84' GL with head light issue

[jdgmbi1]

Have a 84' GL with some type of low beam head light issue. Had a low beam light go out on me, so I installed a new one, but it still did not come on. When I tried the high beams, all 4 lights (including the new low beam one that wasn't functioning on low) came on.

 

I checked the connection and the low beam stock number to make sure I didn't buy a high beam one by mistake. Both checked out. 

 

I assume it is electrical, but really don't know.

 

Any thoughts, suggestions, troubleshooting ideas, would be appreciated.

[-tombba-]

Did you check the fuses?

[jono]

may help if you put up a pic of the back of each of the four lights. switching uses earth switching. add in the one wrong design and earth leaks when it is not needed - gives all four on high beam with switch only on low beam.

I found this problem on mine was due to the inners high beams were not sealed beams no more. Some dude fitted units with earthing metal bodies to take replaceable bulbs for great high beams, never checked his work, never failed numerous rego inspections. I spent frantic 24hours chasing problem.

Use sealed beams in place and see if that fixes things

[jdgmbi1]

Did you check the fuses?

 

Nope. Have to do that. Thanks.

[jdgmbi1]

may help if you put up a pic of the back of each of the four lights. switching uses earth switching. add in the one wrong design and earth leaks when it is not needed - gives all four on high beam with switch only on low beam.

I found this problem on mine was due to the inners high beams were not sealed beams no more. Some dude fitted units with earthing metal bodies to take replaceable bulbs for great high beams, never checked his work, never failed numerous rego inspections. I spent frantic 24hours chasing problem.

Use sealed beams in place and see if that fixes things

That was the reason why it failed in the first place, water got in it. The replacement lamp was new and it was a 3 prong sealed lamp.

I need to check the fuse, and rule that out, not familiar with Earth Switching? Are you saying that there is a conversion kit for the lights? 

Don't know if all models of this era had it, this car has auto lights when the car comes on. I don't know if that would make a difference, or not.

 

Thanks for the you suggestion and help. Will give it a shot and see if it gets me anywhere.

[jono]

i misread your issue.

 

earth switching is where pos power goes direct to unit, but unit does not operate until it sees an earth neg connection which is thru the switch.

can accidentally provide an earth to some part of these earthswitched circuits and things turn on.

You need to check see with a test light if power and earth is getting to rear plug. Don't earth the test lead on body - use earth side of light plug and pos from light plug, see if you can operate test light via light switch. An urgnt fix for no supply would be off other headlight with relay etc

[jdgmbi1]

Thanks. Will give that a shot.

 

If it turns out to be the connector pigtail itself, are those hard to come by?

[Cougar]

Replacement headlight pigtail sockets are easy to find. The trouble is most likely with it. Use a test light to check for power getting t the socket with the lights turned ON. If the highs are working for that side then the fuse is okay. There is only one fuse for each side of the car lights. If power is getting to the socket and it is making good connection to the lamp then it appears there is a switched ground return problem.

[jdgmbi1]

Thanks a lot for that information. The fuses checked out, and now makes sense why. I will move to the next thing. 

[Vic Thrume]

Hmmm...  Glad I searched this topic.  I am having a similar problem with my '82 Brat.  Both lights, no low beams, but high beams work on both sides.  I ran a test light and got positive for power on ALL THREE PRONGS of the female side of the connector when attaching the ground wire to a ground on the engine.  This was only on one side that I started trying this, as I figured if one side would work, it was likely the same problem on the other side.

 

Put in a new light (this has the replaceable bulb, not the whole fitting), plugged in, no low beams, but working high beams.

 

Input?  Thanks! 

[TomRhere]

Had same issue on one of the BRATs.

Found one burnt connection in the connector for the headlight switch, mainly the body-side connector itself.

 

I bypassed the connectors for that wire using separate male/female terminal ends.

 

Don't remember wire color.

[jonas]

Try this if all else fails. Fixed my Brat light issues. They have 2 and 4 plug versions.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-HEADLIGHT-RELAY-WIRING-HARNESS-H4-HEADLAMP-LIGHT-BULB-CERAMIC-SOCKET-PLUGS-SET-/331214602226?hash=item4d1dedbff2&vxp=mtr

[Vic Thrume]

Okay, have a lot to add in here, and still QUESTIONS!  Did some very thorough testing with one of my mechanics today.  It is a woman, so don't be surprised at the use of "she" when speaking of her.  She is the real deal, ACE, has been in business for a LONG time, etc, and will work on anything, but specializes in imports.  Where she is, Soobies and Toyotas are EVERYWHERE, and she knows as much or more than anyone I've ever dealt with for all Subarus since they have been coming over here!

 

So, to repeat my problem, have both brights, but neither low beam.  '82, single head light, Brat.  Light switch is the angled turning knob mounted to the left of the steering wheel.  Bright switch is on the column/turn sig indicator.

 

Well, we tinkered and cleaned and sprayed and tested.  All the same.  Looked for the relay to test it, but then she decided it was probably in the dimmer switch assembly, so we started playing with that.  I have five manuals, (one factory, HOW TO KEEP YOUR SUBARU ALIVE manual, 2 different Hayes that cover it, and one other that is not factory, but is well-known, prestigious, respected and expensive (the company is slipping my mind right now!)), so we started poring over wiring diagrams.  We went through everything, I removed the switch so we could get at it and look at it/rebuild it, whatever it took, etc.  After analyzing the wiring diagrams, we started testing again.  We got to the point where EVERYTHING we tested down to the headlight connector was acting EXACTLY as planned/should be.  Ground and power where it should be, etc.  But when we plug in the bulb/lamp, it stops working right and we get brights on the bright setting, nothing on the lo-beam setting, and brights on the "flash" setting (pulling the stem toward you).  However, something else we noticed was that the "flash"/pull the dimmer switch stem toward you action gets NOTHING, though I am pretty sure it should, and though she didn't have any that old to check, it was her belief as well that most vehicles since the advent of the stem dimmer switch did that.

 

Another piece of info is that one of the prior owners had put in the halogen bulbs, as opposed to the sealed beam headlights.  So we tried both.  We tried rerouting the wires at the headlamp connector to see if they had been altered to deal with the halogens (we set them to factory/wiring diagram alignment, and literally tried every combination of the three wires just to see what was happening/if ANYTHING would work.

 

So, we are back to square one.  The BEST we have gotten is brights in both high AND lo beam settings.  

 

But, again, when tested with testing lights/probes, it acts perfectly normal at the connector to the headlight, but does NOT work with the current halogen, a brand new sealed-beam, or another brand new halogen, though I did check both of the halogens in another vehicle to make sure the bulbs were good, and they were.  

 

ANYBODY got ANYTHING for me here????

 

Thanks!

 

Vic!

[naru]

She is not that good if she can`t fix headlights.Simple stuff.

 

You are not getting a ground connection on the switched low beam ground wire.RB,I think.

It will be one of the switches,a bad connector or a broken wire.

 

Put a voltmeter between RB at the lamp and the other end on both sides of each connector/switch.(lowbeam on)

Work from the lamp back thru the connectors/switches toward the ground.

When voltage appears,you have gone past the faulty part.

 

Make sure the lamps do not have a metal case that grounds out.

[jdgmbi1]

Wish I could add some value to the issue, but mine ended up being just a short, or past the pigtail of the one bad low beam light.

Best of luck. Electrical troubleshooting is never fun.

 

Okay, have a lot to add in here, and still QUESTIONS!  Did some very thorough testing with one of my mechanics today.  It is a woman, so don't be surprised at the use of "she" when speaking of her.  She is the real deal, ACE, has been in business for a LONG time, etc, and will work on anything, but specializes in imports.  Where she is, Soobies and Toyotas are EVERYWHERE, and she knows as much or more than anyone I've ever dealt with for all Subarus since they have been coming over here!

 

So, to repeat my problem, have both brights, but neither low beam.  '82, single head light, Brat.  Light switch is the angled turning knob mounted to the left of the steering wheel.  Bright switch is on the column/turn sig indicator.

 

Well, we tinkered and cleaned and sprayed and tested.  All the same.  Looked for the relay to test it, but then she decided it was probably in the dimmer switch assembly, so we started playing with that.  I have five manuals, (one factory, HOW TO KEEP YOUR SUBARU ALIVE manual, 2 different Hayes that cover it, and one other that is not factory, but is well-known, prestigious, respected and expensive (the company is slipping my mind right now!)), so we started poring over wiring diagrams.  We went through everything, I removed the switch so we could get at it and look at it/rebuild it, whatever it took, etc.  After analyzing the wiring diagrams, we started testing again.  We got to the point where EVERYTHING we tested down to the headlight connector was acting EXACTLY as planned/should be.  Ground and power where it should be, etc.  But when we plug in the bulb/lamp, it stops working right and we get brights on the bright setting, nothing on the lo-beam setting, and brights on the "flash" setting (pulling the stem toward you).  However, something else we noticed was that the "flash"/pull the dimmer switch stem toward you action gets NOTHING, though I am pretty sure it should, and though she didn't have any that old to check, it was her belief as well that most vehicles since the advent of the stem dimmer switch did that.

 

Another piece of info is that one of the prior owners had put in the halogen bulbs, as opposed to the sealed beam headlights.  So we tried both.  We tried rerouting the wires at the headlamp connector to see if they had been altered to deal with the halogens (we set them to factory/wiring diagram alignment, and literally tried every combination of the three wires just to see what was happening/if ANYTHING would work.

 

So, we are back to square one.  The BEST we have gotten is brights in both high AND lo beam settings.  

 

But, again, when tested with testing lights/probes, it acts perfectly normal at the connector to the headlight, but does NOT work with the current halogen, a brand new sealed-beam, or another brand new halogen, though I did check both of the halogens in another vehicle to make sure the bulbs were good, and they were.  

 

ANYBODY got ANYTHING for me here????

 

Thanks!

 

Vic!

[Vic Thrume]

She is not that good if she can`t fix headlights.Simple stuff.

 

You are not getting a ground connection on the switched low beam ground wire.RB,I think.

It will be one of the switches,a bad connector or a broken wire.

 

Put a voltmeter between RB at the lamp and the other end on both sides of each connector/switch.(lowbeam on)

Work from the lamp back thru the connectors/switches toward the ground.

When voltage appears,you have gone past the faulty part.

 

Make sure the lamps do not have a metal case that grounds out.

 

 

But when using a tester, we ARE getting ground exactly where we should on each setting of the dimmer!  Green light, ground, red light, juice...

 

However, the case sounds like an interesting idea, though not sure how/why that would happen!!!

 

And we have tried it with the old  halogen system someone had installed, as well as a new sealed beam headlight-shouldn't be a case grounding out in a new sealed beam, should it?

 

Thanks!!!

Edited June 24, 2015 by Vic Thrume

[naru]

Tester does not draw enough current.

[rdweninger]

What is the number on the bulb?   Make sure it is low beam and test outside of  vehicle wiring (one hot wire and one ground wire).

The headlamps always have 12v to them ... it is the ground (ie., headlight switch) that completes the circuit.

  Relays are -   1 for left side, 1 for right side...  pretty sure on that.

[Vic Thrume]

I tested the original bulb in a different vehicle and it was fully functional.  Didn't test the NEW sealed beam outside of the Brat, but since other bulb was doing the same thing, and it is NIB, I figure it is likely fine and the issue is still in the Brat.  Halogen bulb is a Hella H4, sealed beams are 6054's, I think... 

 

So there is a separate relay for each headlight?  One on each side?  Is it a little "brass/gold" colored box just to the rear of the battery on the inner fender sidewall of the engine bay for the pass side?  That box was making a click when switching the lights on and off or the brights on and off-did not hear any clicking from anything on the other side of the engine bay.

 

So, NARU says the tester does not draw enough current-is that does not draw a strong enough current to show the malfunction?  As I said, test lights show good ground on wires at the headlamp connector as well as good power to them as well.

 

How about this...  When simply using a test light set up, I got positive (light) out of ALL 3 prongs with the lo-beam switch on.  Is that normal, or should the ground one not have lit the light?  Is that my problem?

[naru]

So, NARU says the tester does not draw enough current-is that does not draw a strong enough current to show the malfunction?  As I said, test lights show good ground on wires at the headlamp connector as well as good power to them as well.

 

How about this...  When simply using a test light set up, I got positive (light) out of ALL 3 prongs with the lo-beam switch on.  Is that normal, or should the ground one not have lit the light?  Is that my problem?

 

BOTH statements cannot be true.

It all depends where you put the leads.

Ground should only light up if the other end is hooked to power.