then you could have some of the motor controller problems discussed later in the thread.
08-28-2017, 08:13 PM
#6
Thank you for showing me that. I took my HCM apart and the solder all looked good n the back side. Looking at the front side there are two little boxes on opposite sides of the board. One looks like it is cooked. I don't know if this is accurate or not but looking at it one might control the driver side and one might go to the passenger side.
I ordered a new/used one and hopefully its here by Saturday.
Could having one head light up and the other down have caused this?
I ordered a new/used one and hopefully its here by Saturday.
Could having one head light up and the other down have caused this?