1999 Grand Am help

Hey I'm new here and I was reading through alot of the threads already posted and it helped alot.
I have come to the conclusion after reading that the hub bearings going bad is kinda common that me and my friend were right.. just gotta get the money to fix.
But I do have some other questions,

The metal tabs/rings in the headlights, would it be possible to remove those and actually get a more spread out/brighter beam?
The reverse lights in the bumper don't work at all. If I just wire them with the reverse lights in the tails will it bother anything?
I read the taillights are prone to leaking, explains the water by the spare tire, where would i silicone to keep the water out? My wife eventually wants to show the car so I don't want silicone all over the place. Could I just use weatherstripping?

I think that's about it right now. So hopefully this rain holds off so I can finish painting the interior and wire the stereo system. Thanks for any and all help

Welcome to AF!

Ok I dont know what tabs you are talking about on the headlights of your 99 GA.
Your reverse lights, might check the bulbs first...

The tail lights leak around the seal where the bulbs are located. If you have water in the trunk area it could be weather stripping, or it could be from a sun roof drain leaking if you have this.


hope that helps

I believe the headlight pieces he is refering to are the metal pieces that are right in front of the bulbs. Those are there so you don't blind oncoming drivers. Some lightbulbs are colored black on the tip to accomplish this, while the clear ones (like yours) need the reflectors in front of them. They reflect the light back at the main reflector which reflects it back towards forward and them out of the lens. If you remove them, you'll get people flashing their brights at you, and you may not even have better visability because the light will not be focused.

About the reverse lights, I would check a wiring diagram to make sure they are spliced in to the regular reverse before you run any wires. For some reason I am thinking they were not standard, and that they have a seperate power supply and use a relay that is controlled by the regular reverse lights power source.

Yeah those are the metal pieces I'm refering to. They appear to be open on the ends though. I did check the bulbs first, they are fine. I'll have to try to find the diagram then because I hate having them when they don't work. And as for the taillights if I just put silicone around where the bulbs are it'll be fine? And one thing I forgot.. the daytime running lights.. is there a way to disconnect them without pulling the relay/fuse? I hate drl's.
Thanks for the help

those metal pieces help direct the light beam down the road instead of everywhere. And you couldnt realy get it out without destroying the light housing.

Thier are wire diagrams in the Tips and Maintenance (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=2148)section.

On your tails yes, where the piece comes off to replace your bulbs, and make sure the clips around it all lock in place to keep it shut while it drys. :thumbsup:

And DRLs , we gots that too! :D I think thats here... on this page.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=2014

also on your backup lights, check the wires in back. They tend to get damaged or hot and melt the wire casings causing shorts. Also check your tail light bulbs they tehd to get shorted from moisture and melt the wires on the bulb fixtures. ;)

Thanks. I got a new hub bearing assembly today. Is it very hard to replace? I know not to use an impact.

I found your wiring diagram. I don't see the reverse lights in the bumper. only the ones in the taillights.

Thanks. I got a new hub bearing assembly today. Is it very hard to replace? I know not to use an impact.

No not realy hard, just a little tuff.

I found your wiring diagram. I don't see the reverse lights in the bumper. only the ones in the taillights.
Ok when you said your reverse ligths werent working you were reffering to the one in the tail light housing ??

If those are not working you could have a bad light housing with a short.

Thiers also reverse lights at the bottm of the rear bumper.

no the taillights work. it's the bumper ones that don't work at all. I found the wiring diagram but it didn't have the bumper lights listed at all. And come to find out the hub bearing wasn't bad. So I got to put $100 back into my pocket. IDK what the problem was but when I took everything apart it stopped and is driving fine with everything put back on. really weird.