trans am headlight = wtf???

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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 05:32 AM
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Default trans am headlight = wtf???

extremely weird problem here guys...

all four headlights are on. the passenger side low beam is on and looks normal, the drivers side low beam as well as both high beams are on and VERY dim. the high beam indicator bulb on the dash is dimly lit. both fogs are working fine.

even stranger, when i turn on the high beams the drivers side as well as the fogs just completely shut off. high beam indicator bulb becomes fully lit. the motors were giving me a hard time and have had the fuse pulled on them in the "awake" position for quite a while now. when i tried cleaning the wire harness one of the connectors was so corroded it just snapped off but the lights themselves were fine.

thanks in advance guys.
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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 05:37 AM
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Trans am headlights = pain in the ***! Believe me, I know. As far as your problem, it sounds like wiring issues. Good Luck! There is a headlight thread, I think it's a sticky. You should check it out.
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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 05:45 AM
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the sticky on the firebird specific forum is longer than the old testament...

i look through some of it and its just the same problem over and over. "headlight grinds, but IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII think it grinds too much"

bunch of bs
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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 06:07 AM
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Get new connectors for the bulbs. 90%of the time, this is what causes your problem.
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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 07:59 AM
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I had that exact same issue. Mine was the result of the harness behind/under the passenger side headlight. I just unpluged it, sprayed some contact cleaner in both sides, cleaned them up, and plugged it back together. Haven't had the issue since..
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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 12:10 PM
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Bad/corroded connectors or a grounding issue. I'd check both.
That would cause one light to be dimmer than the other.
When you turn your highbeams on, the fog lights are supposed to turn off. It's illegal to have all the driving lights on at the same time. There's a way to disable this (many fbody owners have done this) and the right up is on here somewhere.
Here it is: https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...same-time.html
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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 02:28 PM
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if it was a ground, where am i gonna look for that. i mean i know where the connectors are but i have no idea where all that stuff gets grounded.
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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 03:41 PM
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U have grounds on your core support and on the back of your drivers side head. There are more but thats what I can think of of the top of my head
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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 03:48 PM
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Check the connectors first. As it's probably easiest to see if that's the problem. Look for corrosion. Look for melted plastic covering the little metal tabs inside the plugs. Look for corrosion/melted plastic on the headlight prongs as well.
If any of that can be seen, clean/fix, or replace.

If problem still persists, report back and we can try and help more.
The main ground I found that fixed alot of my gremlins is right in the engine bay. Unbolt, scrub it with a wire brush/sand paper, sand the little spot on the body a little, and bolt it back in, pretty snug.
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Old Jun 27, 2011 | 03:52 PM
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thanks guys. ill let you know what happens...
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Old Jun 28, 2011 | 11:55 PM
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ok, so i know a lot of people just "delete" the harness and "hot wire" the wires that go to it. is it as simple as simply cutting and crimping the wires? ive wanted to have this done but in order to try to save some bucks for what matters, go fast parts, id like to just try to do this myself.
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Old Jun 29, 2011 | 12:23 AM
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I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about.
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Old Jun 29, 2011 | 12:34 AM
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Originally Posted by scout_miller
ok, so i know a lot of people just "delete" the harness and "hot wire" the wires that go to it. is it as simple as simply cutting and crimping the wires? ive wanted to have this done but in order to try to save some bucks for what matters, go fast parts, id like to just try to do this myself.
I may have done that if cleaning, reseating, and zip tieing the harness didn't work for me.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/album.php?albumid=810

If I did that right, you should be able to see what my lights looked like with and without the high beams on. Also, a shot of what my sockets looked like before replacing them.
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Old Jun 29, 2011 | 11:13 AM
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yeah thats what my headlights are lookin like except the passengers side is working well and staying on with the high beams.

and what im talking about is wiring the wires for the headlight motor and headlights without using the harness.

also, last time i had a turn signal/ day time runner, go out the sockets looked pretty nasty. any chance that could be causing the light problem?
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Old Oct 24, 2011 | 11:02 AM
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Did you guys ever get this solved. My headlights just started doing the same thing last night -_-
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Old Oct 24, 2011 | 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Super-Bat
Bad/corroded connectors or a grounding issue. I'd check both.
That would cause one light to be dimmer than the other.
When you turn your highbeams on, the fog lights are supposed to turn off. It's illegal to have all the driving lights on at the same time. There's a way to disable this (many fbody owners have done this) and the right up is on here somewhere.
Here it is: https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...same-time.html
X2 sounds like a weak ground to me
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Old Oct 24, 2011 | 03:48 PM
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sounds like the corrosion is causeing a minor short in the connector allowing small amont of power to get to the highs when lows are on
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Old Oct 24, 2011 | 06:02 PM
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Welcome to the wonderful world of Trans Am headlights...
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Old Oct 24, 2011 | 08:52 PM
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ive seen a ton of theese connectors melt so diddo on that, dim lights is ultimately a ground issue but most likely at the connector. I wish there was a wanna be C6 headlight conversion i blame the flip ups
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Old Oct 27, 2011 | 03:28 PM
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I checked my harness and its corroded to hell on the inside. Ill try getting some cleaner see if that works.

Is it possible to delete the harness and just splice and wire them together?

Heres what they look like BTW
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