98 Century/no low beams

[beck5012]

checked fuses only could find fuses for left and right. Wife went to work dimmed lights and nothing had to get to work on high beams. Switchs seem to be working fine. Never had any problem till then. has auto lights and flashes when locking and stay on when ya get out. No low beams on any of the above. When you have the high beams on they flash and stay on when ya get out. So it appears to be only the low beams . Everything els works the same. Any ideas would be great. Is there a relay for the highs to the lows??? and if so were is it?? I could not find anything on the lights in the black panel on the fender and checked all fuses on the passenger side.

[BNaylor]

There is no relay in that circuit. It sounds like you have either bad low beam contacts in the multifunction switch (MFS/stalk), bad wiring or both low beam lamps are burnt out.

[beekiller]

If both low beams are indeed burned out, you might check your alternator output. Often when the voltage regulator fails, the resulting high voltage condition will burn out the low beams. However the high beams usually don't blow because they use enough current to drop the voltage.

[Grandy]

I have a 99 Century Buick with the same problem, no lowbeams. It has a sensor that turn on lowbeams automatically when light outside is almost dark.
At the beginning I thought that the lamps were burned, but I tested and changed for new ones. I forget the problem for one night and the following day everything was ok. The problem came backt at the following day, I check all fuses, no relays and discover that moving the multiswitch the lowbeams turn on, so there's a bad contact in the multiswitch. Once I drove 2 hours pulling the lever to keep with highbeams, but after that the contacts may knit.
My problem now is how to release the airbag from the wheel to take out it and take out the multiswitch.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by Grandy

I have a 99 Century Buick with the same problem, no lowbeams. It has a sensor that turn on lowbeams automatically when light outside is almost dark.
At the beginning I thought that the lamps were burned, but I tested and changed for new ones. I forget the problem for one night and the following day everything was ok. The problem came backt at the following day, I check all fuses, no relays and discover that moving the multiswitch the lowbeams turn on, so there's a bad contact in the multiswitch. Once I drove 2 hours pulling the lever to keep with highbeams, but after that the contacts may knit.
My problem now is how to release the airbag from the wheel to take out it and take out the multiswitch.

Welcome to AF.

The MFS switch going bad is a classic problem on both Century and Regal for either low or high beams. When I replaced the one in my '99 Regal LS about 6 months ago I did not have to remove the airbag. This procedure should work on the Century but it may not help if you have a column shifter. The only part omitted is removing the tilt steering lever. Using a small flat blade screwdriver just insert to the right and pry the bracket to the right which will release the knob. Good luck!

Click here

[dugan50]

To Remove the AIRBAG
First disconnect the battery & wait 10 minutes

Disconnect the Inflatable Restraint Steering Wheel Module Coil yellow 2-way wiring harness connector.

Insert a flat-bladed screwdriver into one of the four openings in the back of the steering wheel.

Turn the screwdriver counterclockwise to disengage the spring from the slot in the inflator module.

Repeat the same steps for the other holes.

To Replace the Turn signal Switch:

1. Remove the steering column trim covers.
2. Remove the steering column wire harness (1) from the steering column wire harness retainer (2).
3. Remove the two wire harness straps from the steering column wire harness (1).
4. Remove the steering column bulkhead connector from the vehicle wire harness.
5. Disconnect the gray and black connectors from the multifunction turn signal lever steering column bulkhead connector.

***Link removed by Moderator***I can email you pictures if you send me a request

[BNaylor]

You forgot the part where you have to lay on your back and suffer for a few days after removing the two connectors from the main connector block with the ignition switch harness.

Here is the MFS I replaced in my wife's '99 Regal LS. When I get time and find Torx allens small enough I think I'll clean the contacts. On this one no hi-beams in the locked position. Pass to flash was working OK. About a 1 hour job and luckily I did not have to mess with the airbags. However, I did remove the airbag fuse before starting work on it.