Hi everyone. I have a set of 2002 lights sitting at home, still waiting for some spare time to put them on. But now I seem to be having a problem with the right headlamp of the 2K lights. The lo beam does not turn on unless I go outside and give it a good hit on the headlamp assembly. Initially I thought the bulb went out, but then after taking the light out and examining it, the light was fine. But the strange thing is that the Hi beam works. So I thought I blew a fuse somewhere, so I checked all the fuses and relays. Nothing seem to be burned out. So what is causing the lo beam not turning on? Could it be the connector itself? A loose wire somewhere? Burned out Harness?
Another concern that I have is would I have problems with my 2k2 lights if I don't fix this problem now? Thanks.

 

the filment is broken.. when you hit it, the filment shakes and reconnects.. once power flows through it, even for that split second, it will stay connected until turned off.

 

yeah...

an h4 bulb has 2 filaments in it (hi and low)...you can even see 2 seperate little tiny tesla coil looking wires inside the bulb...it is very difficult to tell if one is broken but you defenitely have a burnt out filament like TimW said...just get a new bulb

 

Let me restate the problem.....the filament is fine. I even tried a different set of headlights as well. So that's the puzzling part. Could it be a faulty connector or wirings? Thanks for the input.
Need more info hehehe.

 

If the problem occurs with different bulbs and a good jolt seems to work, then it sounds like the the connector is fouled or the wire that goes into the connector is loose.

 

power is pulled from the same connection for hi/lo, so it must be ground to the low. * I still think its the bulb*

its possible that the connector is bad.. and *if* you have to hit it to get it to come on, then its likely arcing somewhere. And is likely to melt the connector, if it is arcing.

 

But the Hi beam works. That's what I don't understand. If the connector is loose, then the Hi-beam should not work, right?

 

You think the filament is fine, ok. Try swaping right and left side bulbs. Now do you have the problem on the other side? Are you running higher watt bulbs? If so they can overheat and may short at connector at bulb. One last thing...the headlamp switch is the "moving" part. If you wiggle the stock do things change?

 

There are three wires on the connector (and the bulb for that matter). I assume one for the high, one for the low, and one for ground.

 

This might be to basic and already done by you, but pop off the H4 connector and pop off the back of it. Its goopy so be prepared. GENTLY tug on each of the wires to see if anything is loose. Also look inside the "female" part of the H4 connector and see if any of them are wider (more spread out) than the others (makes loose connection).

Should the H4 connectors be loose, depending on whose diagram you use to wire up the 2k2 you will clip the end off anyway. If you go to BigDogJonx home page and look at the 2K2 install, it will mark which color wire is the power, ground for high and low per side.

This is all based on if you have already replaced the H4 bulb in your assembly. Also check the bulb itself for scortching/rust/oxidation on the bulb prongs itself. They should be very clean. But based on your previous statements I would suspect the connector first.

Let us know what the cause was and good luck!

 

Thanks for the quick response guys. I think the bulbs watttage is fine. They use the same amount of power as the stock bulbs. As for the connector, I noticed there are 3 wires, but I was not aware that one was set for the lo, one for the hi and one for ground. I thought 1 positive, 1 negative, and 1 ground. It could be that the lo beam connector may be loose, then. Thanks NYC2SD and all for the info.
If I was to install the 2k2 lights, should I fix this problem first or just forget it, since I'm goin to be getting rid of the H4 connector anyway. See the only thing I'm afraid of is the problem being beyond the connector. Somewhere hidden along the harness.

 

I would for sure get the original lamps working so if you need to claim warranty you can. Once you move to the 2K2 and still have the problem, well.... you know what happens there.

 

How long does the electrical warranty extend to? I have about 40K on my car.

 

I remember when I put in my PIAAs taht connector was really tough to get off the first time. It took 10 minutes of tugging and I actually snapped off at piece of the original H4 plug to get it off. Then there is a ton of Dielectric grease (and they expect the bulb to stay grease free..haa haa)

 

I think you are out of luck on that one....

 

I had a similar problem... I bought some aftermarket bulbs, one worked fine hi and low beam, other one at first worked fine. Then I noticed when I was driving that it was off. High beam still worked. Opened hood, pulled out wire harness with bulb attached. Took bulb out, look at it, looked ok, put bulb back in, it lit up as I was putting in then went out when it was put the whole way in. But high beam still worked. Bought new pair of bulbs, came right on, high and low beam, problem solved. I think it had a bad connecter on the back of the bulb... Hope this helps...