97 OBW headlight problems

[djcgrand]

For the past 3 months or so my headlights have been acting up. When I start the car and turn the headlights on they are very dim -- almost an orange glowing color. If I lift the hood and fumble with the connection behind the driver's lamp the driver's lamp will go to it's full brightness but the passenger lamp will go out altogether. No matter how much I fumble with the passenger connection after doing this, the passenger light will still not come on. However, if I slam the car's hood after getting the driver's light on, then the passenger light will come back on at it full brightness and both lamps are fully functional. After driving for a while, though, one of the headlights will typically go out (usually the passenger) and I'm left with just the one headlight.

 

It looks to me like I have a bad connection somewhere. Any ideas on which side or should I be looking at something different altogether. I was hoping to do this repair myself w/o bringing the dealer into the equation. Electrical problems and dealers typically equate to big bucks with me.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Cougar]

I think you have a bad ground connection. To prove it you can either measure the voltage of the ground to the light or run a ground jumper to the light gound lead. If the is more than .25 volts on the ground lead or the ground lead corrects the problem then you need to work on the ground to the light. If it doesn't make any difference then the power to the light is the problem.

 

If the high beams do the same thing, then I would suspect the common ground to the lights is the problem.

[djcgrand]

Thanks for the input, Glen. I'll check it tonight and see what we've got.

 

I think you have a bad ground connection. To prove it you can either measure the voltage of the ground to the light or run a ground jumper to the light gound lead. If the is more than .25 volts on the ground lead or the ground lead corrects the problem then you need to work on the ground to the light. If it doesn't make any difference then the power to the light is the problem.

 

If the high beams do the same thing, then I would suspect the common ground to the lights is the problem.

[RustyScoop]

I had the same problem in my 96 before, just take the connector off, bend the metal connector flap a bid so it is not completely straight, plug it back in (should be more snug with the bend), and it should stay on better and should help with the connection. That's how I fixed mine. Very easy. Good luck and let me know how it went.

 

Thanks for the input, Glen. I'll check it tonight and see what we've got.