1 of my car's headlight became so dim with new bulb and clean lens?

Question

1 of my car's headlight became so dim even with new bulb and clean lens. Walmart technician told me that there may be some electrical issue. What and how should I check? My car is less than $500, so I prefer not to invest much $. Please help ~~~

Target car is a 1995 Ford Escort LX. Nevery garaged.

Answer 1

Actually, the problem can be anyplace in the circuit, not just the ground side. The best place to look though is right inside the connector that goes onto the back of the bulb. Look closely into each terminal with a flashlight for 1 or more contacts that are burned or melted. If you see discolored plastic, that's a good indicator as well. While these terminals can be cleaned and made to work for a while, they will normally have the same problem soon, and usually at the worst possible time. Its best to replace the pigtail, preferrably with a new one, or else be sure to closely inspect one you cut from a junked car. Its not a big deal to change. If all terminals appear to be clean, then the electrical troubleshooting can begin. But since you didn't say which type of bulb it is, or what make car, the wire colors and positions are impossible to guess.

Answer 2

This is most likely caused by corrosion somewhere. Since it is only on one light it would be somewhere between the two. I would look around the battery area first. A battery that has spilled acid onto wires can corrode them quite badly and cause problems just like this.

It could also be poor ground. There is a way to check with a multimeter.

With the headlights on read the voltage going to the dim light. If it is much less than 12 volts it is resistance on the power side. If the voltage is around the 12 volts than the resistance is on the ground side.

Multimeters are cheap(~$20 or so for an ok one) and something everyone with a $500 car should have. :)

Answer 3

If it has daylight hours working lights, the diverse voltage is dropped throughout a resistor throughout daylight hours to help the bulbs final longer, on account that they are on all the time. perhaps the daylight hours working lights dimming module is undesirable, and the low beams don't get the entire 12 volts.

Answer 4

You got a ground circuit problem. Go to your h-light harness and find the ground. Follow it to the ground point, you'll find your problem somewhere in the middle of that search.