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Headlight Harness Loses Power When Bulb Is In

Timtim123

By Timtim123,
in General Maintenance

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Timtim123 Explorer

Timtim123

Posted
Posted

I have a 90 gts-t that the previous owner had some cheap HID kit dropped in. I just pulled out the HID's and put in a new set of headlights and bulbs but I can't get the passenger side to work.

It's not the bulb, as I swapped the driver and passenger bulbs and both work fine on the driver side. The passenger side is reading 12v at the harness on the multimeter as well, and I pulled the connectors out of the harness and tightened them up to make sure they are making good contact with the bulb. I'm noticing though that while I have 12v when the bulb is not plugged in, right when the bulb gets plugged in it drops down to 0. I'm a little confused as to what could be causing this. The ground seems fine, at least in testing with the multimeter (tested continuity by pressing one side of the multimeter on the ground connection and the other on another ground, and also by pressing on the ground connection and then a power source), and power is definitely getting there until the bulb is inserted in.

Anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing that? Anything else I can test or look at specifically? Any help would be much appreciated.

Timtim123 Explorer

Timtim123

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Probably the switch on the dash, take it apart and clean the contacts, make sure the little black fingers are not melted, and ever so slightly stretch the springs. or buy a new one for $160

Thanks, I will look into that. I just read somewhere else to check the switch too but was unsure why that'd be since it is getting power fine without a bulb

Missileman Veteran

Missileman

Posted
Posted

left and and right headlight are on different circuits, and the switch issue is intermittent, so makes it a little difficult to diagnose.

You will need a little pointy hook tool to remove to circlip that hold the spindle of the switch to remove the unit from the dash fascia.

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Timtim123 Explorer

Timtim123

Posted
  • Author
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Probably the switch on the dash, take it apart and clean the contacts, make sure the little black fingers are not melted, and ever so slightly stretch the springs. or buy a new one for $160

You were right, it was the switch. It wasn't dirty but needed adjusting. Bent the rocker pins slightly and also slightly stretched the springs out. Seems to work good now. Thanks for the help

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