Headlights not turning on

Tiny
FORMULA1998
  • MEMBER
  • 1990 PONTIAC FIREBIRD
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 160,000 MILES
How do you troubleshoot headlights when they wont turn on anymore?
Sunday, February 8th, 2009 AT 7:48 PM

6 Replies

Tiny
BLUELIGHTNIN6
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,542 POSTS
High Beams and Low Beams not operating or is it just one or the other?

Start with inpecting your bulbs and fuses. Let me know if they are OK. If not, replace necessary fuse or bulb.

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Sunday, February 8th, 2009 AT 7:53 PM
Tiny
FORMULA1998
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
I replaced the head lamps and the still dont work I think it might be a relay but I dont know where they are under the hood.
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Sunday, February 8th, 2009 AT 9:22 PM
Tiny
BLUELIGHTNIN6
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,542 POSTS
There is no headlight relay. There is a headlight circuit breaker located in the headlight switch itself. Replacing the headlight switch should solve your troubles.

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Monday, February 9th, 2009 AT 12:41 AM
Tiny
FORMULA1998
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
That sounds right thank you very much
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Monday, February 9th, 2009 AT 5:55 AM
Tiny
CHRIS TAYLOR2
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
I took CarPros advice and replaced the headlight switch which was not easy to do having to tear part of the dash open and dropping the steering column to get at the switch and replacing the switch did not fix the problem. There has to be some kind of circuit protection in the wiring for it.
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Saturday, January 16th, 2021 AT 5:46 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 12,950 POSTS
The switch is fed power from one of the rust colored fuse links attached at the starter. It then goes into the circuit breaker in the switch. From the switch it goes to the dimmer switch and out to the lights. Branching off before the dimmer switch is the circuit that turns on the headlight door motors so they open. A test for the fuse link is to see if the dash lights are working, if they work but no headlights the fuse link is OK. Testing is simple with a test light connected to a good ground. Check for battery power at the red wire that feeds the headlight switch. If it has power then turn the switch on and check at the Yellow wire out of the switch and at the dimmer switch. If you have battery voltage at those points then you need to test at both outputs on the dimmer switch. Tan is the low beam side Light Green the high beam. If it has power at the switch input but not the output the dimmer switch is bad. If you have power on both outputs the high beam indicator should work, if it does but no headlights then the bulbs are bad or the grounds are.
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Sunday, January 17th, 2021 AT 1:22 PM

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