Headlight Problem

[97Beast]

I bought my Deuce back in November of 2010 and I have yet to figure out why my headlights dont work properly. The headlights are dim with the low beams on. The passenger side is the most dim. With the high beams on the passenger side is as bright as can be and the drivers light is practically out, you can barely see the filament glowing.
The lights themselves are in good working shape. I had a spare light that I swapped in to test and got the same results.
I also cleaned the grounds for each light on the framerails with no luck either.
And lastly I got a new 3-lever switch, still no dice.
I visually inspected the high beam switch and it looks good, but it might be the weak link.
I'm sure it has to be some elusive bad ground somewhere i'm missing.. or something.
I have searched the site and I found a thread with my exact symptoms but there was no resolution to the problem.

I appreciate ya'lls help,
Thanks in advance!

 

[Wildchild467]

gee, im not sure on the wiring (from the factory) if the wires going to the lights are spliced together then go to each headlight or not. the dimmer switch could be a problem, but it dosnt explain why the passanger side light is bright and the drivers side is barely glowing. if it is barely glowing, it tells me something might be funny with the grounds. are you sure the headlights were plugged into the correct sockets? im just thinking if the power is back feeding some how by a ground or something. grounds can make things act real wacky. when i get home today, ill have to look at my deuce. i guess trace the wires back with a volt meter and see where the voltage changes.

another thing, when the drivers side headlight goes real dim, use a volt meter and probe the ground wire or connector attached to the headlight, and the other end to a known good ground.... there should be very very little voltage. any major difference in voltage is the voltage drop in the wires and would mean there is a bad connection somewhere. i hope all that mumbo jumbo makes sence.... let me know if it does not.

 

[CanonNinja]

silly question, but are you sure that the headlights are correctly wired?

 

[97Beast]

One quick revision. When the high beams are on the driver's bulb is completely dead. I thought the filament was glowing but it is completely dead while the passenger side is at full brightness.
On the low beams both lights arent too bright but the passenger light is barely lit.

I also cleaned the ground for the body to the back of the engine block today.

And I double checked the wiring on the headlights with the M35 schematic. All the numbers and wires check out just fine.

I appreciate the help!

 

[TexAndy]

Got a spare switch lying around? I'd swap that out as an easy thing to check.

eta: Oh yeah, the big grounding strap isn't the only ground you need to worry about. I'm not looking at my truck right now, but there is another ground wire for the lights that goes to either the fender or something else up there near the headlight. Make sure that one is clean and tightened down good, too. Had that problem with a friend's truck at the end of a club event.

 

[motomacguyver]

I had trouble with one of my lights doing something similar. One filament had burnt out and dropped down and was touching the other filament. Installed some Hella H4 and never looked back. Some guys swear by the HID kits. I haven't tried them yet. But the Hella H4 reflector is a starting point for the HID conversion.

 

[leroygreen]

One of my lights was dim also. I found one of the connections/plugs behind the light did not have a good connection.

 

[rneely]

Check procedure in manual 361-24, page 213

 

[littlebob]

A link to rneely's post.

http://www.liberatedmanuals.com/TM-9-2320-361-24-1.pdf

 

[NickAir]

You may have checked this but I remember a common reason for dimmness was the same as post #7.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Have you tested your bulbs?

Remove and power via jumpers DIRECTLY from 24V at Batteries and Ground.

Then, as previous noted: Check your voltages at the connectors to see if you have a voltage drop or short.

If all else fails, have "Soldier B" ride on the front fender with a Mil-Spec Lantern or two.

 

[randini]

I have noticed that bulbs can "dim" over time. A new bulb is always brighter than an old headlight. Usually its not a Huge difference, just some times more noticable.

 

[97Beast]

Awesome info.

I'm going to do some testing per the instructions in manual 361-24 this weekend hopefully.