EliTR6 Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Hi all, Spent all day moping around the house with a killer hangover. Decided to pull myself together and sort out my dodgy headlamp. The passenger side headlamp has recently stopped working, albeit not altogether. the filament glows a bit but nothing more. The drivers side one is strong enough to stick on the roof of Gotham City police station. Have tried 2 different bulbs, same problem. Could this be a bad earth? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EliTR6 Posted October 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Extra info: had relay and halogen headlamps fitted by a specialist a year ago. Battery is 6 months old and the car starts perfectly every time. Alternator was NOS and fitted 2years ago. Was working fine until a few weeks ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Edmond Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Hope you had fun getting the hangover Sometimes, one or both headlights will be dim if one of the headlights has a bad earth and is earthing itself through the other headlight. In doing so, the headlights change the wiring configuration from parallel to series. When wired in series, they each share half the voltage and glow dimly. Clean or replace the earth(s). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EliTR6 Posted October 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Hope you had fun getting the hangover Sometimes, one or both headlights will be dim if one of the headlights has a bad earth and is earthing itself through the other headlight. In doing so, the headlights change the wiring configuration from parallel to series. When wired in series, they each share half the voltage and glow dimly. Clean or replace the earth(s). Thanks Edmond! Changed the earth on the drivers side and the passenger side lamp now works. Another problem: the drivers side one always glows a lot stronger than the passenger side one. It seems to be stuck on full beam. When put on full, some of the power transfers to the other headlamp. More earth problems? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PILKIE Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 It could be that there is a fault or a short in the wiring, giving power to the high beam terminal at the same time as the dip beam on the d/side. You would need to pull the connections,plug off, to check them for power. There are 3 terminals,1 earth,2 low beam,3 high beam. You can rig up a test lamp with a indicator bulb,and some wire with a spade connector or small clip on it. Tracking down electrical faults can give you a much bigger headache than a hangover,but real satisfaction when you cure your problem!! Good hunting!! Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Edmond Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Hmmm - there must be fault / short in the wiring as Pilkie suggests. These are a curse to find - best check everything very, very closely and use a test lamp if you have one. Plus check the bulb holders to make sure bulbs are seating correctly and all spade connectors etc are tight. Ed Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BrianC Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 ..use a test lamp if you have one. Better still, use a multimeter - bulbs can be misleading, but a meter will give you a better idea of whether you have one bad earth or several. Meters are dirt cheap nowadays and can save a lot of guesswork. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EliTR6 Posted October 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Cheers guys! Guess I now know what I'm doing next weekend... groan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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