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High beams but no lows??


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Ive been all over this 1976 V8 car since I got it two months ago. Little problems here and there are still around, but no low beams is to big to be little... Ive been from the fuse box to the headlights and to both switches on the column (high-low and on-off) all make my multimeter beep with continuity... Can I get 2 cents?

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Ive been all over this 1976 V8 car since I got it two months ago. Little problems here and there are still around, but no low beams is to big to be little... Ive been from the fuse box to the headlights and to both switches on the column (high-low and on-off) all make my multimeter beep with continuity... Can I get 2 cents?

 

I had the same problem on my car when I got it. I hosed down the internals of the dimmer/turn signal switch with contact cleaner (Deoxit DN5) while I was trying to figure out how to get it apart and it started working. I never did take it apart and it's been working correctly since. That was 5 months ago.

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I put H4 Lights and Capsules into the car about a year or two before driving to the Convention in Canada in 2001.

This past December, I started up at the airport after being gone for 7 weeks, and no lights. Changed the fuses, and got lights, they looked good, but had the 'pullout' common to older fuses. Within two weeks I lost my left low beam, then my right low beam.

 

I put stainless steel tape over the top of the lenses and drive with my high beams on...

 

I also complained to the vendor, about his cheap bulbs only lasting 10 years on low beam!

I got two new capsules sitting in the back of the car right now as it sits at the Ontario Airport (Sunrise Parking)---you can see the boxes on the back parcel shelf area. Complaining helps sometimes... :D

 

After 10 years (who knows how long yours have been in there) the filaments may indeed have gone bad. BOTH the low beam filaments went out on mine within a WEEK of each other. Both installed at the same time. Both failed almost at the same time. I would say within HOURS of each other actually.

 

So if you're terminally cheap like me, you know you never drive on high beams, so use those up too! Hell, I may be able to go another 5 years like this before I have to climb under the fender and fuss with those damnable screws again (which I replaced with 3mm Hex Keyed Stainless Steel Button Headed Cap Screws...woo hoo! No rust, antiseized, and ready to come out but I still don't want to climb under there. Maybe I'll get the Boy to do it for me...)

 

Filaments aren't as unlikely as you might think...;)

 

ALSO REMEMBER THIS: You can't poke your multimeter to a general ground and check voltage---this will give you power everywhere, but still no lights. You HAVE to put your negative on the referenced negative for the headlight (they put power in, and switch the grounds to the filaments). This checks the voltage the bulb actually sees. You can also check the headlight ground circuit this way.

 

Personally, I'm not installing those new capsules in my car till I get the Painless Wiring Harness for the headlights, and run a set of relays for them. I'd suggest you do the same. The combination switch is now $400+ new (if you can get it) and whatever you have will last A LOT LONGER switching the coils on a headlight relay, than the power from a 55 watt incandescent (or halogen) bulb as a direct switch. You will notice your lights are MUCH brighter using auxillary relays as compared to using the chassis wiring. With the relays you can change your 'headlight fuses' from what they are now to something like 2.5A---just enough for the relay coils.

Edited by Tony D
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