One Headight VERY Dim and cant find out why

msmaron

msmaron

Well-known member
Just changed bulbs and are using brattons push in halogen bulbs.. Put them in and the left bulb is barely lit.. cleaned posts, checked wires and all good, Tried another NEW set of bulbs and same thing. The left pass is bright and strong and the drives is barely lit at all.. Any suggestions out there to narrow it down....:confused:
 
weak earth , Take a wire & run from light bucket to an earth & see if it comes bright.
Derek from still raining in NZ
 
Run a jumper wire from bulb socket to a good ground on frame.If bulb gets brighter,then you should solder a wire close to back end of socket & run it thru HL conduit & down to a cleaned off spot under the front hood hook on the frame.I run seperate ground wires for HL,s & tail lites on both my 'A"s & never have ground problems.I also do away with the original plug-in connectors at HL,s & have push-in wire ends behind the rad shell.I also solder all wire terminals.The purists may cringe,but it makes for a very reliable system.
 
I had one like that...it was a bad ground from a repro socket. They rely on their ground from the focus screw, but the hinge on the socket assy on the repros is so loose that the contact is bad. As Derek suggested above, run a ground to the side of the socket. If that works, solder it permanently
 
I have all stock rewired original sockets,original connecters, when I had a dim light I put a new lockwasher under the nuts holding the headlight on, and the light bar ---no more dim lights ---new lockwashers have sharp edges to make contact through paint. ---there are some lockwashers that are better---they have raised ridges on the edges--I don't know if they are still made, I got them from a bolt bin at a place I did some work for ---I found a picture of the type on e-bay -- http://compare.ebay.com/like/120380905099?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar --you can see the raised ridge on the edge
 
J Franklin said:
I like to use internal star washers wherever I want to insure a good ground.
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These are what I use where the tail lights are mounted. You can not see the little teeth on the internal star washers. I use 1 or 2 where teacup attaches to bracket and where bracket attaches to fender.

I run hidden dedicated ground wires to the headlights through the conduits.
 
If you suspect a ground issue you need to use a volt meter and start checking for a voltage across the suspect points. Another easy way to test is to just use a clip lead and fasten one end to a known good ground and start touching the other end to the headlight bucket and the light socket to see where the ground is bad. Some like to run a seperate hidden ground wire, but I'd prefer to just fix the bad ground at the source.
 
ok good points, i think i will start with checking the focus screw, that was very loose and not making contact and will check the washer to attach to the headlight bar!
 
Well still NOT working, NOW i get only very very dim lights on BOTH, and the passenger ONLY on the brights...arggggg!~~~~
 
Mark,
Take the head light off the bar, and wire brush the head light bar socket. Then carefully wire brush the portion of the head light bucket that attaches to the bar. Next clean the inside bucket were the socket screws into, also after installing the sockets pull the wires back then insert the bulb, this prevents the wires from touching the side of the bulb socket.

Mike
 
I had similar problems with my 30 Tudor when I bought it. Having time on my hands I disassembled the lights and soaked the rusty inside shell in some sort of acid (I forget what kind), cleaned everything of rust and most importantly added a ground strap from the battery post to the frame. Ta da! There was light. Your problem is most probably a poor ground. Be paitent and methodical and you will fix it.
 
1931 flamingo said:
Mark: What did you "disturb" just before BOTH lights went dim??
Paul in CT
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Actually Paul I did was to loosed the Headlight NUT, Clean the washer, screw back on tight, remove the bulb and clean the end terminals. that is IT

BUT i did notice when the bulb is in and on and i push on it, it gets brighter AND then dims...hmmmm
:confused:
 
Sounds like a bad ground. Loosen the bucket just a small amount, turn the headlights on and wiggle the headlight to see if it brightens up. If it does, bad ground.
 
Mike: regarding post #16. I haven't had headlights conn apart BUT there must be a spring that compresses putting pressure on the contacts to the base of the bulb. I would try stretching that spring a bit and see if lights now go bright. I'm thinking your grounds may be ok but you've got bad/loose contact between the bulb and socket. Hope this helps.
Paul in CT
 
1931 flamingo said:
Mike: regarding post #16. I haven't had headlights conn apart BUT there must be a spring that compresses putting pressure on the contacts to the base of the bulb. I would try stretching that spring a bit and see if lights now go bright. I'm thinking your grounds may be ok but you've got bad/loose contact between the bulb and socket. Hope this helps.
Paul in CT
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Ok give it's check and all A and L on new ones. Thank you.
 
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