1996 saturn sl

I'm having a headlight problem with my daughters saturn..The right side
headlight low beam would not come on..bought new one..still same (high beam
OK) tested both old and new on left side and both work..
I looked trhough chiltons and found nothing to help me....

Then yesterday my daughter calls and tells me her boyfriends friend went and
wired the left light to the right and now the lights are very dull...anybody
have any clues?????
thank you

 

1. Undo whatever your daughter's boyfriend's friend did.
2. Don't let that clown within ten yards of her car again.
3. Check for corrosion in the right-side headlight connector.
4. If that looks ok, trace the wiring to the right-side headlight. There's
probably a break in the insulation somewhere, allowing the wire to ground
against the frame.

 

thanks for the reply..I undid what he had done..but lights still dull..
will follow wiring back to check..do u know of anything (besides fuse block)
that could cause this?????

 

Did you find corrosion at the connector?

 

Apparently you haven't undone *all* of it, if both lights are dull, since only
*one* light was dull before he monkeyed around with it.

Poor connection to ground would do that too. Trace the wires, and look for
faults. I'm betting you have a corroded connection somewhere -- something has
a high-resistance connection to ground. This could be either a hot wire that's
not supposed to be grounded (but is, partly) or a ground wire that is supposed
to be grounded (but isn't, partly).

 

Two thing it sounds like are going on here. If you have a volt meter
check you voltage on both lights, I think you'll find that the left one
is at 0V and the right one will show 12V.

Now, Igotta tell you before we start that I am doing thisone completely
from memory of a fuse panel layout that I don't have in front of me so
it may not be worth anything.

I think that Saturn from 96-2000 had a seperate relay for each side of
the head lamps(R & L). If so the wiring or relay may not have been
strong enought to support both lights. Check the relays first after you
check the connectors for corrosion(which I don't think you'll find.)

 

That's not consistent with the reported observation that both lights are dim.

 

True, however it was not completely clear whether it was one light dim
and one light out now or both lights dim. I was thinking this vehicle
had a relay for the lights that was separate for right and left. I
looked at a buddies 99 sl-2 this morning for a minute or two and did
not see the relays where I thought they should be. I believe I am wrong
about there being separate relays (in fact, I did not see any relays
for the lights except a DRL relay).

Anyway, here is how I would troubleshoot.
While the lights are actually burning and the car is running.

1) FIRST!!! Check the voltage at the battery under the same
circumstances to verify the proper voltage is being supplied (At least
12 Volts while the car is running prefer 13 or better) (if not you need
to repair the alternator first)

2) Check the voltage at the back of the bulb with a meter (connect the
meter to a separate ground not to the light ground). Based on the
observations there, do one of two things.....

******If the meter shows 12V or better at the light (with car running
and light bulbs burning)

3) check your resistance from bulb to ground next and proceed from
there to repair either a faulty ground, or a bad bulb.


*****If the meter shows less than 12V (with car running and light bulbs
burning).....
Then we have a problem with the supplied voltage follow these steps.

3) Check the voltage on both sides of the fuse, then do some wire
tracing and check the voltage at various points. Somewhere. along the
line your voltage will drop big time from the 12V plus you see at the
battery to the significantly less than 12 volts you see at the back of
the bulb. When it does, your problem lies between the 2 points.

If you get down to wire tracing you'll find it easier to take the car
to a competant automotive electric specialist or your local mechanic as
they will have the tools to better trace the wiring.