here's something I discovered tonight. When driving home from bowling night,at 12:30 am, had the hi beams on to prevent a large animal impact(deer) and after driving for a few minutes with them on, they just cut out for about 10 seconds then came back on. Not wanting to attract any more attention than needed at the time, i left the lows on until I got in the neighborhood, and tried it again. After a few minutes again on Hi, they cut out again, this time came back on, off again, then back on and stayed for some time...What could this be, has anyone else had this happen, or do I have a 20 year old gremlin thats really pissed for being hidden for so long?
hi beams cutting out?
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A self resetting breaker in the sw, cutting out w/ the increased load? I don't recall if the Puicks have such, but some cars do/did.
To start off, I'd go look at all the grounds, light plugs, etc, for loose/dirty/damaged connections....
To start off, I'd go look at all the grounds, light plugs, etc, for loose/dirty/damaged connections....
salvageV6
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Check the things Chuck mentioned but you might want to do an initial test at the HI/LO beam activation switch and connector and wiring.
It's about halfway down the st. column on the left side, activated by a rod from the stalk.
At the connector wiggle the wires with the high beams on, sometimes the wires melt right at the connector a weak point, and sometimes the whole switch will melt with too big a load, as in high wattage H4 and H1 replacement bulbs.
It's about halfway down the st. column on the left side, activated by a rod from the stalk.
At the connector wiggle the wires with the high beams on, sometimes the wires melt right at the connector a weak point, and sometimes the whole switch will melt with too big a load, as in high wattage H4 and H1 replacement bulbs.
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had this problem on my 86 with H4 lamps
the lamps would overload the stock headlamp switch which would cut off then come back once it cooled
,
the fix was easy ...hotwire the high beam headlamps
get a fan relay from the junkyard (cut it off with a couple inches of wire) or get a relay from auto parts store
open the front end harness harness above the horns , grab the green wire that feeds the highbeams and cut it , wire the end toward dash to pin 86 on relay , run the other end to pin 87 on relay, run pin 30 on relay to alternator post (12v , use an inline fuse at alternator) and pin 85 to ground (horn ground screw on fender works good)
it cuts out the loss of current through the old factory wiring , lights are not only staying on but are much brighter than before and would work just as well for the lows too
the lamps would overload the stock headlamp switch which would cut off then come back once it cooled
,
the fix was easy ...hotwire the high beam headlamps
get a fan relay from the junkyard (cut it off with a couple inches of wire) or get a relay from auto parts store
open the front end harness harness above the horns , grab the green wire that feeds the highbeams and cut it , wire the end toward dash to pin 86 on relay , run the other end to pin 87 on relay, run pin 30 on relay to alternator post (12v , use an inline fuse at alternator) and pin 85 to ground (horn ground screw on fender works good)
it cuts out the loss of current through the old factory wiring , lights are not only staying on but are much brighter than before and would work just as well for the lows too
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thanks
it seems like it was doing just that, cooling and coming back on, except the time periods were not consistent, sometimes it would come on and off two or three times in a row and then stay on for quite some time, other times it will go off and on once then stay on a while,,so who knows, but i'll get to checking all thats listed this weekend...thanks so far for input,Jon
it seems like it was doing just that, cooling and coming back on, except the time periods were not consistent, sometimes it would come on and off two or three times in a row and then stay on for quite some time, other times it will go off and on once then stay on a while,,so who knows, but i'll get to checking all thats listed this weekend...thanks so far for input,Jon
turboskylark
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I lost my hi beams on my first trip to the lake at albout midnight going down a dark 2 lane curvy highway, it was my buicks maiden voyage and it was one of the most scariest things that ever happened to me,because they kept going out, needless to say it was interesting as hell!!! oh yeah, forgot to mention I got a speeding ticket on the interstate before I had the light problem. but it was worth it,nothing better then a turbo 6 under your foot.:biggrin:
nice
what ended up being the problem on your lights? My maiden voyage was 5 hours in a rain storm from detroit to chicago, but i never hit the hi beams because of the traffic. Lows stayed on full time, who knew! Not to big of a deal, I guess it can only be a couple things, not much to go wrong between the harness at the column and the lights
what ended up being the problem on your lights? My maiden voyage was 5 hours in a rain storm from detroit to chicago, but i never hit the hi beams because of the traffic. Lows stayed on full time, who knew! Not to big of a deal, I guess it can only be a couple things, not much to go wrong between the harness at the column and the lights
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Got to be the hilo switch itself or a bad connection. Make sure to check grounds also. GL
Rick
turboskylark
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It was the hi/lo beam switch in the steering column, it was melted.
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