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Low beams not working

100K views 29 replies 16 participants last post by  malibu_ironworker 
#1 ·
Both low beams have quit working at the same time. I have checked all fuses associated with the low beams and changed out the relay. I have also chaged the bulbs.

Both the parking lights and the high beams work.

Any suggestions on what else needs to be checked or replaced?

2004 Malibu
 
#2 ·
Did you use the aftermarket bulbs that give off HID look? The ones rated at above 55w? Cause if you did, then you may have burned out the wiring harness that attaches to back of the bulbs.
I did the same thing years ago, lucky i was able to stop it in time when i noticed one of my headlights did not turn on once i turned the switch.
The way i prevented it from getting worse was i installed a heavier gauged wiring kit for my type of bulb. Only i had to purchase mine from a tuner shop. Not sure if they still sell the wiring kit anymore since everyone's installing HID's on their rides now-a-days.

Hope this was of some assistance to you.
 
#30 ·
Did you use the aftermarket bulbs that give off HID look? The ones rated at above 55w? Cause if you did, then you may have burned out the wiring harness that attaches to back of the bulbs.
This was the mistake that i made. After replacing the relay and the switch, i bit the bullet and dropped the bumper to make 100% that the bulbs were not the issue. Low and behold it was the bulbs. I had replaced them about 3 months prior and went with the extra bright h11's. I was not aware that my ballast was not rated for these bulbs and caused them to burn out very quickly.
 
#6 ·
I'm with Starship. Go to the headlights and test the socket for +12V on one wire and a proper ground on the other.

If you find +12V when you turn on the low beams then the supply circuit is working so you have one of two issues: 1) the bulb is bad (bad straight out of the box is rare but it happens), or 2) the ground path is not complete.

If you don't have +12V on any wire with the low beams on then you need to check for the correct relay in the fuse block, a fuse that appears good but isn't, burned or damaged wires, damaged terminals, and finally a bad MFS (multifunction switch).

Check these things out and come back for some more input if you need it. The MFS might be the hardest to diagnose so save it for last.
 
#10 ·
I know what to check just a matter of what order to do it in
As with any problem, you check the easiest and cheapest things first.

In this case, it would be pulling one (or more) of the connectors off a headlight and checking for 12 V. and ground.

I am assuming that you can do that without any major dis-assembly........but either way, it needs to be done. Maybe the connectors have vibrated loose on both the bulbs.
 
#11 ·
Pull the relays for the highs and lows. Check for 12V at 1 or 2 of the terminals at each relay. If it's at 2 then the MFS turns the HL on with a ground. If it's at only 1 then it uses +12V to do it.

Next check the terminals of the relays. If they look dirty or dingy, insert and remove them several times to clean them and make good contact.

If that helps then it was simply an issue with dirty contacts.

You can also try swapping relays with other known working components so long as they're all the same number of pins. If the known working one continues to work it isn't the relay.

Next is the signal circuit. Determine how it switches the relay coil. If it uses +12V then check the fuse(s); if it uses ground then make sure the signal is getting there.

Find out which terminal the relay uses to turn the lights on. Supply +12V to it and see if the lights turn on. If they do, it's not the bulbs; if not, there's an issue right there that needs corrected, and there may be more once that works.
 
#12 ·
If you have a meter or a test light, go to the underhood fuse block and check the headlight fuses marked RH LOW, LH LOW, RH HIGH and LH HIGH. Check the low beam fuses on low beam and the high beam fuses on high beam. They are only fed power when selected by the dimmer. If there's power at all four fuses when there's supposed to be power, I'd pop a headlamp out and check there. It may be the wiring harness inside the headlamp itself or just bad bulbs but that sounds really odd though not impossible. Yellow wire at headlight bulb is low beam power and green is power for high beam at the bulb. Black is ground at each bulb. If you need more info, just ask.
 
#13 ·
Have not had time to test voltage this past week so no idea what is going on but wife decided she would be driving during the day today so she took the car. Well it is raining out so she decided to turn on her headlights and now there are no high beams either. Anyone think the low beams was a warning the headlight switch was going? now no headlights at all. Doubt it is a ground on all lights and obviously it isnt all 4 bulbs burnt out at the same time.
ok let me rephrase that..... has anyone had this same experience and had it be the switch? or what was the problem. I know what to check just a matter of what order to do it in
I know I'm not doing this right but DD can you merge these or isn't it worth it? Not sure how to ID the threads so you can find them so this is how I tried to do it.
 
#14 ·
That ought to do just fine. It helps put all the thoughts into one place.
 
#19 ·
There are separate fuses for the lows and highs as well as separate relays. Pull them out and check them or just replace the fuses with known good ones.

If the relays turn on and the lights don't it's just a simple matter of tracing from the relay to the plug to see if you're getting power to the bulbs or not.
 
#20 ·
hey guys im new on this forum and im having an issue with my low beams i changed my HID on my 2006 Malibu Maxx SS cuz it wasnt turning on i thought it burned out i changed it with new one and a new 35w ballast and i still have the same issue, i troubled shot the fuses and relays and still am having the same issue i have pic attached my driver side lows work its my passanger side low that i am having issues with... can some please help...
 

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#21 ·
kant reed wythowt punk-chew-ashun - eyes hurt!
 
#27 ·
Yep, I've had SilverStar bulbs before, too, and they burned out within 3 days of each other after only a year. Get the LL (long life) bulbs and save replacing them so often.
 
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