ok...so i bought new headlights today (sylvania H5006 and H5001) put them in, tested them out (high/low beams)and everything worked great. had lunch... came back out to test them again and i noticed the low beam on the drivers side wasnt as bright as the passengers side. so i go to turn the high beams on to see what would happend, and it was still the same. all of my headlight were bright except for the drivers side low beam. BUT NOW...when i turn on my headlights, both low beams are fine.but... when i turn on my high beams the drivers side low beam doesnt even work anymore!!! WHAT HAPPEND??? everything was working fine just a minute ago! someone please school me.
one more thing...just thought i would mention that before i started working on my headlights, my taillights on the drivers side seemed to be not as bright as the passengers side. ...HELP!
sounds like you may have some grounding issues. check all your grounds where they attach to the core support and make sure all your light plugs are clean
headlights I must agree. Definitely bad ground or the plugs or both. Take a small scribe and clean the female connectors and tighten the terminals by gently squeezing them closed with the scribe. all grounds must be attached to CLEAN SHINY metal. no paint, corrosion or rust and they must be tight. Good luck!!!
Headlite Issue Poor or corroded ground - definetly check and insure all the ground connections are good ! 35+ year old harnesses pick up a fair amount of corrosion over the years, check and clean all the contacts and connectors. That should eliminate the problem you describe. :TU:
I take it the problem is on your 70 Skylark? Both low beam power is feed by the same wire (light green). first to the driver's side then the passanger side. First unplug the head light look at the connections for corresion or loseness. If all looks alright, trace the ground wire (black) to the core support. Check it for tightness and or corresion. Going by memory, the low beams are feed by a light green wire while the high beams are feed by a darker green wire. The grounds on both are black.
yes the problem is on my 1970 Skylark... ok i looked at my headlight connections and the plugs seem pretty corroded. can i just change the plugs or do i have to change the whole wiring system? another thing that i noticed today was that the tabs behind the headlight which the plugs plug into on the drivers side low beam looked burnt. what now?
Corroded Connections The tabs on the lamps look burnt as there is a poor contact (from corrosion)and the current is arcing. Clean the tabs with light sandpaper/emery cloth or a mild brass brush - be careful not to break them off or loosen the prong. The connector can be cleaned by scrapping the internal contacts with a strip of paper/emery on a small screw driver or a pointed exacto knife blade. The ground contacts can be cleaned with sandpaper/emery cloth and you should replace rusted self tapping screws or bolts with new shiny ones. Make sure the area around the hole is free of rust or paint (approx. the same diameter as the ground lug) so there is a good ground contact. Sometimes running a heavy guage wire from the negative battery terminal to the chassis improves chassis ground. Ensure that engine to chassis ground straps are clean and have good contact with the firewall ! Check each wiring harness connection (starting with the headlamps) in a logical sequence so you don't miss any. Let there be lights ! :beer :TU:
hope you can clean the connections like rivman said. If you can't, you can get a new connector from Autozone, NAPA, or O'Ralleys. If you feel confortable wil electrical wiring. If it is show car then swaping the wiring harness is the other option. It's not hard, just may take about three hours and $.
Use should run a relay to power up those headlights, too much resistance in those old circuts, dimmer switch, headlight switch, wiring, ect. I installed a kit from http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/rly-1.shtml , I recomend this for any older GM car, I used it on my low beams, but you can do one for both if you want, very nice kit.
