New Headlights - Driver Side Issues

Hey guys,

Yesterday I got some new headlights. They overall work great, but I think I'm having some wiring or fuse issues. I am terrible at electronics and wiring on vehicles, so bear with me. If you make suggestions, please explain things fully.

So as soon as I installed them, they worked great. The parking lights, highs and lows all worked. It came with a LED strip that I spliced into the parking light wire and that also works great. On the way home tonight, my driver side high beam quit working. Also, the lows were way too close to the ground and uneven, so I went to work getting those fixed when I got home.

I was able to straighten out the lows and make them even - great! However, I still couldn't get the driver side high to work. Then, after fiddling with the lights some more, my driver side low also doesn't work. So I am missing both lights on the driver side, but my parking light and LED strip work great.

I checked the fuse, and I am actually missing a fuse for the "left" headlight. I pulled a fuse from the Fog/DRL (I don't have fogs) and placed it in there - it did not do anything. I then took the "right" headlight fuse and placed it in to the "left" slot, and it made some weird stuff. It made the high beams turn on when I switch on "low beams" and vice versa. It also made the passenger high beam glow a dull amber instead of the bright color. I switched it back and the passenger side works as normal again.

Probably unrelated, but the heads on the cord w/ the blue snap attachment were loose when I checked. I got them re-seated and re-attached the plug and no changes were noted.

What would cause these lights from working 100% 10 hours ago, to the driver side completely fizzing out? The bulbs are in good shape, there's no way they could have blown on the first day. Would simply buying a fuse and adding it make the fix? I doubt it, as I tried adding that "fog light" fuse to the slot and nothing happened.

Please let me know if you can help!

Thanks!

I would buy a new headlight just for peace of mind and test that. I personally believe it has something to do with that splice you made into the lights for the led strip. I would remove the led splice and test. It is possible the leds are interfering with your ground or positive lead. just my opinion I know leds have a small draw, but still go back to stock to trouble shoot.

Upon looking at that headlight from ebay, I feel I should ask is your truck a sport model? (dual beams in each headlight stock)

DodgeTx said:

Upon looking at that headlight from ebay, I feel I should ask is your truck a sport model? (dual beams in each headlight stock)

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Thanks for your response. No it's not a Sport. I did some more tooling around, added a new fuse (which didn't help) but then went back to that blue plug. Remember how I said it was knocked loose - I put one of the wires in out of order. So I re-ordered the wires (the black, red and blue ones) and now the low beam works again on the driver side. It's just the high beam I can't get to work now...

I had the LED strip wired up and spliced as soon as I put them on. Everything worked great until I tried to adjust the vertical beam screw. I think something was knocked loose there, because 15 minutes later is when my driver high beam went out. Then the rest of the issues started when I was trying to get that fixed.

Do you know where all the grounds are for this? I tried looking at a wiring diagram but it's like looking at a foreign language. Any pictures of where I could check the ground connections?

I didn't even consider the possibility of the headlight bulb blowing. Since they are brand new, I would have thought they'd last a bit longer...

Does this look blown? I've never had "Halogen" bulbs. I don't hear any rattling like you would with an old bulb, not sure if it's the same with a halogen bulb.



Compare to the side that is working:


Hopefully it's that easy... Going to pick a bulb up soon.

I would guess that is blown as ****. (see the burn?) Did you touch the glass with your fingers when you changed them out? The oil that gets on the bulb from your fingers will make hot spots and the bulb will fail prematurely. Don't touch the bulb.

sbarron said:

I would guess that is blown as ****. (see the burn?) Did you touch the glass with your fingers when you changed them out? The oil that gets on the bulb from your fingers will make hot spots and the bulb will fail prematurely. Don't touch the bulb.

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Interestingly enough, that's what it was. The bulbs came in there already, so it came that way from the seller. I'll message them and let them know about the feedback. I guess I really wouldn't assume a brand new headlight would need the bulb changed, so I didn't even consider it. Luckily my fiance noticed!

For now, the problem is solved.