1997 Cavalier Headlights/Low Beam

Hi. Hoping some of the experts can help out a newbie to the group. My wife owns a '97 Cavalier Sedan. Me, being a Ford guy, I really don't have alot of knowledge of any Chev cars, nor do I care for them that much :-) . Although when it comes to wiring and electronics on most vehicles, usually I can figure out what I am looking for and I am quite mechanically inclined. I'm hoping someone may be able to shed some light on what I thought was just a burned out headlight bulb.

The other night, I noticed the right side low beam lamp was out, so the next day I picked up a new bulb, figuring the old one had blown out. Much to my suprise when I changed the bulb, the low beam is still not working. I tested the low beam plug, there is no power. Because it was getting dark, I didn't get much time to check out the wiring, but from what I could see, there was no damage. All the other lights on the car are working normally, and as far as I can remember, the lights were working OK up until I noticed the right low beam not working on Saturday.

So I glanced at the Haynes manual and I see that there is a fuse for each headlight. I have not checked the fuses yet, because my wife just left about 20 minutes ago for work. However, she drives with someone else, meaning her car is sitting in town. I want to go in and pick it up so I can investigate a bit further, if anyone can point out other problem areas besides the fuses, it would be a help. Do the fuses protect the high or low beam circuits, or both? Are they located in the fuse panel inside the car, or under the hood in the distribution box?

Any help and replies are appreciated, thanks in advance. Sharky

Reply to
Sharky
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Don't have the 97 manual but have a 96. In it there is a separate fuse for left and right lights. If the high beam is working there is nothing in my wiring diagram other than the wiring to cause only the low beam to fail, check for a chewed cable harness possibly by a rat...

Reply to
Woody

Checked both fuses, they are OK. Going to go back out and see if I can find where the bulb grounds and retest it with a test light. Does anybody know where the Daytime Running Light module is located? If I can find it, I will test the low-beam wire coming into and out of it for power with the low beams on.

I have a really bad feeling this is either going to turn into a long search for a broken wire, or an expensive trip to the dealer.

Sharky

Reply to
Sharky

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