Dim headlight, 03 sunfire, replaced bulbs, still dim..

NYSpeed Automotive
1

I’m doing some work on the misses POS sunfire.

The one headlight went dim, but not totally off.

I figured it needed bulbs.

On my way to the store, the headlight hi-beam light went on, and the service light went on.

I figured the bulbs were so low, that it was throwing up the service light.

This fucking thing takes H9 and H11 headlights. German bulbs that they put on Benz’s and shit. They are 15 bucks each.

So I spend 30 bucks on 2 headlights, and put them in.

Still dim, same problem.

Anyone have any ideas?

The other headlight is perfectly bright. The two bulbs on the passenger side are dim as hell…

2

my 08 wrx had the same problem (and no h11’s aren’t special, they actually suck)
My whole wirering harness was shot due to moisture

3

Main switch, or harness issue. Headlight issues seem to be common on these cars.

I’m going to assume driver’s side. Any changes in intensity between high-beam, low-beam, and day-time running?

4

A few things…

I took apart the harness, disconnected it at both sides.

It did not look rusty or corroded at all. I put it back together, put some dielectric grease in there. No change at all.

It is the passenger side that is dim, the driver side is bright. No change in intensity between any headlight modes.

Now I’m thinking about a headlight switch or wiring?

5

i would think if it was the switch, the light wouldn’t work at all?
It must be something to do with the wiring, as the lights are getting some juice…

But then again, I don’t know fuck about shit about electrical

6

Yeah thats what I was thinking!

This car was hit in the nose before, previous owner hit a deer. I can see where they redid the wiring (to the drivers headlight)…

Anybody know if I can just buy a plug and play harness for this thing?

What a pain in the ass! I hate this car…

7

Both lights would be affected in that case, and looking at the schematic that rules that out.

Looks like both lights get power from the distribution block, combine into one single wire, and are grounded via the multifunction switch. Seems to indicate a 15A fuse applies to each one, but I can’t verify if it’s just a poorly done schematic as I have no direct troubleshooting experience with these cars. But it looks like the only point I can find where only one light would be affected is between the distribution block and the multifunction switch.

8

There are two fuses in the car, one for each headlamp.

I swapped one 15w fuse for the other one, no change at all…

There is something that looks like a relay right sort of on the drivers side that both headlamps plug into. It is near the radiator.

9

Ground dirty, loose or both. Find the ground, fix the problem.

10

:word: Had the same problem on my old Pontiac.

11

bad relay or ground.

try swapping the headlight relays

12

x4 on ground

13

it’s a sunfire they always have this exact issue. The harness has a short in it. Quite a few spots do it also so there’s no exact location to point you in.

14

All j bodies had issues with corrosion on the front headlight harness. When these cars were still in production for the years of 95-03 the harnesses used to cost around $100. There was even a bulletin for the condition and thus alot of warranty claims on these. Now that the cars are not being prodcued anymore the harness has shot up to around 400. The only way to repair this correctly is to replace the entire harness unless you feel like untaping the entire harness to find and repair all the bad splices.

Good luck.

15

+1. used to see it all the time when i worked for GM dealers back in buffalo. just replace the frt harness. If you fix it, chances are you will be repairing it later on too. The corrosion follows down the wire for future problems.

16

way to master tech my line up!!! hehe. :grouphug:

17

bad/dirty ground.