One Headlight isn't working - Driver Side Fuse Keeps blowing

[silviaz]

13 hours ago, silviaz said:

I had issues with my car today after removing the rear bumper. The headlights aren't working when turning the stalk but high beams are working and the rear tail light where the reverse camera is wired up won't turn on when the stalk is activated, but the reverse camera, tail light indicator and brake light all seem to work. I checked the fuses they aren't blown. I think the reverse camera could have possibly gotten pinched but shouldn't be as there is a decent amount of room.

I did use the lights and loom for the license plate from the new bumper but also tested the old one in case but made no difference. This isn't for a skyline also.

Any ideas what it could be? It was working when I drove I'm pretty sure, then on my return home I noticed my headlights weren't working.

Figured it out. Very suprisingly, both headlight bulbs went out and the rear one went out as well. Which is weird because the rear one didn't look broken. I decided to swap bulbs jsut incase and it was infact broken lol

[GTSBoy]

And not one multimeter was frightened in the process!

[silviaz]

1 hour ago, GTSBoy said:

And not one multimeter was frightened in the process!

I took it out, even though I knew I probably don't know what I'm doing other than looking for power signal lol. Lesson learned here I guess, even if it looks normal, worth checking as it only takes a few seconds anyhow. And maybe disconnect the battery, even though really shouldn't have to.

Edited Saturday at 04:22 AM by silviaz

[kevboost7]

Consider yourself lucky it was just a bulb 

[MBS206]

25 minutes ago, silviaz said:

I took it out, even though I knew I probably don't know what I'm doing other than looking for power signal lol. Lesson learned here I guess, even if it looks normal, worth checking as it only takes a few seconds anyhow. And maybe disconnect the battery, even though really shouldn't have to.

I strongly recommend anyone playing with cars chasing anything electric, get a basic understanding of using a DMM, and about 12V DC systems.

They're REALLY easy, you only need to know V=IR and how to apply it, and you can work out what your readings should be doing.

For a simple check on a light bulb, you're looking for 12V at the positive to the light, a near zero resistance to ground, and then for a small resistance across the globe when unplugged.

If one of those values isn't right, you won't get what you need.

Now if they're all okay,and you then plug the light in, and it still won't work, you now do a voltage check across the globe positive to negative. It should effectively read full battery voltage. If it's not, especially if it's quite low, the age old V=IR starts to be able to be thought about, you now know though, for the current flowing, there isn't much voltage for the given resistance, but the rest of that V has to be dropping somewhere else.

So now do a voltage check from ground of globe, to ground of car, then do voltage check from positive of battery, to positive of the light connector. Things like a high resistance in a wire/join will start to "steal" voltage on you. So now step back through which ever wire, until you find the voltage drop is non existent, you're now before what ever is steal your voltage for example.

 

There's plenty of YouTube videos, but really worth understanding some V=IR, and doing some even theoretical numbers to start to understand it. Then you'll know what the DMM is telling you.

[silviaz]

30 minutes ago, MBS206 said:

I strongly recommend anyone playing with cars chasing anything electric, get a basic understanding of using a DMM, and about 12V DC systems.

They're REALLY easy, you only need to know V=IR and how to apply it, and you can work out what your readings should be doing.

For a simple check on a light bulb, you're looking for 12V at the positive to the light, a near zero resistance to ground, and then for a small resistance across the globe when unplugged.

If one of those values isn't right, you won't get what you need.

Now if they're all okay,and you then plug the light in, and it still won't work, you now do a voltage check across the globe positive to negative. It should effectively read full battery voltage. If it's not, especially if it's quite low, the age old V=IR starts to be able to be thought about, you now know though, for the current flowing, there isn't much voltage for the given resistance, but the rest of that V has to be dropping somewhere else.

So now do a voltage check from ground of globe, to ground of car, then do voltage check from positive of battery, to positive of the light connector. Things like a high resistance in a wire/join will start to "steal" voltage on you. So now step back through which ever wire, until you find the voltage drop is non existent, you're now before what ever is steal your voltage for example.

 

There's plenty of YouTube videos, but really worth understanding some V=IR, and doing some even theoretical numbers to start to understand it. Then you'll know what the DMM is telling you.

Thanks man, I appreciate that. I'll keep it in mind going forward, important to know.

[Duncan]

I also had 2 bulbs blow at once, years ago in the stagea. made for a fun drive home.

The issue was the voltage regulator had failed in the alternator and it was giving 15+ volts. Really, I was lucky all that was fried were the headlight bulbs.

So, I'd suggest you check the voltage across your battery terminals with the car running and warmed up. Yes, you will need a multimeter to do so, sorry.

[MBS206]

9 hours ago, Duncan said:

I also had 2 bulbs blow at once, years ago in the stagea. made for a fun drive home.

The issue was the voltage regulator had failed in the alternator and it was giving 15+ volts. Really, I was lucky all that was fried were the headlight bulbs.

So, I'd suggest you check the voltage across your battery terminals with the car running and warmed up. Yes, you will need a multimeter to do so, sorry.

This reminds me, I've actually had this exact issue before too. Unfortunately my voltage regulator was happier to work part of the time. The easy way to spot when it wasn't working so well, was the dash lights also got brighter.

[silviaz]

8 hours ago, MBS206 said:

This reminds me, I've actually had this exact issue before too. Unfortunately my voltage regulator was happier to work part of the time. The easy way to spot when it wasn't working so well, was the dash lights also got brighter.

Turns out I had more blown bulbs. All of my front bulbs blew except for the high beam and indicators lol. Had a weird thing happen today where one wasn't working again, pulled it out and seems all good now. Fingers crossed I don't have to chase down electrical issues lol.

[GTSBoy]

Just put the voltmeter on the battery while it's running. See if the reg it OK or not. You are at risk of blowing up the ECU, etc etc, if it is crook.