AlderB Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 '97 OBW Had a new battery installed today and now I don't have low beams. High Beams work and so do the Fog Lights. All of my fuses are functional. It seems odd that both bulbs would go at the same time. Searched through the forum and didn't find anything similar. Any help would be appreciated. Also, how do I check the relays with a multimeter? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 '97 OBWHad a new battery installed today and now I don't have low beams. High Beams work and so do the Fog Lights. All of my fuses are functional. It seems odd that both bulbs would go at the same time. Searched through the forum and didn't find anything similar. Any help would be appreciated. Also, how do I check the relays with a multimeter? Thanks Easiest way to check is to grab a new bulb, pop it in and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
later, Peter Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 '97 OBWHad a new battery installed today and now I don't have low beams. High Beams work and so do the Fog Lights. All of my fuses are functional. It seems odd that both bulbs would go at the same time. Searched through the forum and didn't find anything similar. Any help would be appreciated. Also, how do I check the relays with a multimeter? Thanks Headlights do seem to die in pairs... within days or so. You may not have noticed the one light out until the second one died. I had just replaced one in the '96 when 2 or 3 days later the other blew... I'm glad I stopped procrasinating on the first one or my wife would've had NO lights at all. later, Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Clark Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Before you go checking around for bad relays, make sure the 12V isn't at the connector for your low beams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 I would check to see if a connector to the lights got partially disconnected when the battery was installed. Check around in that area and if there are some connectors there I would try pushing them together. To check relays with a meter you will need to leave them in the circuit or power them up with a power source. A basic relay is usually used to turn on a high current circuit from a low power switch. It is a electric switch that has a coil of wire in it to magnetically close or, sometimes open, contact connections. The most common problem with them is the contacts get dirty and cause a bad connection. Checking a relay with a meter it is about the same as a checking a normal on/off type switch except you have the coil circuit included to make the relay function. The switched contacts will either be open or closed depending on the relay condition. Lets say the relay is switching 12 volts on or off to a light that has a common ground point, as vehicles do. With the meter set to measure volts and the meter common lead is tied to ground, the meter will show 0 volts on the switched side of the relay when it is off. When the relay is on, the meter will show 12 volts on the switched side because the contacts are now closed and making connection to the power source, and the light turns on. Another thing that can happen to a relay is to have the coil open and that will disable the relay. You can measure the voltage across the coil to see if that is ok when the relay is supposed to be activated. To see if a coil is ok usually measuring the resistance of the coil with no power on, or the relay removed from the circuit, will verify it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlderB Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 Well it was the bulbs. Kind of makes sense now. If you think about all the times you blow a lightbulb in your house it's typically when you load the filament by turning on the switch. I imagine that the old bad battery wasn't full voltage and once the new battery was installed the old, tired filaments finally saw a full load and popped. Took this opportunity to clean all the grounds. Combined with the new battery it has solved my problem with the headlights dimming when pushing in the brake. Now after a full degreasing and cleaning I have a CEL on. Guess I'll start tracking that problem down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Once again it is the simple thing. Glad you got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strakes Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Great to hear of a simple remedy. Glad it worked out. I always replace my headlights or brake lights or whatever pairs there are together. My thinking is that the pairs of bulbs all have about the same useful life, were installed new at the factory, used about the same amount, and therefore, if one fails the other matched pair is about to go soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silentpal Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 much better if you changed the same thing whenever they goes for pair. better upshot from both headlights if you change them together. if you go for the new one and the other is old, well, they won't perform the same lighting either.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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