If your dipped headlights (the full brilliance ones) don't work then the...
B
Bill Pelka
Check the ground for that lamp. Happened to me on a Toy Pick-up once... Bill
E
Edward Hayes
C
Charles "Stretch" Ledford
Hmmm...the ground, the ground... um... I reckon that's one of the three wires that connects to the bulb, right? Any idea which one, and where it should be grounded?
C
Charles "Stretch" Ledford
Hmmm...the ground, the ground... um... I reckon that's one of the three wires that connects to the bulb, right? Any idea which one, and where it should be grounded?
N
Ned Pike
To complicate things even further, Subaru headlights run on a switched-ground format. Looking at your headlight connector the power flows in through the center wire/pin, through both filaments, and out the two side wires/pins. The relays deep in the dash then switch one filament or the other to ground, thus creating the circuit. So, assuming a new bulb didn't fix things, there isn't really anything you as an average Joe can do to fix this. My guess is a flaky relay in the ground-switching system. IOW, it's dealer time.
D
Dan Duncan
Why not clean them all then?
-DanD
D
donald rarer
check the fuses
C
Charles "Stretch" Ledford
Thanks, Ned.
Just out of curiosity, why would they use something like this? Isn't it just as well to use a single ground?
B
brentlz
This is not totally bizzare, I've seen the same headlight wiring on some older Datsun's (PL-510's in particular).
What is really odd is the way FHI chose to wire the dash lighting: Basically, the "ground" is a constant +12V and the "hot" varies through
0V, +3V, +6V, +9V, and +12V, effectively giving 12V, 9V, 6V, 3V, 0V to the gauge lights, which progressively dims the dash lighting. Makes it real tough to get aftermarket gauges that share a common ground between the sending unit & gauge lighting to work properly... As to why they did it this way, who knows?
Brent.
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