No Low Beams

[Circle]

The low beams on my 1999 3.5 (91k miles) don't work. The high beams are fine but dazzling oncoming traffic. Bulbs and fuses are good and there is no relay to check, right? Could be the switch in which case it's not getting fixed. Too $$$.

Since I use the car at night only from the train station to home, can I connect the high beam wires to the low beams and forgoe the use of the highs? Are the connectors the same so I can just switch them? Or do I have to splice. It's too cold to mess around too long so I'm looking for an easy fix.

Thanks for any advice.

[pfofit]

Are you sure the bulbs are fine? Did you look at them or measure them with an ohm meter or try new ones?
You'd be surprised the number of cars over the years that came to me with this issue and both bulbs popped on a road bump and the owner looked at the filaments and thought they were fine by but measured a high resistance when checked.

That being said, as for an easy swap, No.
The lamp assembly has a large plug for everything, lamps signals drl's etc .

The plugs inside for the low and high beam bulbs are different. They look similar but one is slightly fatter and I believe a different colour to match the bulb base colour. You would need to cut and splice either outside at the main plug or internally. The lamp assemblies are easily removed with two white clips that lift up and then the whole shebang could be brought inside.

The outside plug wires colours are pink for high and bark blue for low. Inside the assembly? I would have to check, but switching the wrong ones would be problematic.

There is a relay involved if you have the automatic headlights thingy but the low beam contact in the high/low switch in the stalk needs to be closed for this to have an effect.

Essentially, one side of all the lamps are connected to 12 volts through a fuse(one for each side of the car). The other side of the bulb is connected to ground through a low beam contact in the stalk and either an automatic headlamp relay contact or the manual headlamp switch on the end of the stalk.
---------------------------------
So if you had automatic headlights and rotating the end switch on the stalk (you have tried that yes.) does not work then the switch is toast.

Switching the wires should work but what it does to the high beam indicator, DRL's etc , who knows.

cheers

ADDED: The wires connected to the battery are orange for low and orange with a black strip for high. Switching these will do nothing for the lamps.
Note that there is a second orange wire (go figure??) for the cornering light but it is a smaller diameter.

Another add: The info above is from a 2001 intrigue, I presume the 1999 is the same.

[Circle]

Thank you PFOFIT for your very comprehensive answer. You are right, the bulbs did look good on inspection. I'll try new bulbs and if that doesn't work, I'll switch the wiring as you indicate. I'll let you know what this does to the other lights.

Would you know where the relay for the automatic lights is? The owner's manual and the diagram in the fuse center are silent on that.

Maybe I'll just wait 'till spring when I can drive to and from the train in daylight!

[Circle]

I finally got around to checking the low beam bulbs. Sylvania Silver Star, about 2 years old.

Yes, they both burned out at exactly the same time!

Fortunately, I kept the original bulbs which had been in use for 9 years, and replaced the burned out ones with them.

[sparcx]

Originally Posted by Circle

Fortunately, I kept the original bulbs which had been in use for 9 years, and replaced the burned out ones with them.

original one's are still going strong on my car too. I was expecting to replace them a long time ago, but they keep going and going.

After 10 years my front turn signal bulbs finally gave up last year.

[pfofit]

Originally Posted by Circle

Yes, they both burned out at exactly the same time!

Aha. So where do I send the invoice.

Glad you friggered it out and replied back.
So many peoples never let you know their end result.
cheers.