I know this problem has been talked about a number of times on this forum and it all helped.
I've got numerous electrical problems in my '00 sunfire because the previous owner was a moron and does not understand that twist wires together does not keep them together! So,My problem is the typical " Turn my high beams on and lights go out, DRL relay clicks and service light comes on " problem. I tested the grounds on the highs and they are not there of course.
My question is, Where on the car are the grounds located for the high beams? Also does anyone know where I can find the wiring diagram for the light switch in case i want to run a new circuit for the high beams and by pass the old.
Thanks!!
Matthew
The Radio Guru
NewCap Radio Inc.
You wont find a skemetic online, and Haynes isnt much help with that. I have Mitchell but it isnt very good for exact ground locations.
You would need to try the best you can to trace the wiring.
by the way is anything else not working, I find it off there is just a ground for just the high beams, usually it would be a common ground, and several circuits would share it
When you tested for ground, you had no resistance so your meter OFL, or was there some resistance at least
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
When i tested the ground there was no continuity between the bulb and ground. I've come across two drawings one showing the grounds under the battery tray and one showing the body plug at the back, i've also gotten ahold of the wireing diagram which shows me that at the switch the Black/white is the ground for the high beams. I've got a series of tests i'm going to do to determine which part failed, test the ground at the switch, test the continuity between the switch and the light, continuity between the two lights. this will tell be weather it is a bad ground or bad splice. if its a bad splice then thats going to be a real pain to track down. I did notice loose wireing under the battery tray but it was -20'C outside and did not investigate any further.
Will update with pictures.
Matt
'00 Sunfire
The Radio Guru
Hold on a second, just want to make sure you did this right because you said the bulb had no continuity.
You need to probe the connector for the high beams ground with one test lead,and attach the other to a known good ground, battery - is a good one, than set the ohm meter to either resistance or to beep when continuity is found, that is how you did it right
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
Yes I probed the connector/socket and not the bulb also I Used a Continuity meter and not a DMM/Multimeter.
I've been building electronics since i was 14 years old and I currently work in Radio Broadcasting, My father is an electrician so i've been around electronics and electricity all my life. Electricity, test equipment Ohm's law are nothing new to me
Appreciate the help and interest my freind!
Matt
'00 Sunfire
The Radio Guru
Hi Matt
No problem, just was making sure we were on the same page
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
The ground for the hi beams is connected to the left side of the steering column bracket. There are several circuits that ground there, so there should be some type of factory splice or several wire connectors. Not sure on that.
The Good news : the highs work
The bad news
I disconnected the wire used by the computer to monitor the lights to turn on the high beam light and the DRL.
The problem was the pink wire from the splice to the control switch was broken and i replaced the pink wire with another wire of the same gauge so i knew there was to be no joins in the wire. At the switch are two pinks a light pink and a dark pink, i disconnected the dark pink and wired in the new feed to that pin, unfortunatly that was the monitoring circuit for the computer. Simple fix that i'll do later on to get my DRL back.
In this case it was not the lighting ground from the chassis but the lighting ground from the switch to the light. Also i found the splice i was looking for, it is located right behind the drivers side head light.
Matt
'00 Sunfire
The Radio Guru
