Found headlight defect in Sunfire and Cavalier.

[8bahead]

GM has a common problem with the headlight wiring on the Sunfires and Cavaliers. DRL lights don't work, low beams don't work, and all you have is brights. I spoke to the dealer about it when I took mine in for the ignition recall. He wanted me to replace the entire wiring harness. He also tried to scare me by saying it would eventually cause other things to malfunction. Would have cost about $800, which is a house payment for me. Therefore I was not willing to settle for that. So, with about three hours of time and $10 I fixed the problem and made sure it will not happen again.

Here goes...

-Disconnect the negative battery terminal.
-Remove radiator cover.
-Remove headlights and turn signals.
-The problem occurs where the wiring runs across the car in front of the radiator. The wires rub against the bumper supports, causing pinholes in the wiring that corrode.
-Unwrap all the wiring that is there. GM does a really insufficient job of protecting the wiring.
-Once you locate the pinholes all you have to do is replace the section of wire that is bad. I personally had 1 on passenger side and 5 on driver side.
-Once you do that just wrap all the wiring in GOOD electrical tape.
-I went a step further and also used plastic wire loom to protect against the wear of the rubbing.
-Then just reattach the wiring and put everything else back together.
-Problem solved!

I hope this saves everyone some time and money. This was the second time I had this problem. First time cost $139 at a local mechanic. But it can reoccur if not fixed properly the first time. I spent 2 months researching before I found the information I needed to solve this problem. GOOD LUCK!!!

[ThePrairieProphet]

excellent tip, i had a similar problem where i lost one headlight, but drl's stayed on. cost me 200 beans for them to find and repair a bad wire on my 97 sunfire. oyvey.

[alfonz]

OH you are my saviour, I have the exact same problem on mine, I did a workaround however for the time being...

I pulled the headlight wires out and swaped them, i have the highbeam signal giving my lowbeams signal, and the not working low beam to my highs. . Heh at least I got lowbeams working again.

[budwich]

Just spent the afternoon on my son's 99 sunfire. No highs, working drl's so bulbs are fine and lows work. As indicated here and other forums, the front wiring of this auto is not necessarily "reliable". We pull the tape wrap and protective piece of plastic sleeves looking for broken wiring. Eventually found a "rotted" splice on the four pink wires near the driver's side lamp area in the main cable running back toward the car body and under / near the window washer bottle. Replaced the splice with some good wire and presto, everything works fine. Originally, I had thought that the combination switch was faulty as that is a common condition in the Ford Ex world. One thing that I find disappointing is the lack of good reference manuals around the web for GM. My Ford Truck CD is great and was cheap ($5... but can be found for free). Wish GM would put some limited access sites up for DIYs.... might even help their slumping sales.... but they probably wouldn't want to kill their $100 manual sales.

[74hotrodmalibu]

Originally Posted by 8bahead

GM has a common problem with the headlight wiring on the Sunfires and Cavaliers. DRL lights don't work, low beams don't work, and all you have is brights. I spoke to the dealer about it when I took mine in for the ignition recall. He wanted me to replace the entire wiring harness. He also tried to scare me by saying it would eventually cause other things to malfunction. Would have cost about $800, which is a house payment for me. Therefore I was not willing to settle for that. So, with about three hours of time and $10 I fixed the problem and made sure it will not happen again.

Here goes...

-Disconnect the negative battery terminal.
-Remove radiator cover.
-Remove headlights and turn signals.
-The problem occurs where the wiring runs across the car in front of the radiator. The wires rub against the bumper supports, causing pinholes in the wiring that corrode.
-Unwrap all the wiring that is there. GM does a really insufficient job of protecting the wiring.
-Once you locate the pinholes all you have to do is replace the section of wire that is bad. I personally had 1 on passenger side and 5 on driver side.
-Once you do that just wrap all the wiring in GOOD electrical tape.
-I went a step further and also used plastic wire loom to protect against the wear of the rubbing.
-Then just reattach the wiring and put everything else back together.
-Problem solved!

I hope this saves everyone some time and money. This was the second time I had this problem. First time cost $139 at a local mechanic. But it can reoccur if not fixed properly the first time. I spent 2 months researching before I found the information I needed to solve this problem. GOOD LUCK!!!

if this works i owe you a beer or at least a great big THANK YOU

[macca_fella]

Well I have been having this problem with my 2001 sunfire gt. I was getting by with the fog lights on during the day and my hi-beams still worked for night time.

I really hope this works, once the I get a nice day outside I will go check it out. Thanks a lot

[Hightekmike]

I just did this repair on my 96. There are multiple somewhat tiny metal crimps that GM uses to fasten the wires together that had rusted away. The crimp on the blue wires rotted on mine. What I did to isolate the area was I turned on the headlights and then pinched the taped wire in front of the radiator with my fingers until the drivers side headlight came on, when I let the wire go the light turned off. So I found the area the bad crimp was in by doing that. I then unwrapped the tape from the wires in that area and found the rotted crimp point. I also found one additional crimp close by that was pretty rusty so I fixed that one too. Before doing that though I wasted $91 on a multifunction switch.

[vulcan_03]

I have an 2000 Sunfire GT and found a guy that knows and can fix the problem with no issues.....he has fixed about 4 of them not including mine this summer.......it seems the wiring for the lights runs underneath the reservoir for the windshield washer fluid.......you need to remove the wheel well panel, take the battery out and some other parts that are right there in order to give you access (we didnt need much cause he has small hands)......once you remove the reservoir you can see the wiring there......its getting frayed and corroded from the washer fluid......splice wires and replace then wrap with electrical tape.......he added extra by placing a covering over it so it hopefully wouldnt happen again......there were also wires in the front by the rad that were frayed from the previous post.......this little extra by the washer reservoir will save you alot of headaches........I called GM to advise them of the design flaw and all I got was a rude woman saying that I wasnt going to receive compensation fo rthis......I never asked for it I only asked that maybe they make their GM mechanics aware of this......

[COP TZR]

good explaining...

[halijay]

Originally Posted by 8bahead

GM has a common problem with the headlight wiring on the Sunfires and Cavaliers. DRL lights don't work, low beams don't work, and all you have is brights. I spoke to the dealer about it when I took mine in for the ignition recall. He wanted me to replace the entire wiring harness. He also tried to scare me by saying it would eventually cause other things to malfunction. Would have cost about $800, which is a house payment for me. Therefore I was not willing to settle for that. So, with about three hours of time and $10 I fixed the problem and made sure it will not happen again.

Here goes...

-Disconnect the negative battery terminal.
-Remove radiator cover.
-Remove headlights and turn signals.
-The problem occurs where the wiring runs across the car in front of the radiator. The wires rub against the bumper supports, causing pinholes in the wiring that corrode.
-Unwrap all the wiring that is there. GM does a really insufficient job of protecting the wiring.
-Once you locate the pinholes all you have to do is replace the section of wire that is bad. I personally had 1 on passenger side and 5 on driver side.
-Once you do that just wrap all the wiring in GOOD electrical tape.
-I went a step further and also used plastic wire loom to protect against the wear of the rubbing.
-Then just reattach the wiring and put everything else back together.
-Problem solved!

I hope this saves everyone some time and money. This was the second time I had this problem. First time cost $139 at a local mechanic. But it can reoccur if not fixed properly the first time. I spent 2 months researching before I found the information I needed to solve this problem. GOOD LUCK!!!

Thanks for the info!! This has been occurring at random on my 02 Cavalier for the past couple of years. The first time I had my mechanic fix it, but this did little good as he didn't insulate the wires properly afterwords. This will be my weekend project - and hopefully fix this annoying problem once and for all.

[jcurrieirocz]

I have this issue on a 2003 sunfire,,, what wires should i replace.

[halijay]

The wires that run across the front bumper - from headlight to headlight. But there are other problems with these headlights that could be an issue. It's a pain in the ass. If you have the money take it to a professional.

[Twizted_3KGT]

Originally Posted by jcurrieirocz

I have this issue on a 2003 sunfire,,, what wires should i replace.

That would depend on if this is your issue, and which wires are open. I just replaced the power wire for the passenger headlight on a 00 sunfire the other day. The open wasn't in the area mentioned by the OP, though it is very common for it to be there. This particular one was open where the wires are routed out of the engine bay and in front of the radiator. So basically, beneath the air filter box and battery tray area.

You would need to be able to electrically test the wiring to find your fault. If unable to do this, I would recommend taking it to a professional. If someone recommends an entire wiring harness like in the OP's case, take it elsewhere. Most shops will simply repair the existing wiring harness.

[summer_d]

i have tried all of those and still nothing! VERRRRY frusterating!!!!

[Kurt V65]

Thanks 8bahead . I would have never thought of this and it was exactly my problem. Quick and easy fix , great advice. Thanks