Resolved 98 Eclipse low beams don't work but high beams do.

[Vielet]

I've looked at the fuses, relays, and even bought new bulbs thinking they were both just burnt but the low beams still don't seem to work and I'm not sure if there is another system like the alarms that it ties into as well that could cause the low beams not to work.

 

[CKOPOCT]

The headlight system on the 2g is pretty simple; nothing else ties into it (like having the lights flash when the alarm goes off).

Both hi and lo beams have a single power source (red wire with a blue stripe). If the hi beams work, then you are getting power through the system to the headlights. The only things that could be wrong for the low beams are (a) blown low beam bulbs, (b) bad ground for the low beams, or (c) bad connection/wiring on the lo beam side.

Are these factory lights or aftermarket? Did this problem just occur (meaning things worked fine up to a point last week) or did you buy the car with this problem?

 

[luv2rallye]

If factory lights did you put in the wrong bulb type? Or incompatible aftermarket?

 

[Vielet]

The headlight system on the 2g is pretty simple; nothing else ties into it (like having the lights flash when the alarm goes off).

Both hi and lo beams have a single power source (red wire with a blue stripe). If the hi beams work, then you are getting power through the system to the headlights. The only things that could be wrong for the low beams are (a) blown low beam bulbs, (b) bad ground for the low beams, or (c) bad connection/wiring on the lo beam side.

Are these factory lights or aftermarket? Did this problem just occur (meaning things worked fine up to a point last week) or did you buy the car with this problem?

That's a good question I brought the old ones into an auto zone and they told me what they were and found exact copy's of them so I'm not sure if the headlights are after market or not then. I'm currently waiting the hear back from who we got it from. The bulbs they gave us were H1 and H3 bulbs. are the bulbs supposed to be a single or double filaments bulb for both of them on both sides?

 

[luv2rallye]

Stock low beam is supposed to be an HB4 (aka 9006), high beam HB3 (aka 9005).

 

[Vielet]

Stock low beam is supposed to be an HB4 (aka 9006), high beam HB3 (aka 9005).

I actually was just recently informed that they are not stock headlight so now im trying to figure out what ones they are for better information.

 

[CKOPOCT]

Take a picture of the headlights, outside and from the back. Again, is this a new problem to you (meaning the low beams worked fine for you until they suddenly quit), or did you acquire the car with this problem?

 

[Vielet]

Take a picture of the headlights, outside and from the back. Again, is this a new problem to you (meaning the low beams worked fine for you until they suddenly quit), or did you acquire the car with this problem?

The low beams haven't worked for a while since before I got it. I got it from a friend and we were working on it slowly and now are at the head lights. Attached are the headlights with and without the Grey covers on the back.

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[CKOPOCT]

Looks like you have halo headlights. Since halos didn't come out until the 2000s, the headlights themselves are aftermarket. Therefore, I'm suspect of the wiring. You'd have to look at the plug and see how things marry up. The way it should be wired is the power to both high and low should come off of the main power wire (red with a blue stripe on the chassis harness). The "ground" for the high beams should feed back to the solid red wire on the chassis harness. That red chassis wire feeds back to the steering column headlight switch, where it gets grounded through the switch. The black wire (chassis harness) serves as a ground for the low beam only.

As to the halo light (red and white wire above your low beam), that should be tapped into your side marker or driving light (I assume red is power and white is ground). I also assume the halo is LED so direction matters.

My recommendation is to test for continuity across the bulb to ensure the filament is good. Next, test for continuity on the power wires for each bulb. Something tells me you'll get continuity on the red wire to the high beam, and the green wire to the low beam. If that's what happens, the problem is your wiring is wrong. You should have the red wire apply power to both headlights, the green wire should be your high beam "ground", and the black wire should be your low beam ground.

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[Vielet]

Looks like you have halo headlights. Since halos didn't come out until the 2000s, the headlights themselves are aftermarket. Therefore, I'm suspect of the wiring. You'd have to look at the plug and see how things marry up. The way it should be wired is the power to both high and low should come off of the main power wire (red with a blue stripe on the chassis harness). The "ground" for the high beams should feed back to the solid red wire on the chassis harness. That red chassis wire feeds back to the steering column headlight switch, where it gets grounded through the switch. The black wire (chassis harness) serves as a ground for the low beam only.

As to the halo light (red and white wire above your low beam), that should be tapped into your side marker or driving light (I assume red is power and white is ground). I also assume the halo is LED so direction matters.

My recommendation is to test for continuity across the bulb to ensure the filament is good. Next, test for continuity on the power wires for each bulb. Something tells me you'll get continuity on the red wire to the high beam, and the green wire to the low beam. If that's what happens, the problem is your wiring is wrong. You should have the red wire apply power to both headlights, the green wire should be your high beam "ground", and the black wire should be your low beam ground.

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I tested the lights and when on high beams in the car both the h1 and h3 bulbs turn on so I believe the grounds work for both bulbs. However I don't believe when its set to low either of the bulbs are getting power.

 

[CKOPOCT]

Again, the system is designed to provide power through one wire to both bulbs; the action of the bulbs is done by controlling the grounds.

If both lights come on when you are on "brights" then your problem has to do with the grounds. Because the low beam ground is independent of the high beam ground, I'm convinced the problem is with the wiring.

Are you able to read and interpret the wiring schematic I posted previously? Not a dig - wiring diagrams are easy for some to understand and Greek to others. Just want to know how much walking through you need.

 

[Vielet]

Again, the system is designed to provide power through one wire to both bulbs; the action of the bulbs is done by controlling the grounds.

If both lights come on when you are on "brights" then your problem has to do with the grounds. Because the low beam ground is independent of the high beam ground, I'm convinced the problem is with the wiring.

Are you able to read and interpret the wiring schematic I posted previously? Not a dig - wiring diagrams are easy for some to understand and Greek to others. Just want to know how much walking through you need.

I slightly understand them but not completly. I'm assuming wire 3 going to point A would be low beams which connects to the switch. And I've replaced the switch and it didn't fix the problem so not really sure where from there to go.

 

[CKOPOCT]

No. Wire 3 is the high-beam "ground" wire... better to be thought of as a "power out wire."

Power comes in from the top wire - marked as "<F> 2R-L" -- "R-L" means it's a red wire with a blue stripe. You'll see that this wire (branch of wires, really) is at the top of both headlight sets (left and right), as well as going to the dedicated 10a fuse and the fog light. This means power comes from the headlight relay at the top of the page (pin #4) and branches from there to go to both headlights, the fog light, and through the 10a fuse to B (which is on the next page and is the blue high beam indicator light on your instrument cluster).

The headlights as pictured on the page are oriented just like on the car. The two outside lamps (far left and far right - have a wire at #1 under them) are your low beams. The two in the center (wire #3 under them) are your high beams.

You'll see that the low beams have power coming in from pin#2 (red/blue wire), and go through the bulb and directly to ground through pin #1 (black wire). So as soon as you turn your headlight switch on your low beams should come on.

For the high beams, power comes in through pin #2 just like with the low beams. But the power doesn't go to ground right away - the power goes out of the high beams through the red wire at pin #3 and goes to A on the next page.

Picking up A on the next page, you'll see that the red wire joins with the red wire coming in from B (after B goes through the high beam indicator light), and then sits at pin #6 of the headlight switch on the steering column (dimmer switch). It won't go to ground until you pull the dimmer switch to click it on, at which point the power flows through the switch to pin #1 and out along the black wire to ground.

Follow that, or would a video/visual help?

 

[Vielet]

Follow that, or would a video/visual help?

I think a video/visual might help. But if I'm understanding this right, on page 1 the the outsides are the lows going to pin one which goes straight to ground so would I just need to find where on those wires are broken if it is both of them or would there be a common point on page 2 which would cause them both not to work? I also don't understand the big numbers at the bottom of the ground points either.

Also I did a voltage test on the chassis harness and I'm noticing it doesn't look like there is any power coming from that middle wire in low beam unlike when it is set to high beams so could there be sometime preventing power from getting to that point when its switched to low beam?

 

[CKOPOCT]

11-minute video explaining the wiring diagram:

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[Vielet]

11-minute video explaining the wiring diagram:

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That does make a lot of sense however after doing another voltage test I'm noticing there is no power going to pin 2 on either of the connectors from the car itself while the head lights are on low but when its on high it goes to 12v which is kind of the part that's really confusing me now.

 

[CKOPOCT]

What color are the wires on the chassis side of the connection? If it is factory (hasn't been chopped or modified), the harness should have a black wire, a red wire, and a red wire with a blue stripe. Take a picture of the plug and wires if you can.

 

[Vielet]

What color are the wires on the chassis side of the connection? If it is factory (hasn't been chopped or modified), the harness should have a black wire, a red wire, and a red wire with a blue stripe. Take a picture of the plug and wires if you can.

This is the connecter on the passenger side.

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[CKOPOCT]

Too lazy to type it up. Here's a video that explains what I think is going on. Also, here's a link to the factory 97-99 electrical service manual: https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/2g-1997-1999-dsm-electrical-factory-service-manual.517369/

Explanation: no low beams, but all 4 headlights come on when you click high beams-

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[Vielet]

Too lazy to type it up. Here's a video that explains what I think is going on. Also, here's a link to the factory 97-99 electrical service manual: https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/2g-1997-1999-dsm-electrical-factory-service-manual.517369/

Explanation: no low beams, but all 4 headlights come on when you click high beams-

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After testing voltage it looks like I am getting the 12V at pin 6 so from there it would have to be the switch which ig I received a broken one from AutoZone when I bought one thinking that was the problem. I'm planning on getting another one tomorrow so I will let you know if that fixes the problem or not with another switch.

 

[Vielet]

Too lazy to type it up. Here's a video that explains what I think is going on. Also, here's a link to the factory 97-99 electrical service manual: https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/2g-1997-1999-dsm-electrical-factory-service-manual.517369/

Explanation: no low beams, but all 4 headlights come on when you click high beams-

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At this point I'm am just fully confused and do not understand this car. I'm getting the 12v at pin 6 and I got a new switch so unless its another bad switch (which I don't really know how to test) I have absolutely no idea as to why this car does not want low beams to work. unless maybe it is just the fact that its H1 and H3 bulbs maybe idk.

 

[steve]

Neither of the bulbs are LEDs, right?

 

[CKOPOCT]

I, too, am confused. Let me recap to be sure I understand what's going on...

When you turn your headlights on to low beam, your side and rear lights come on, but your low beams do not come on. When you click the headlight switch to turn on the high beams, both your low and high beams come on. Same thing when you flash your high beams.

When testing for power, you don't have 12v at the red/blue power wire that plugs into the headlights unless you are on high beams. You also don't have power at the red wire in that same harness. The black ground wire tests good, meaning it is a good ground.

You've tested the relays and fuses and all are good. You've tested for power at different points along the system and, except for the red/blue wire, everything seems to be getting power when it is supposed to.

Is all of this correct? Am I missing anything?

 

[Vielet]

I, too, am confused. Let me recap to be sure I understand what's going on...

When you turn your headlights on to low beam, your side and rear lights come on, but your low beams do not come on. When you click the headlight switch to turn on the high beams, both your low and high beams come on. Same thing when you flash your high beams.

When testing for power, you don't have 12v at the red/blue power wire that plugs into the headlights unless you are on high beams. You also don't have power at the red wire in that same harness. The black ground wire tests good, meaning it is a good ground.

You've tested the relays and fuses and all are good. You've tested for power at different points along the system and, except for the red/blue wire, everything seems to be getting power when it is supposed to.

Is all of this correct? Am I missing anything?

I have solved the problem and they now work it was the switch. Turns out the battery was low enough when I tested it last night I didn't notice it was working. Thankyou so very much for all the help with this and explaining the diagrams better for me.

 

[CKOPOCT]

Glad that you resolved the problem and that we were able to help you out.