Headlights don't work I pull the knob?

Tiny
WIMMS77
  • MEMBER
  • 2000 BUICK CENTURY
  • 3.1L
  • V6
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 152,000 MILES
So when I pull the knob for my headlights to come on nothing happens. When I push it back in the park lights will go off. When I turn on my brights with the turn signal switch I have to hold them on in order for them to stay on if I let it go they go off. I have checked both fuse boxes looking for a relay to the headlights and I only find 2 small fuse spots for them that are 15's sitting side by side in spots 32 and 36 but one of them won't let me install a fuse into it. I've been told it's either the multi switch the headlight switch if it's not the fuses or relays which I can't find but then I read today that it may also be wiring or burnt out bulbs any thoughts
Thursday, January 15th, 2026 AT 12:03 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 15,426 POSTS
From the description it sounds like a bad headlight switch. The switch works by grounding the headlamps through a relay. As they work when you try the flash to pass then it isn't fuses or bulbs and cannot be the relay. It also cannot be the ground circuit as the lights all use the same one and you have working parking lamps. That leaves the section of the headlight switch or the connector on it as the failure point. A quick way to test it would be to insert a wire into the rear of the connector at pin D (Yellow wire) and turn on the headlights, no lights? Ground the jumper wire you added, lights come on? Headlight switch is bad.
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Thursday, January 15th, 2026 AT 1:44 PM
Tiny
WIMMS77
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Idk what flash to pass means but the only time my headlights come on is when I hold the switch that runs the brights, turn signal and wipers forward if I let it go the bright lights go off when I pull the knob that should turn on the regular headlights nothing happens can you show me a picture or diagram of where and how to find this yellow wire to test it and how to do so safely please
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Friday, January 16th, 2026 AT 4:43 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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That is the "flash to pass" commonly used in Europe, you pull the stalk back and it flashes the high beams to let the driver in another vehicle know you are passing them, not used a lot in the US, sometimes to warn of police or something in the road, but they include it anyway.
To get to the switch you need to remove the end panel from the dash, it just pries loose with a trim tool, then you will remove the screws that hold the switch in and remove the switch. The wiring harness will be right there for testing. The other item would be the headlamp relay but that should be OK as the lights do come on when you use the lever and the BCM controls the relay at those times.
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Friday, January 16th, 2026 AT 7:30 AM
Tiny
WIMMS77
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The 1st pic is the switch I have to pull forward and hold in order for the brights to work at all the 2nd is the actual headlight switch that gives no lights at all and the thirds the prndl that also won't light up so I can't see the mileage on it or the gear I'm in idk if it's all somehow related electrically or not and again I can't find a relay for the headlights only mini fuses size 15 the last 2 pics are of the fuse boxes the 1st showing where a fuse should go for them but won't take 1 and the next is the inside fuse box
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Friday, January 16th, 2026 AT 9:31 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Pulling the stalk that way is the flash to pass, it turns on the lights independent of the other switches. Both it and the main switch do that the same way, they ground the headlight relay and turn on the lights. The fuses all power the lights and the ones for the headlights are under the hood. One powers the marker lights as well as the relay. The other two power the headlights directly. The one above your finger is the fog lamp fuse. The one your finger is on is the fuel pump. The one to the left is the marker lamps, the two to the right are the headlamps. The headlight relay is behind the glove box in another relay box.
The vacuum display is a different circuit, do the other dash lights work and the parking lights?

From service info-
"Battery voltage is applied contentiously to the headlamps through two fuse. The HDLP L fuse for the left side headlamp and the HDLP R fuse for the right side headlamp. When the headlamp switch is turned to the HEAD position, ground is applied through the headlamp switch to the BCM using the headlamp switch output circuit. When the BCM receives the headlamp switch output signal, it applies a ground to the headlamp relay coil control circuit. When a ground is applied to the headlamp relay coil control circuit this engages the headlamp relay, closing the switch contacts and applies a ground through the headlamp relay to the headlamp relay contact circuit to the headlamp dimmer switch. Depending on the headlamp dimmer switch position the ground circuit would then be applied to either the high beam headlamps or the low beam headlamp turning them on".
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Friday, January 16th, 2026 AT 11:52 AM
Tiny
WIMMS77
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I appreciate the detailed explanation but it's so very confusing I realize now that the empty space I was pointing at was not for the headlamps at all so you do or don't think I need to change the multiswitch and or the headlight pull knob or do you think it may be a wiring issue that needs a professional that knows wiring verses me that has no clue on wiring at all
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Friday, January 16th, 2026 AT 11:43 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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I think the pull switch might be bad, but testing it by pulling in the switch itself out and testing the circuit at the back if it by jumping the yellow wire to ground would tell you for sure. If you pull the light switch out and the lights don't come on, then you just touch a wire between pin D and a ground and the lights come on, you just proved that the switch is bad and changing it would repair the problem. Attached is the schematic, that circuit for pin A to pin D is what the switch does to turn on the lights. If you pull the switch and it is bad, that circuit doesn't connect. The jumper wire then completes the circuit and if the lights work then, you install a new switch #10416123 If however the jumper doesn't turn on the lights then we need to test the next component which is the relay. However you say the flash to pass (pulling the dimmer lever) works. Which should mean the relay is working as that is how the lights get the power to work from.
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Saturday, January 17th, 2026 AT 1:46 AM

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