THANK YOU ALL!!
As dumb as it sounds, my <-6 month old Sylvania Halogen lows burned out, I replaced them



All,
So a few months back I was having issues with power dropping from my car. I would hit the brakes and the stereo would cut out. This would happen with the headlights on mostly so I figured I either needed a new battery or alternator ( I wanted a higher amp'd one anyhow). I purchase a CS-144 and I still had issues. So I buy a battery because the battery that was in it just wouldn't hold a charge. I figured I was drawing too much juice so I went ahead and bought NeverNights harnesses from Speed Direct. Things were better but only for a bit.

Then I noticed I was draining my battery. I was draining it but my alt wasn't charging it. At least not enough, I started really trying to figure out my issue. I was finding that even though I had 330 Ohms of resistance on the Alternator sense wire it just wouldn't charge my battery it was constantly 12.3 volts. At this point I had pulled a few fuses to reduce the load, I removed the aftermarket stereo as well. I went back to the old 10si alternator and voila, I'm charging again, I didn't readd my fuses since I didn't really need them (courtesy light, radio, clock) however since I put the old alternator back in my low beams stopped working. (I was getting the battery charging and everything else powered up nicely)

My headlights used to work fine, however, now I got no low's, I've got Hi beams and all the other lights still work, tail lights, reverse lights turn signals, and brake lights. So I disconnected the NeverNights kit and went back to stock on just the driver side low beam, still no low, and only high beam. I did a bit of searching and I have read other peoples issue they fix the problem but one said it was the ground (i never touched my ground or moved it) I did read someone had stated to check if the Brights indicator came on when the brights is on, and it does.

Could someone point me in the right direction (hopefully not to a local mechanic) I used to work on electronics, but was never really great with car electrical for some reason (even though every one states its easy)

BTW the headlights are relatively new, I bought them a few months back, even swapped the driver and passenger low/hi to make sure 1 didn't just go out.


Swift
Thanks in advance!

 

More than likely, the grounding cables on your car are in bad condition and/or missing. The main ones to be concerned about are the main ground cable from battery to frame [which is just below the battery box on the underside of the frame] and the engine grounding cable [which runs from the starter motor and over to a bolt on the right side motor mount]. The alternator has a grounding lug on its backside, and that wire needs to be solidly connected to a ground point (very low or no resistance to ground when checked with an ohmmeter).

You should remove all end connections to battery cables and grounding cables, clean them and make sure the connections to the cable terminals are good. Then repair/replace them or reinstall them on the car [if still servicible]. Hope that solves your problems.

 

Before I removed my CS144 everything was working except the chargin portion, now that I put my 10si back in the charging is back working however just my low beams don't work. I haven't touched my grounds but i'll take a look at them when i get home tonight.

Any other takers on things I should look at while I'm down there? Anyone know if the headlight sensors matter? The ones that lights up the idiot light telling you the headlights are on? Mine broke at some point in the last couple of months. So i Just disconnected them.

 

Bad dimmer switch??

 

The Vette electical system is the hardest of all cars due to the amount of fiberglass used instead of sheet metal. I believe the 75 has anywhere from 50 to 100 Ground wires positioned all around the frame...I stopped counting at 50.

That idiot light for the headlights doesn't tell you that the headlights are on...it tells you that the headlights are on AND the headlight buckets are not in the up position.

You need to start with the right documentation. Get a Haynes repair manual and an Assembly And Repair (AIM) manual. With those two you will be able to do a proper diagnosis and figure out what you need to fix.

 

..... interesting, the idiot light always came on when i turned the lights on but what you said is most likely true because my sensor (switches) for the headlights were in terrible condition they probably weren't working like they should.

Can anyone explain the circuit path the headlights are in? Mind you I have the Nevernights kit from Speed Direct. It includes relays I cleaned the ground for that kits and look at the alt/engine ground. Tonight I'll be looking at the other main grounds i missed last night. I think today I'm just gonna buy some new low beams to sure its not just those. One thing I did notice was that I could hear the relay click when I turned the high beams on but not when the low beams were on, I suppose it could be those too but maybe its the signal to the relays.

 

Pull your headlight switch and inspect the condition of the body. When I pulled mine, the ceramic surrounding the dimmer was completely smashed and burnt. Honestly, it's kind of a miracle that it hadn't already started a fire.

 

its been fixed by replacing the low beams... not sure if they are supposed to burn out earlier than 6months but thats what happened.

once again thank you all

I guess occam can punch me in the leg and give me a charlie horse..... sometimes it really is the simplest solution