so I have already replaced my relay, and what happened this time isn't the same... I was driving with my lights on, turned on my brights for a little bit then when I turned them back off I lost my lows completely. tried manually turning the headlights on and nothing. luckily I was only a couple blocks from the house. I was able to turn my fogs on until I got home. I don't have my lows at all now, but I do have my brights... and fogs... any ideas/suggestions... I don't even know where to start.
headlights stopped working... not the relay
- Thread starter Firebalt07
- Start date
Bulbs? My SilverStar Ultras died within 25 minutes of each other. Monday I noticed my right side was out. I forgot to pick bulbs up on my way home and Tuesday morning both were out. I had to take the wife's Tahoe. New bulbs and good to go. The ultras are bright but the life is to short.
Good luck,
Walt
Good luck,
Walt
I looked there but couldn't figure out which one it was... guess I will try pulling them all and looking to find if one is bad... any other ideas?
so think I finally figured out which fuses... pulled them and they are fine... BTW I have a 05 buick rainier 4.2... so if it isn't the fuses then what?
Provided you have swapped bulbs to confirm those aren't the culprit...
Sounds like you need to purchase yourself a mutlimeter, and do some more definitive troubleshooting techniques
If your fuses appear good to the eye, you'll want to check them electrically to make sure power is even reaching them to begin with. When you said you replaced the relay, did you have someone else do it? You can try swapping relay #46 (headlights) with #45 (cooling fan) briefly to rule out that your relay hasn't gone bad again. After you have your meter, you can test the relay's sockets to make sure power is reaching that as well.
If power is reaching the relay and fuses, then I would check for power at the harness connecting to the headlight, and then at the bulb socket.
Sounds like you need to purchase yourself a mutlimeter, and do some more definitive troubleshooting techniques
If your fuses appear good to the eye, you'll want to check them electrically to make sure power is even reaching them to begin with. When you said you replaced the relay, did you have someone else do it? You can try swapping relay #46 (headlights) with #45 (cooling fan) briefly to rule out that your relay hasn't gone bad again. After you have your meter, you can test the relay's sockets to make sure power is reaching that as well.If power is reaching the relay and fuses, then I would check for power at the harness connecting to the headlight, and then at the bulb socket.
will have to try that. i replaced the relay myself. and yes i did swap the two and still nothing... i might just take it into the shop and have them do it. i work nights and dont want to drive with just my fogs...
Firebalt07 said:
Taking it to a shop is going to cost you a lot more, and they are going to go through the same steps I laid out for you. It's a good idea to own a meter anyway, if you want to be able to properly troubleshoot any sort of electrical issues yourself. You can get them pretty cheap, and you only need to watch a few minutes of Youtube videos to learn how to use them.
I've got two good meters, and 7 of the Harbor Freight cheapies now (cost from free to $3, depending on what the sale of the month is like). I keep a cheapie in each car (even my wife's), one on each floor of the house, two in the garage, and three in various portable tool boxes.
I like to NEVER wonder about the voltage on a wire.
I like to NEVER wonder about the voltage on a wire.
Firebalt07 said:
My TB did the same thing. Had bright lights but no dim. I checked the fuses and they looked good, but were not actually. Replaced the fuse and was good to go. Don't go off of eyeballing the fuse.
122sniperwf said:My TB did the same thing. Had bright lights but no dim. I checked the fuses and they looked good, but were not actually. Replaced the fuse and was good to go. Don't go off of eyeballing the fuse.
If the fuses have two metal dots on top, you can pull the fuse and use a continuity test to check their state. Any basic multimeter can do this by testing resistance, if it's 0/infinite it's bad. Anything above basic multimeters have a setting just for continuity.
Don't mean to sound like a smart ass here, but if your pulling the fuses just use the blades to test the continuity.IllogicTC said:
Actually, the holes in the plastic are to let you check for voltage when the fuse is in service. You can use both and check across the fuse for voltage (a good fuse will read 0 volts if the circuit is turned on); or use one hole at a time with the other meter lead grounded. a good fuse will read 12 volts at both holes.
