I searched and found nothing...

I am trying to solve my headlight problem. I have recently bought a 2000 maxima. I have tried to figure out what the problem is and have had no luck. The previous owner or dealer swapped in an aftermaket harness to connect to the bulb.

Here is my problem.

When the lights are "on" I have 2 wires (problem side) that have 12v. When on the other side (working side) there is only 1 wire with 12v. As you would think it should be. Then when I hit the high beam its the opposite. The problem side has one wire with 12v and the normal side has 2 wires with 12v. BUT the high beams BOTH turn on....???

So I haven't checked the obvious things like relays etc yet, but I have checked things like crossed wires, fuses etc. Since I have only spent a few hours trouble shooting this, I am looking for a wiring diagram from the factory harness on the passenger side so that I can eliminate ANY possible wiring faults before I start diving into other possible problems.

Any suggestions or help is appreciated.

My theory is possibly a bad relay. (It seems to be backwards) or possibly a bad switch somewhere.

 

Pg. 42

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/2000/el.pdf

 

Thanks!

I must not be able to read wiring diagrams...lol

Can anybody desyfer the diagrams to colour codes on the passenger side. And maybe even break it down to which which prong on the bulb they go to

IE blub is left, top, right prong and should be wired to left=? Top=? Right=?

Thanks

 

i looked at the manual, exactly what you need. you gotta read man.

 

This. You wanted a wiring diagram and I got you one. Now get to reading! It's all right there.

 

Then, DON'T mess with it!

If you don't know what are you doing, hire the services of a professional.

 

Are they the stock headlights you are trying to put back in?

Here is the deal, there should be TWO wires (on each side) that read 12V.

One is in the turn signal/parking light harness, and it is the +12V power for the parking light.

The other is the +12V Power for the H4 Lo/Hi Beam and it is in the 9003/H4 harness.

Can you post some pics of your current setup. I just did a bunch of wiring on an 01.

There are some relays on the left side of the engine compartment, but they are impossible to put in backwards. I think you have something else going on.

 

Below the wiring diagram on ec-42 that chrisman posted is a 'legend'
Youll notice 'E50', etc denoting the connector
the same 'E50' is seen in this 'legend'

That shows you the terminal designations, with the connector removed looking at the harness side.

 

Man there are some real haters here....

I am very confindent in my car servicing abilities, and have been for oh say 15 years. I have owned many cars, and serviced them all (except the huge jobs) myself.

I will admit that this is the very first time that I have had to go to a wiring diagram from information pertaining to what colour wire feeds what in my car, since most times an electrical problem is no more than bad grounds, or blown fuses or alternator or battery... I have wired in countless stereos in countless cars, and yes that is pretty easy considering a volt meter and half a brain....

I understand that a lot of the time its some punk kid on the forum thats trying to find out something that is usually simple and they are just to lazy to google it... I assure you that I am not that...

BACK TO MY PROBLEM>>>

I have looked into it a bit more and here is what happens. Turn the car on. Driver shows 12v in one wire. Passenger side shows 12v in 2 wires. I believe that this is the problem. I hit the highbeams and is shows 2 wires on drive side as 12v and only 1 wire on the passenger side as 12v???? So "obviously" it seems that some how the power to the wires is backwards on one wire. I beleive it to be the High beam wire, but I could be wrong.

Any suggestions as to were to start??? I checked all of the visible harness for obivous damage or cuts. I re did a few grounds, but they looked ok already. I double checked fuses, and wires around fuse panels etc. Everything looks good enough....

 

1. Post pictures of the setup that is on there, you said something has been changed, elaborate if you can, but at minimum, post pictures.

2. What is the actual problem, you didn't tell us? Are your low beams not working?

3. Until you figure out what terminals are what, it's all useless speculation, I need to know specifically WHICH TERMINALS have power at those situations. Saying '2 wires over on the driver side' have power then when the high beams come on only '1 wire has power' doesn't make this possible to correctly diagnose. I need to know which terminals. I explained how to check which one is which.

4. Are you testing for power with the bulbs plugged in? Or both unplugged?

 

Based on the way you spelled the word colour, are you in Canada (or have a Canadian Maxima) with the Daytime Running Lights? The DRL module could play into this.

 

I will get some pics ASAP. Mother in law drives it daily.

2. The actual problem is that when I turn the lights on, the driver side comes on (normal) and the passenger side doesnt come on at all (problem) I changed the bulb, and swapped the bulb to make sure it wasnt the bulb.

3. In terms of the terminals, I cant actually tell until I check agaisnt the wiring diagram if they are correctly wired in. Previous owners put in and aftermarket plug to the headlight bulb and then spliced (with proper connectors etc) into the factory harness.

So if I assume that the previous person wired in the lights properlly, when I switch on the lights the low beam and high beam terminals have 12v (passenger side) and the bulb is off. Where as on the drivers side, just the low beam has 12v and hence the low beams are on.

If I hit the high beams, then only the low beam terminal has 12v and the low beam turns on. (passenger side) Where as the driver side has 12v to both low and high beam and the high beam turns on.

4. I am testing for power with the bulbs unplugged.

 

Yes I am from Canada eh.

And I have no idea if the DTRL effect them at all...???

 

Unfortunately, yes. Here is a link for you to read...

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...wont-work.html

Read the problem is post # 1 and the solution in post # 9. I can't say for sure if this is your problem, but the DRL module can mess with you.

 

good catch Dennis!!!!

Supergeniousosity right thur.

You're going to have a mess of a time with a Canadian model that someone has tampered with. But The first step after posting pictures is to remove the DRL module, which is the box over by your washer reservoir. Then disassemble it and look for 'cold solders' or burnt connections. Re-solder/repair and reinstall. Then test.

 

Read the posts. Thanks for the linkage Probably check it out this weekend. Hopefully this is all the problem is. Although my second problem is that my soildering tools are burried in the garage due to having ALL of my house stuff packed into the garage because we have our house listed and need everything out of it.