low beams not wrkin!!! AGHHHH!! HELP PLZ!!

VICSVX · #1 04-11-2009, 08:51 PM

never had problems with my cars lights till today

due to the rain i used my headlights like usual to and from town. i stop at my friends house and as i leave his house i start my car and turn my headlights on. (it was dusk). all is normal till the battery light, tail light out , and brake light on the dash stayed on. i put the car in drive and took the e-brake off to see what happens and the car seemed to drive fine with the exception of the dashh lights (and headlights probably not on with the switch on)

after driving a little way and came to a stop, the lights faded away...then i stepped on the gas and they came back! not only does steppin on the gas make those 3 lights go on, all the interior lights get brighter as well.

the hi-beams work and so does the dimmer but the low beams dont. is it the switch and short?

i checked the fuses and all are good.

2 possibles causes are:

i left my windows craked open a about 2-3inches and it rained (dont think much rain got it cause when i got in, it was pretty dry)

and the other is i put a tranny temp gauge in and tied the gauges light wire to the parkin light button, the needles power to the stereos on wire to the stereo, and the dimmer to the dimmer that leads to the stereo

any help or hints would be appricated....i need the low beams to wrk so i can get to werk on monday!

Green1995SVX · #2 04-11-2009, 08:56 PM

Do you have stock headlight bulbs?

VICSVX · #3 04-11-2009, 09:03 PM

no, i did the headlight mod....

Manarius · #4 04-11-2009, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VICSVX

no, i did the headlight mod....

HID's? I bet that your alternator is going bad and that your high beams work because they don't require the same amount of constant draw that the HID's do.

VICSVX · #5 04-11-2009, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manarius

HID's? I bet that your alternator is going bad and that your high beams work because they don't require the same amount of constant draw that the HID's do.

no not the HID, the one where u get 9005 and drill out the notch....ive had them in for almost a year with no problems

LetItSnow · #6 04-11-2009, 10:33 PM

How did you connect your wiring with the gauge? Please, don't say vampire taps...

If your high beams work OK, then your low beams' only opportunities for problems include the wiring from where the high beams and low beams meet on the positive side to the bulb, from the bulb to ground, and the bulb itself - not much!

This sounds like another voltage regulator slacking off.

kwren · #7 04-11-2009, 11:43 PM

Not exactly

Trevor · #8 04-12-2009, 07:35 AM

1. -- all is normal till the battery light, tail light out , and brake light on the dash stayed on

2. -- after driving a little way and came to a stop, the lights faded away...then i stepped on the gas and they came back! not only does steppin on the gas
make those 3 lights go on, all the interior lights get brighter as well.

3. --the hi-beams work and so does the dimmer but the low beams don't. is it the switch and short?

2. You report three trouble lights as coming on. I would have expected the steering warning lamp to be involved, rather than the tail light out lamp. Please confirm the exact configuration, as this is of special interest.

There is every chance that you have a rectifier or regulator fault within your alternator, but first check all the alternator connections and wiring.

3. If the alternator sensing circuit or voltage regulator is faulty, a high voltage may have caused the low beam lamps to fail. Check the bulbs.

The lighting positive circuit for both high and low beams, is split in two as a safety measure, with left and right separately fused and controlled by separate relays. The low beams are permanently grounded, while the high beams are switched in the negative circuit to ground, by a single relay.

As you have both high beams working, this proves that there should be positive voltage to the low beams, however these according to the manual, have a common ground, so that if this is broken the low beams would not come on. Check on the lighting ground connections.

LetItSnow · #9 04-12-2009, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwren

Not exactly

If you're inclined to contradict me, would you care to justify it? That borders on a troll post.

kwren · #10 04-12-2009, 09:10 AM

Time will tell!
I will try to look it up for you Mr LetItSmow
Have a happy Easter

Keith

VICSVX · #11 04-12-2009, 10:10 AM

ok, im about to change the bulbs to see what happens

then if that doesnt work i'll try looking at the grounds and any relay or regulator

i wired the gauge with barrel connetctors and butt splices

i veryified the dash lights and they are the: battery, stop lamp, and brake

another thing that might have somehting to do with it all is my car sometimes wont start right away....when i turn the ignition on, all i get is a "click"....i turn the igniotion on a few times witht the "click" and sometimes it'll start after a 3-4 trys and sometimes i have to pump the gas....

i'll keep this updated

VICSVX · #12 04-12-2009, 10:30 AM

ok so i took the passenger side bulbs out and they are burnt!

so now my question is why?

you think it might be somehting to do with the way i wired the gauge? ie bad ground, spiced into a bad power cable or ignition souce??

LetItSnow · #13 04-12-2009, 10:54 AM

The click thing is common. Pumping the gas shouldn't make a difference unless you've got a carburetor on there!

Check your voltage across the battery and rev the engine up. If you start heading for 15v and beyond as you reach the higher end of the tach, your voltage regulator is shot.

VICSVX · #14 04-12-2009, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LetItSnow

The click thing is common. Pumping the gas shouldn't make a difference unless you've got a carburetor on there!

Check your voltage across the battery and rev the engine up. If you start heading for 15v and beyond as you reach the higher end of the tach, your voltage regulator is shot.

ok that makes me feel better about the click...what is it exactly?

umm, ok i'll give that a whirl.

do u have any ideas about the three lights....or is that what your telling me to check for? and where is the voltage regulator

VICSVX · #15 04-12-2009, 11:53 AM

i checked the battery and all looks right untill i step on the gas....barely stepping on the gas the battery charges at 18-20v and i blew another lowbeam

im still confused on the the low beams and fog lights all burning out and the 3 dash lights(battery, stop lamp, and brake) being on and acting the way they do. they come on with the gas pressed and fade away as the car goes to idle