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
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.)
Doug Miller wrote:
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.
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