2003 Pontiac Montana headlight problem

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waldreps

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I've got a 2003 Pontiac Montana that the drivers side low beam headlight quit working. The passenger side low beam and both high beams work fine. I replaced the drivers side bulb and the drivers side low beam still doesn't work. What do I check now? What could it be? Please help.
 
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well, that does sound strange . I would take a volt meter to the light socket and see if you have 12v at the socket when the low beams are on. Now you have a 3 wire socket at the light, one wire is the common and the other 2 are hot wires, 1 for low beam and one for the high beam. when you have the low beams on you should have ~12v from one wire to the 1 of the other wires(common wire), you can always compare this to the passenger side for reference. When you do this take a good look at the socket and see if it is burned up or maybe the wire/connector in the socket is pushed back or pushed all the way back . Then if you don't have 12v and the wiring and socket look fine your going to have to trace the wiring back and look for an open wire? But report back to what you have. I also have a 03 and can perhaps compare with mine if need be. Good luck and maybe the lamp you put in is also bad.
 
My volt meter battery is dead so I don't have that tool available to me. I did swap bulbs between sides. Both bulbs work fine on the passenger side but the low beam will not work on the drivers side no matter which bulb I have in there. As far as tracing wires, that would be next to impossible. After just a few inches, it is taped and then wire loomed with a bunch of other wires. Tearing all that apart would be an absolute nightmare. The socket looked perfectly fine with the terminals all right at the end where they should be. I'm at a loss. What else could be causing the low beam on one side to not work? Taking it to a repair shop would no doubt cost a fortune as tracing electrical problems is so time consuming. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
I'm almost sure GM wouldn't fuse the low beams separately so that rules out a fuse. Does ur fog lights work on both sides? How about when u turn on the low beams manually any difference? I would then leave the low beams on and then start squeezeing and shaking and moving around the wire harness and at the same time see if that light comes on if so u may find it. Also for some dumb reason u can try the a reset by Un hooking the battery for Apx 30 minutes. At some point ur low beam wire is spliced so that it hits both lights , it maybe in the loom near the socket , it maybe at the drivers socket.
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The fog light on the drivers side doesn't work either but it hasn't in forever. I just assumed it was blown. Don't really use the fog lights anyway so hadn't really looked into it. What do you mean by turning on the low beams manually? Do you mean instead of the automatic setting on the headlight switch? If so, that makes no difference whatsoever. I guess shaking the wires is the only thing left for me to do. If you have any other ideas, please toss them out there. Any idea which colored wire is for the low beam? Without my volt meter, I can't tell.
 
I don't know what color wire.There is a fuse distribution box under the hood u can try pushing on the fuses and relays see if that makes a difference. I think your best bet is working backwards from the socket and tracing that low beam wire. U don't have to open up the loom everywhere but maybe every few feet and check that color/stripe wire for voltage. First get that volt meter fixed then find a good ground and clamp it there and then with ur positive probe stick it into the wire as to pierce the insulation and look for that 12v. I will try to find what wire on the socket is indeed the low beam. Again check the wire connection at the socket for a break or corrosion or even bent prongs in the socket.
 
What there's a fuse just for that light! CHECK THAT FUSE !
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Just in case the fuse is good( (; )here is a pin out for a 9004 bulb. The middle wire is the low beam. I must have to make another post in order to insert a pic stay tuned.
 
Yep I see a fuse labeled "RH HEAD LP LOW" which takes care of driver's side low beam. It is in the fuse block inside the van just to the right of the glove box on the side , you have to open up the passenger door to access . Look in the owners manual on page 5-98. Who would of thought that they would have one fuse for a low beam? Well I hope that fixes it.
 
After the bulb replacement didn't fix the problem, the fuses were the next place I checked. There are no fuses in the locations marked LH and RH low and high in my vehicle, so that's not it. I'm not sure why they'd have slots marked like that and not use them. I tried sticking fuses in those locations but there aren't any terminals there to hold the fuses so they obviously aren't used in my vehicle. There's one large fuse marked Headlamp that I tried replacing just for the heck of it. It didn't make any difference. I hate electrical issues and have never had any luck finding solutions. Anybody have any idea where a ground is that serves that drivers low beam?
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you need a voltmeter to determine if the wire going to the socket is hot and if it is then determine if there is power in the socket itself.
 
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