One headlight is dim on drivers side.

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
8

84Suncrest

New member
Joined
Nov 24, 2010
Posts
1
I have a 1984 suncrest and I was getting it ready for the desert tonight. When i was checking the lights I found that the driverside headlight stays very dim. Then if I hit the brights it gets even dimmer and the second light barely kicks on. What would cause this?

Thank you,
Kyle
 
Try unplugging the headlight and squirting some contact cleaner into the socket and on the headlamp pins.  Then wiggle the socket around when you plug it back in.

If that doesn't clear things up, you'll have to start tracing wires.  The low and high beam bulbs each have their own supply wires from the headlight switch / hi-low beam relay, but since it happens on both low and high beam the more likely culprit is the return ground, which is common to both.  I can't suggest any easy way to locate where the ground ties into the chassis, other than just tracing the wires.
 
Also, on a vehicle that old, the lights themselves can go bad that way.  Try swapping from drivers to passengers side and see if the problem follows the switch.  If your passenger side lights get dim, it's the bulbs.  Otherwise, check your connectors for corrosion or bad contacts.

Carl
 
Bulbs do not go 1/2 bad as a rule , sorry Carl, bad ground, bad ground, bad ground, look for a wire near the head lights that is screwed to a metal frame, take apart and clean, good luck.
 
Lou Schneider said:
  I can't suggest any easy way to locate where the ground ties into the chassis, other than just tracing the wires.
Click to expand...

If you have a 12 volt test light (the kind with a probe and a pigtail) you can clip the pig tail to a good groung and probe the three wires on both high and low beam. The wire that doesn't light the test light is the ground.
 
Right on headlight packages it states that if the glass cracks the bulb can continue to burn, but at a lower output. I would guess a seal failure at the back of the buld would have the same effect... Swap'em and see if the problem follows the bulb.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,185 (members: 26, guests: 1,159)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,932
Posts
1,387,726
Members
137,682
Latest member
duckyw7528
Back
Top Bottom