High Beam Light Goes Out?

[kissritz]

Hey zilvians, I got a 90 coupe (pop ups). My lights works fine until i turn on my high beams, the headlight on the right (passenger) goes out? herd of this problem? - thanks

[s13 @ fullboost]

yeah man i had it.It is one of 2 problems ether your high beam is out on that side or you need a new switch i would check the head light theory first then if it doesn't work get new switch and your set =]

[kissritz]

yeah im guessing its the switch because, sometime when i play with it it will turn on and off. THanks alot

[piranhamatt]

You can take the switch apart and slightly bend the metal pins to make it work like new again. Cleaning the contact pads if they are dirty will also do the trick. Try some 1000 grit sandpaper on them, it worked for 2 switches I've played with.

[g6civcx]

Clean or replace the combo headlight switch with a new one. Search for more info.

[bo2o]

check bulbs easier to do.

switch teh bulbs if the problem transfer its the bulb. it doesnt check wireing see if its all there not choped. check fuses. then check switch.

[g6civcx]

check bulbs easier to do.

switch teh bulbs if the problem transfer its the bulb. it doesnt check wireing see if its all there not choped. then check switch.

That's all good advice, except for this:

check fuses

S13s use the same fuse for low and high beam power. So if the low beam is working and the high beam is not, you can rule out the fuse.

But go ahead and check both wires going into and out of the high beam filament. You never know.

An easy way to do this is to pull the headlight switch harness and 3-prong headlight harness.

Using a continuity tester, check for continuity between the headlight switch harness and the headlight harness. Check with the FSM to see the pin location.

Do the same with the high beam filament and ground to see if it's getting a good ground.



It would be much easier to just check the headlight switch though because 99% of the times this is the culprit. Just measure continuity between the headlight power and headlight pin. Check FSM for location. Toggle the switch to high beam and see if there's continuity.

Easier than trying to measure the entire wire length of the headlight harness.

[Jdm_of_miami]

Your car has a bad ground. Check all your grounds for the headlights, you will most likely find a coroded wire.

Good luck

[g6civcx]

Your car has a bad ground

Not necessarily. Remember that low beam and high beam filaments share the same ground wire.

If anything, I would suspect the ground wire from the high beam filament to the 3-prong harness. After the harness, it's the same ground wire going to chassis.

You should still do a quick check though. Never hurts to check ground :D

[makulit054]

check bulbs easier to do.

switch teh bulbs if the problem transfer its the bulb. it doesnt check wireing see if its all there not choped. check fuses. then check switch.
I suspect its the bulb. do what what bo2o suggest. remember there are two filaments. one for high and one for low beam. this would be easier to do since it won't require test equipment just your basic screw driver.

[brian m]

You can take the switch apart and slightly bend the metal pins to make it work like new again. Cleaning the contact pads if they are dirty will also do the trick. Try some 1000 grit sandpaper on them, it worked for 2 switches I've played with.

Just don't bend them TOO far:o. Did that, and the headlights just stayed up.

Not necessarily. Remember that low beam and high beam filaments share the same ground wire.

If anything, I would suspect the ground wire from the high beam filament to the 3-prong harness. After the harness, it's the same ground wire going to chassis.

You should still do a quick check though. Never hurts to check ground :D

I suspect its the bulb. do what what bo2o suggest. remember there are two filaments. one for high and one for low beam. this would be easier to do since it won't require test equipment just your basic screw driver.

Both good info. It's happened to me. Swapped sides for the lights and the problem stayed on the passenger side. Checked wiring, didn't get fixed. Saw info somewhere about the switch on the stalk, and it's fixed for now. Damn 18 yr old cars!!!

[Jdm_of_miami]

Post result when you find out