Headlight Troubles (weird...)
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
Headlight Troubles (weird...)
So I put HIDs in my headlights and fog-lights last night. Did the headlights first, everything went smoothly. After I did that, the fog-lights wouldn't come on, so I realized I had to ground the high-beam wire since I no longer have a high-beam filament. Did that, installed the HID fogs, and turned on all 4 for the 10-minute burn-in period. Everything went smoothly. Then I turn off all the lights, and turn them back on. The fog-lights don't work now.
None of the amber lights on the front of the car come on in any switch position. Nor do the taillights. I checked all the fuses, and nothing is blown. The headlights still work fine.
Also, something funky is happening with the physical headlight switch. It won't go completely to the 'off' position. When you turn it all the way to the left (counter-clock-wise), the headlights rotate down, but you can tell it isn't quite all the way to the position it should be (the switch, that is, not the lights), and there's no tactile feedback like there should be of it 'slotting' into position.
HELP
Thanks,
Justin
None of the amber lights on the front of the car come on in any switch position. Nor do the taillights. I checked all the fuses, and nothing is blown. The headlights still work fine.
Also, something funky is happening with the physical headlight switch. It won't go completely to the 'off' position. When you turn it all the way to the left (counter-clock-wise), the headlights rotate down, but you can tell it isn't quite all the way to the position it should be (the switch, that is, not the lights), and there's no tactile feedback like there should be of it 'slotting' into position.
HELP
Thanks,
Justin
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
Also, I'm not sure if this is related or not, but the last couple of weeks I have had an intermittent problem with the cluster lights not illuminating when I turn the headlights on. They would always illuminate with the signal/fog lights, but then turn off when I went to full headlights. A few tries and they would always turn on and stay on. The dash lights now don't come on at all.
Also, the headlight-switch weirdness started when the fog-lights wouldn't come on, not before.
Also, the headlight-switch weirdness started when the fog-lights wouldn't come on, not before.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 792
Likes: 16
From: Austin Tx
Looking at the wiring diagram I don't see any relays for the headlights. I would check the grounds for the the headlights and also pull the switch and make sure it isn't melted or shorted from carrying the load of the lights. Just a place to start.
Dave
Dave
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
Addendum: the tail lights don't even work when the headlights are on. (no lights turn on other than the actual headlights). However, they still work with the brake pedal. Also, all lights work with the turn signals as normal.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
The fog light and the parking lights have their own switch contacts on the headlight switch, separate from headlight contacts. Turning the headlight switch full CCW should only turn on the courtesy lights. The fact that you have lost the detent feel and cannot reach full off, I would suspect a defective headlight switch. When you install different headlights that likely draw much more current than the OEM headlights, you should not expect the OEM headlight switch to handle the increase in current. Increased current makes the switch warmer which can soften the plastic body and damage the switch. It is no different than installing a 2000 hp engine but still use the original driveline components and then become surprised that the transmission and differential blew up.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
That all sounds reasonable. I wasn't concerned about the switch, since several other people have gone to HID's (even both sets like I am) with no problems. Other than buying a new switch and hoping mine was either defective or on its last leg already, any suggestions?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
A new headlight switch is a reasonable cost experiment, but if the new switch soon fails, then I would install a relay (whose contacts are rated for the lamp) at each new lamp you installed that draws more current than OEM. The headlight switch then switches power ONLY to the remote relay coil/s. A separate 12v fused wire would need to be run to the relay that supplies power to the new lamp/s.
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