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Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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smpace15
Novice
Apr 24, 2013, 2:39 PM
Post #1 of 17
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Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Two days ago, both headlights worked fine. Today, nothing. High-beams/fog/hazard/turn all work fine.
Things I have checked:
1)Both bulbs have been checked, and swapped out with new bulbs. Both high and low-beam filaments of old bulbs appear intact.
2)All interior fuses have been checked by multimeter and by swapping between them. All look fine.
I'm not too knowledgable on cars, but I am pretty handy. My only other idea thus far would be the headlight switch next to the instrument panel. But that does operate the fog lights. So wouldn't that indicate a working switch? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
Steven
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Apr 24, 2013, 3:32 PM
Post #2 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Does it have DRLs and/or Autolamps.
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smpace15
Novice
Apr 24, 2013, 4:31 PM
Post #3 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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No. Each light is connected to a manual turn switch beneath the instrument panel. So I wouldn't imagine that it is run through any sort of computer... could be wrong, but I don't suspect so.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 24, 2013, 4:50 PM
Post #4 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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I'm not asking you to guess how it's wired. I want to know which features it's equipped with.
Does it have daytime running lights?
Can the headlights be set to come on automatically when it gets dark?
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 24, 2013, 4:56 PM
Post #5 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Just to let the OP know, daytime running lights will turn the high beams on, but at a lower intensity when you turn the ignition on. The headlamp switch doesn't have to be turned on to operate the DRLs.
Autolamps will have a seperate control to operate the delay of the lamps when you turn the ignition off. The lamps can stay on up to 3 mins.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Apr 24, 2013, 4:58 PM)
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smpace15
Novice
Apr 24, 2013, 5:17 PM
Post #6 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Oh ok. No, it does not have that feature.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 24, 2013, 5:30 PM
Post #7 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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If you lost both at the same time, it is most likely a bad dimmer switch, although they do have individual fuses for each headlight.
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smpace15
Novice
Apr 24, 2013, 6:17 PM
Post #8 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Ok. I will check into the dimmer switch.
I just pulled the rotary headlight switch (switches between OFF/Fog/Headlight) off of the instrument panel (it sits right next to my dimmer switch).
Used my multimeter to check continuity between the probes of the headlight switch and found that there was no change between the Fog setting and the Headlight setting. I was expecting them to be different between the two settings if operating properly.
Back to the dimmer switch, it currently does work in controlling the interior lights and instrument panel. Could there still be an issue with the dimmer switch affecting the headlights?
Thanks for all the help.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 24, 2013, 6:22 PM
Post #9 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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If you have working high beams, the switch is good. I'm not referring the the panel dimmer. I'm referring the the headlight dimmer in the steering column.
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smpace15
Novice
Apr 24, 2013, 6:50 PM
Post #10 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Ok. I'll go looking for the dimmer in the steering column.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 24, 2013, 6:53 PM
Post #11 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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You need to test for power on the red/black wire coming out of the column when switched to low beam.
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smpace15
Novice
Apr 24, 2013, 7:17 PM
Post #12 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Ok (just clarifying). So with the rotary Headlight switch turned to the headlight position (the one I referenced earlier as OFF/Fog/Headlight settings), I should check for power on the red/black wire coming out of the column?
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 24, 2013, 7:25 PM
Post #13 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Yes, with the dimmer set to low beam.
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smpace15
Novice
Apr 24, 2013, 9:20 PM
Post #14 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Alright. I am not getting any power through that red/black wire connection.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 25, 2013, 2:59 AM
Post #15 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Of course you won't have power if you unplugged it before testing. You can't have power out if you disconnect the power coming in.
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smpace15
Novice
Apr 25, 2013, 11:11 PM
Post #16 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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Thanks for the help. I obviously didn't understand what I was doing right there, and I suspected that. I got someone to help me test the dimmer switch correctly. And I got power going in and out. Then I moved over and tested the main light switch, and I was getting power in, but not power out when the switch was in the headlight position. So I changed it out for a new switch and now the headlights work great. So thank you for your help.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 26, 2013, 3:14 AM
Post #17 of 17
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Re: Both low-beam lights out Ford Explorer 98
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I don't know what you possibly could have done there because what you say makes no sense at all. The headlamp switch is what feeds the dimmer so you can't have power at the dimmer with a working switch.
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