kirzan

iTrader: (1)

I have noticed that the headlights are incredibly dim. So dim now that they put out about the same amount of light as a weak flashlight. They have the same weak output if the car is on or off. All other things like the power windows, radio, etc. work normally with the car off. They are the original bulbs as far as I can remember. Any thoughts? The car is undriveable at night. Could it be that the bulbs are just old?

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

The way the headlights work is that there is a relay for each headlight that sends 12 volts to the headlamp bulb. When you turn on the light switch, this applies ground to the head lamp bulb, causing the lamp to light up.

What seems most logical is that you have a bad ground coming to the headlight switch IF YOU HAVE A UNITED STATES CAR.

However, if you have a Canadian car, most of the above does not apply at all. The daytime running light module seems to cause lots of headlight problems due to bad solder connections in the module.

kirzan

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the suggestion! I checked all of the ground wires and visually inspected the relays and everything seems ok. My Mom and Dad noticed that one headlight was noticeably weaker than the other.

It is a US Fed spec car. I know halogen headlights lose luminosity over time, but this seems crazy. You should not be able to look directly into a headlight without going blind. lol.

The turn signal indicators, which are in the same housing and appear to run on the same wiring loop are perfectly bright. Both are new-ish bulbs. Wouldn't those appear dimmer if there was a ground problem?

Anyways ... thanks for the suggestion! If you have anything else I would love to hear those.

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

Headlights are cheap, buy a pack of decent bulbs and see if that makes a difference. I have seen headlights go bad at about the same time.

In regards to the wires, a visual inspection is not going to tell you everything. Need to move them around a little, take your socket and ratchet and remove ground points/clean them and re-install, ensure properly tightened, etc. Inspect the plugs that connect to the housing and to the bulb itself for corrosion, moisture, loose fit, and melting.

Also, how dirty/foggy are your headlight lenses?

Oh, and it would be helpful to get a voltage reading at the bulb harness, both at the housing from the headlight harness and from the plug for the bulb.

T_Behr904

My mom's Blazer had one headlight that was weak, and it turned out that it had a broken ground wire. I cut and spliced it back together, and no problems now.

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

Exactly my point, those breaks are not always visually apparent. So, being more thorough is needed. Although a pain to have these issues, they tend to be easily resolved.

Good luck OP.

T_Behr904

Yeah it took me a little time to track it down and find it, but it was a fairly easy fix. Hopefully the OP can get it resolved soon.

kirzan

iTrader: (1)

Thank you guys for your suggestions! I did both a visual inspection and a physical inspection of the grounds. Everything looked and felt okay. I did slightly loosen and then tighten the connections. No sign of corrosion.

Unfortunately, I'm in South Carolina right now and my electrical testing stuff is down in Florida. I thought what I would do is switch the lights to see if the dimmer bulb was still dim when put in the other light housing. I had a minor accident about six months ago and the passenger side headlight housing was replaced. I have always kept my headlights polished and waxed, but of course the new headlight is much, much cleared than the old one. Long story short, after switching the bulbs, the dim bulb would not come on. i checked it and one of the three prongs had literally fallen off!

I ordered some new Philips lamps on Amazon. They are Philips VisionPlus. Supposedly have a 50ft longer and 50% wider beam. Anyone have these? They got 4.3 out of 5 stars.

Thanks again. I'll let you know how the new lights turn out.

T_Behr904

You can pick up bulbs like that at any auto parts store. There was no need to order them and have to wait.

kirzan

iTrader: (1)

They were only $20 shipped on Amazon. The cheapest I found them at our local stores (I checkded Autozone, Napa, O'Reilys) was $38 plus tax. I can wait the three or four days till they arrive.

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

Just buy a cheap set to verify it is the bulbs, they would get you buy for now.