Headlights

[DAT510]

I'm having a issue with my headlights that's driving me insane... in the membrane.. ollz hehehe

 

Well, first the driver side headlight was brighter than the passenger, but they both work (outer beams)

Then I attached my missing high beam, on the passenger side, and the passenger side outer beam stopped working.. it was on, but very dim, and the filament was just glowing.

The highbeams weren't working at all, and i Messed with the fuses and now the passenger side inner beam, and outer beam work (high beam).

And now the driver side doesn't work (lol damn it Datto)

Basically the passenger side works fine except the inner high beam is constantly dim, (filament glowing)

Same with the inner beam on the driver side... constantly on (with lights) but dim. turning the high beam on doesn't do anything.

And the outer beam on the driver side is dim no matter what. (lights on)

 

I broke out my volt meter and got voltages at fusebox, passenger side was fine (expected) and driver side had .06 volts before fuse.

switched fuses just in case, nothings fixed.

I should mention that I swapped for another relay then this happened.

I'll switch back and see whats what.

Reason I switched:

 

None of the two relays are new.. Autozone doesn't have em, and R/A shows the relay? that bolts on core support..

[ggzilla]

Those are not stock Datsun headlight relays, at least not Datsuns I've seen. Looks like a Nissan general purpose relay (EFI, fuel pump, etc).

 

Which vehicle is it for?

[Laecaon]

Looks like the stock relay in my 510...

 

Voltage in your car is coming from the swtich via a Red/Yellow cable. But is then split in the fusebox to the 2 separate fuses. If you are getting +12 on one fuse, and only something smaller on the other, you need to check your fusebox. Like under the fusebox, make sure all connections are good. I say its at the fusebox since it is obvious you are getting +12 there, just not to both terminals.

 

The relay grounds the lights, it is normally grounding the lows, but the switch makes the relay ground the highs. Your relay may not be letting it ground the highs.

[DAT510]

[ggzilla]

It's the perfect scenario for testing voltage drops. Find out where the voltage is going.

[DAT510]

I also changed the relay to the old one (green one), it did nothing.

So the relay isn't the problem.. me thinks..

[ggzilla]

Even corrosion you can't see can cause a problem like that. But certainly if you see any rust on the connections, those are suspect. Using a voltmeter/multimeter will allow you to find it.

[DAT510]

Alrighty, I'll do that tomorrow (Hopefully) and report results tomorrow.

[DanielC]

Here is a good article on checking voltage drops.

http://www.vernco.com/Sparks/id606.htm

[MikeRL411]

Not to hijack this thread but my 240SX had problems with headlights. My son found this site

 

http://www.nicoclub.com/ (Nissan Infiniti car Owners) titled "How to fix your headlight problems". Really good pics. Worked like a charm, perhaps other makes are there, I haven't checked.

[DAT510]

Hijack away!!!

As long as it contributes to the problem, that way if someone else has this problem they could just read this.

[DAT510]

Laecaon (Jacob) Wins!!

Because of the inner beams being constantly on, the outer beam doesn't turn on all the way....

The outer beam got noticeably bright after I unplugged the inner beam.

One other thing, when turning on the high beams on the outer beam, he polarities switch...WTF.

I put the negative in the top prong, (highbeams on) and positive on the right, and my multimeter read negative..

[ggzilla]

The polarity does not switch, but they share a common pin. Put postive on the top pin and you'll see what I mean.