Hi guys--

I'm new to this forum, so go easy on me - and thanks in advance for the help!

About 6 months to a year ago, I started having periodic problems with my headlights. It first started in a rainstorm on the New Jersey Turnpike. At some point I realized that my headlights were out. The highbeams worked if I turned them on, and the parking lights stayed on throughout. I stopped at a rest area, and the mechanic fiddled with them (but he said he didn't really do anything with them, just kind of pushed and prodded) and they came back on.

For several months after that, one or both of the lowbeams would often not turn on when I started the car, but if I gave each one a good bang or two with my fist, they'd start working. (I.e., if I hit the right light it would turn on but the left would still be out until I went over and hit it.)

For the past few months, I had no problems at all.

Then on Sunday, it was pretty rainy, and I had to bang on the headlights but only managed to get one of them working. Since that night, I haven't been able to get either of them to work. Highbeams and side lights still work fine.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I thought it must have been a loose connection at the headlights, but maybe water's getting in and shorting something out? It doesn't make sense to me why it would happen on both sides simultaneously, especially since the headlight assembly on one side was replaced a few years back.

 

There's probably a headlight relay but I don't have a 97 so I don't know where it's located. Under-hood fusebox? Check & see if the connections for that relay are loose/dirty/corroded?

 

There are two sides two the circuit, voltage (12V) and ground. You should determine which side of the circuit is the cause of your problem.

Unplug the electrical connector to the low beam bulbs.

I would get a volt meter and see if you have 12V on the red/yel (driver side) or red/grn (passenger) wire when you have the headlights turned on. Touch one probe of the volt meter to the red/X wire and the other lead to a bolt on the valve cover. You should get 12V.

Let us know what you find.

 

Thanks for the tips! Seems like both headlight bulbs blew out at the same time. So the earlier problems were unrelated to what happened last weekend. But if they do start flaking out again, I'm going to check the relay (which I found, but didn't have a voltmeter).