Headlight Problem

[merkman]

1996 chevy lumina

Left headlight No low beam.

Replaced left headlight bulb with right headlight that works.

Still no low beam.

Placed left headlight in right headlight

Low and high beam work

Are the left and right headlights fused separately?

Or do I have to dig around in the wiring?

Thanks

-Merk

[Scott K]

Sorry Merk, they arent fused separately. You could always tap a new wire in from the working low beam headlamp, to the non working headlamp. Then you dont have to cut apart any harnesses. Should be a Tan wire.

[CAMAN]

Clean the contacts and inspect them. Chevys are notorious for corrosion and short circuits in the plugs.

[Jeremy airjer W]

GM used some pretty shady splicing in those harnesses. Since the high beam works we would assume that the ground is good and that it is the power supply that is the issue.

[merkman]

First I will clean the contacts since that is the easyist, cheapest, least intrusive.

If that don't work

If I "cheat" by cutting the low beam power to the left headlight then permanently cover that power source, then tap into the power from the right headlight and splice that to the left headlight wire I previously cut; it should work.

I will make the assumption that the fuse can hold the load of both low beams since currently (excuse the pun) there are not separate fuses for each headlight and as long as I use the proper gauge of wire the splice should work as good as new.

Agree?

[CAMAN]

Cheating may be making more work for yourself. If you splice into the other headlight you will now be doubling the amps you are pulling through the wire feeding the one headlight, which may cause it to melt and create a huge mess. Unless the wiring is way oversized for what it needs (which is a huge longshot) I wouldn't attempt it. I would try and chase the short in the original wire if it's accessible.

[pureinsanity]

agree'd

[Jeremy airjer W]

Both headlamps are fed by a single tan wire that splices in the harness to the headlamps. Running a new wire from the headlamp that works to the headlamp that doesn't would be no different than running the new wire from or repairing the splice itself.

[merkman]

Both headlamps are fed by a single tan wire that splices in the harness to the headlamps.

A single tan wire of the same gauge before and after the splice?

[Jeremy airjer W]

From what I can remember pulling apart many GM headlamp harnesses they are the same gauge. If there is any doubt check the gauge of the tan wire at the HI/LOW switch. If its the same as the tan wire at the headlamp connector your good to go.

[Scott K]

A low beam headlamp will draw about 3-4 amps max. A 14 gauge wire should handle the load of 10 amps. More then likely the headlamp circuit is wired throughout with a minimum of 12 gauge. So you should be ok either way.

[merkman]

And the winner is!!!!

Clean the contacts and inspect them. Chevys are notorious for corrosion and short circuits in the plugs.

It was a tan wire I was looking for.

I cleaned the contacts and it works like a champ!!!

Thanks for all your input!!!

-Merk

[CAMAN]

Nice!! Now that you know it does it, keep an eye on it because it will happen again, especially after wet weather. I have a front right turn signal that I have to clean every month because of corrosion. It's starting to get worse now so I think I will be replacing the plug soon, since the weather is beginning to warm.

[Macgyver55]

Electrical Corrosion Preventive Grease will stop, or at the very least, delay problems from reoccuring. I use it on ANY exposed connection after a repair or bulb replacement and it also keeps trailer plug-ins working much longer too.

[merkman]

And the winner is!!!!

Clean the contacts and inspect them. Chevys are notorious for corrosion and short circuits in the plugs.

It was a tan wire I was looking for.

I cleaned the contacts and it works like a champ!!!

Thanks for all your input!!!

-Merk

[CAMAN]

Electrical Corrosion Preventive Grease will stop, or at the very least, delay problems from reoccuring. I use it on ANY exposed connection after a repair or bulb replacement and it also keeps trailer plug-ins working much longer too.

Yes, I've done that, problem is, once it has happened the resistance in the contacts gets higher and creates heat. You can clean it and get as much of the corrosion off as you can see, but there is still going to be resistance in there. The heat generated pretty much cooks the grease you put in there and it all runs out or burns up, doesn't help the turn signal is also the daytime running light so it's basically on all the time. Unless there is some high temp dielectric grease I've never seen I haven't been able to stop it. My next step is replacing the plug and bulb so everything is brand new.

[Macgyver55]

Yes, I've done that, problem is, once it has happened the resistance in the contacts gets higher and creates heat. You can clean it and get as much of the corrosion off as you can see, but there is still going to be resistance in there. The heat generated pretty much cooks the grease you put in there and it all runs out or burns up, doesn't help the turn signal is also the daytime running light so it's basically on all the time. Unless there is some high temp dielectric grease I've never seen I haven't been able to stop it. My next step is replacing the plug and bulb so everything is brand new.

A properly completed repair would have no more resistance than it normally would. If that entails replacing the connector/socket, well, thats what you have to do. I just dealt with it on my dads car and I had to replace the socket because it had melted some. The grease I use is made by "Truklite" and does a pretty good job at preventing reoccurance and I do literally hundreds of repairs a year.