rsmrsm

Hi, I have a 2000 Maxima, left low beam headlight was intermittent, then would not turn on at all. I replaced it (not that easy BTW), and it still would not turn on. Swapped fuses with right headlight, no change (right light was fine). Tested old bulb hooked up directly to a battery and it was actually fine for both low and high beam.

So, the fuse is fine, and the bulb is fine, but it won't trurn on. I also checked and there was 12V only on one of the three contacts when the lights were on.

It seems that the 12V are being lost on the wiring somewhere.

Would anyone have any suggestions that does not involve taking the car to the dealer for them to fix the wires at a cost of hundreds of $?

Thanks.

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

If you're getting 12V on one of the three contacts, that is correct. The other is ground, and the other is for your high beam. If you hit high beam, that original 12v will go away and the other will show 12v.

Sounds like an issue with the contacts your harness is making with the bulb.

rsmrsm

I get 12V when in high-beam only. I do not see any voltage when in low beam. Now those contacts are full of a yellowish grease (on both headlights), but that seems normal. I cleaned some of it out, no difference.

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Ah, that changes things.

Did you check fuses under the hood too? You're simply not getting power.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

If nothing there, also check for power while moving the engine room harness around, there could be a break in the wiring somewhere.

rsmrsm

Thanks. Which other fuses should I check? I swapped the right headlight with the left headlight fuses (headlights 1 and 2, under the hood) and the problem remained identical, so it's not those two fuses.

BTW, I am not sure but those fuses may be double fuses (for low and high beams), so maybe it was possible that only low beam was blown (since high beam is fine), but since I swapped left and right fuses and it makes no difference then those fuses seem ok.

anomaly117

iTrader: (3)

theres no such thing as a double fuse. one fuse will monitor high and low beam on the headlight circuit. if the fuse isnt popped, its fine. a fuse either works or doesnt; they dont hiccup. it sounds like a break in a wire somewhere.

now did you have aftermarket bulbs in when ur lowbeams started working? i.e. higher wattage bulbs? if so you more than likely burnt out the harness

rsmrsm

Thanks a lot. The bulbs were original! First tiem one goes (car has about 55,000 miles). The new one which I just put in today (needlessly) is an aftermarket yes, but a regular halogen one, not one of the fancy extra bright ones.

So if it is the wire, any ideas on how to fix this at low cost? Is there an easy way to correct this without the dealer replacing the entire multiwire $$$ harness?

Brianm0121

check the fuses

unrealii

iTrader: (8)

That grease on the headlight plugs is normal. Prevents moisture and corrosion. No need to clean it off unless it is holding dirt and preventing proper contact.

When headlights are on, or the switch is in an "on" position for either high or lows, 12v is supplied. Depending on which light should be on, ground is supplied as well. Read my post here:
http://forums.maxima.org/6895072-post84.html (click on the 1st image in the post)
and make sure each terminal is working correctly. According to the nissan wiring diagram, ground is supplied through the lighting switch.

rsmrsm

Fuses are fine. I swapped the left and right fuses and the behavior is identical, right lamps works for both high and low beam, left only works for high beam.

As far as I can tell, a single fuse controls both high and low beam on each side, so fuses are fine indeed.

Most puzzling!

rsmrsm

Thanks a lot realii, that explains the voltages I was seeing. I will recheck this PM to make sure. The thing is, with so much grease there it's hard to tell whether the voltmeter has a good contact if it does not see any voltage.

As I said earlier too, that low beam light had been intermittent a couple of months back. I have given the plug and wires a good shake-twist with no results. I am thinking on splicing the wire just before the plug to make sure I have a good contact.

unrealii

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, clean up the plug if there is too much grease. You may be able to dissassemble it by unclipping the sides versus splicing it.

I was able to get my multimeter probes to stick in the plug and have the multimeter by my driver's door when I was testing the voltages a few weeks back. Maybe try jiggling the headlight switch.

Also, have you checked your relays? I say check and make sure the +12v is being supplied then check the grounds.

rsmrsm

Thanks again. I swapped the relays too, made no difference, but did not measure voltages there. Will do in the afternoon when it get is a little warmer here.

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

When you tested the bulb, are you sure you tested both the high and low beam? I'm beginning to think its the bulb. The filament could be ever so slightly still connected, and when you hooked it up directly to the battery it could have been making contact at that point, but no contact when actually plugged in.

rsmrsm

Yes I tested both high and low beams connected to an external battery (those things are really bright!). I am going to rerun all tests and using both the old bulb and the new one. Right one the car has the new bulb in (which I never tested, but I know for sure that the old one works fine).

Thank you.

rsmrsm

Here are the results. My problem is with the left side.

With lights on, measured at the left lamp plug: only high beam is grounded when high beam is turned on, the low beam terminal appears floating, as in it is never grounded.

Right side headlight is ok, both high and low beam appear grounded when low or high beam are on respectively.

So this seems to confirm there is no signal reaching the left low beam connector.


As for the relays, took all measurements:

1, lights off: http://nexalogic.googlepages.com/p1.jpg

2. lights on, low beam, relay terminal voltages measured re. GND: http://nexalogic.googlepages.com/p2.jpg

3. lights on, low beam, measured re. 12V relay terminal:
http://nexalogic.googlepages.com/p3.jpg

4. lights on, high beam, measured re. 12V relay terminal: http://nexalogic.googlepages.com/p4.jpg


I am not sure what to make of it. There is a difference between the two lights (left and right) when in high beam only, which makes no sense, as both high-beam work fine. This was checked twice!

Also, plugged in old bulb, and it behaves exactly the same as the newly installed bulb (only high beam works on both).

Thanks for any ideas!

unrealii

iTrader: (8)

When you say floating, does it the terminal on the plug seem loose? Maybe try to disassemble the headlight plug and see if the wire is making poor contact with the terminal.

The high beam indicator light on your dash is wired to the left side. That could be responsible for the difference.

rsmrsm

No, sorry, I meant floating as in "open". Voltage there was not zero volts with low beam on.

I interpret the 11.7V as "open". I think voltages should be either 12V+ or 0V.

Something else: there are three wires leaving the left light relay, they are pink, pink and red (red is a thick wire, likely connected to the two +12VDC terminals of the relay).

Now the wires reaching the left lamp bulb are... yellow, green and pink. Somewhere in the middle, between the relay and the lamp, there is something else. ?? I thought about connecting a wire directly between the relay and the lamp connector, if I knew which wire it is! Does anyone have a schematic by any chance?

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

11.7VDC is hardly 'open', there's likely just a large amount of resistance in the connection somewhere.

No schematics, but you can find wiring diagrams in the headlight section of EL.

rsmrsm

I don't know why the 11.7V shows up vs 12.1V, but the point is, the light is 'on' only when that terminal is grounded, that is, close to 0V (the other terminal is at 12V+ when the light switch is on, therefore giving the 12V difference).

Thanks. I have downloaded the EL manual.

rsmrsm

EL manual page 37/38 schematics shows that the relays only control the 12V going to the lamps, either high beam or low beam makes no difference. So the relays won't help me at all.

The control wires to either high or low beam (one wire for each, 4 wires in total for both headlights) comes from the light switch itself (the one on the steering wheel). According to the manual its the G/Y wire that is the one (is G/Y green/yellow?). I will have to check tomorrow that this is the one that controls the low beam at the lamp bulb.

Anyway, this won't help me much if this wire is bust! I won't dissassemble that steering wheel switch.

I thought about connecting the low beam wire from the righthand headlight to the left one... Problem is, double the current will flow on that control wire to the light swith. Each headlight current still runs over its own relay for the 12VDC (thus current), but it's the connection to ground that will flow over one wire.

This is not good...

I found the diagnostic procedure for my problem... http://nexalogic.googlepages.com/p-repair.jpg

I know it is not no.1.. :-(

BTW, schematic shows that it is the right hand headlight that controls the highbeam light on the dashboard.

unrealii

iTrader: (8)

You dont need to disassemble the switch. You need to find the other end of that wire and make sure there are no breaks. If there are no breaks, you probably have a bad switch. Try jiggling it as I mentioned in post #10. One thing I'm not sure about is where the alarm system intercepts the high beams because it will flash them if the alarm is set off.

There's a way you can band aid this but I dont recommend it. If cut the wire on the harness plug for the low beam ground. Seal off the end from the harness. Take the bulb side and ground that to the chassis. Your low beam will come on when either low or highs are on. Your car may not pass inspection and I am not sure of the electrical load on the system if you keep your high beams on for extended periods of time. All I know is that this is the way that most of us with 00/01 have wired the HIDS from 02/03.

rsmrsm

Thanks realii. I had thought about the band-aid solution (having the low beams grounded all the time)! Doesn't the fuse blow when both high and low beams are on at the same time? The bulb would get awfully hot too.
Anyway, it's not a concern normally as I never use the high beams. I supposed I could cut the high beam wire so it does not turn on ever.

Or I could run wires for both high and low beams and go back 30 years and have a manual switch inside! :-)

As for both lights being on, you'd think it would pass a safety inspection! Lots of light there :-)



I'll try to check on that wire near the switch first, I don't think this will be easy to locate, or do. Not too optimistic. This will take time.


Thanks for all the help.

Question: if the wire is indeed broken, how does the dealer fix it?

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

If a wire is broken, just run another one. Why pay the dealer? They'd try to charge you hundreds of dollars to replace your entire harness.

I have a spare light stalk if you want it. For a 5.0gen. It doesn't have a fog light switch though.

rsmrsm

Thanks for the offer. If I can run a new wire in there I will for sure, I am just not too optimistic, it's cramped and I am not even sure I can locate the right wire inside the cabin. I would not take the car to a dealer if they will replace the whole wiring harness. Imagine the cost of that.

I thought I had a $10 problem!

unrealii

iTrader: (8)

I'd put my money on the switch. Go find one at a salvage yard or (www.car-part.com). The EL manual gives you the pins and pictures of every plug. You shouldn't have a hard time finding the end of the wire if it is indeed plugged directly to the headlight switch. Just be careful while working near the airbag.

fflint_18

For the last couple weeks someone has been parting out an 03. You might want to go to the classified section for 5th gens and send the guy a PM and see if he still has the part.

What have you got to lose.

rsmrsm

Here's something else I just noticed by cheer luck. Both daylights lights work fine!
So I have both high-beam working fine, and both daylight ligths working fine, and only the right low-beam working.

Now I need to figure out which wire controls the daylight. If it is the same as low beam, then that rules out that the wire is the cause. Back to checking the EL manual.

[EDIT]: Nope, daytime lights use the high-beams at half intensity. :-(

And something else: my high-beams never stay locked/toggled on. I can pull the light stick back, they turn on while I am holding the stick back, but they don't lock on. I thought they would toggle high beam-low beam. Like I said, I never used high-beams, but that's the way my other cars worked.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

So nothing happens when you push the headlight stalk forward? Pulling back is for flash to pass, not constant high beam.

rsmrsm

You are correct, pushing forward it works. Amazing... never did that. Never mind :-)

montreal kid1234

i have the same problem with mine and my garage said it would take them hours to find out where the problem is , so i quickly got out of there and went home to work on it. what i did was i shared 1 wire to the right head lamp and fished it to the left so its chairng the same power as the right it works pretty good as a easy fix right now but its not as bright on the low beems the high beems are fine though

rsmrsm

Thank you montrealkid. It is definitely an option at this point, what a nuisance. Yeah, I figure if I took it to a shop they would charge at least 1 hour just for diagnostic.

Has anyone removed the light switch off the steering wheel? Is it as easy as removing the two screws for the bottom cover of the steering wheel, one on each side? Other than the airbag, is there anything else to be really careful with there?

gordonych

I have the same problem with my 4th gen. It's the DRL module having problem. I disconnect one of the plug with DRL, no more DRL but low beam now works without problem.

rsmrsm

gordon, that's interesting, exactly what did you disconnect of the DRL?

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Removing the light stalk is cake. There aren't even any harnesses to disconnect, it just slides out because it has its on pins/contacts that make connection with the steering column.

I remember there is an OEM fog light kit that comes with the two OEM fog housings, the relays, and replacement light stalk. The part number for it is: (Part #B61E0-5Y700). The key is that it also comes with instructions for replacing the stalk.

What I'd do is call Dave B and see if he can fax or email you a copy of the directions in that kit. At the very least it will tell you how to remove the light stalk.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

All you have to do is remove the screws around the steering column trim, then remove the 2 screws holding the headlight stalk in place.

gordonych

There are 2 plugs that go to the DRL module, which is right behind the passenger side headlight. I unplug one of the plug, DRL is gone but passenger side low beam stays on rather then going off at random.

MaxiMe

I had similar problem with my headlight. Checked the combination switch - no problem! Checked all wiring - no problem. To keep this story short, I opened the DRL module and check the DRL module circuit board. Sure enough, I needed to re-solder some jumpers on the circuit board. Once you removed the circuit board from the DRL module box, the jumpers that need to be fixed are quite obvious. I spent weeks looking for a solution on this problem. I hope this can solve your problem on the headlight too!

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Where is the DRL module?