Lights Don’t Work

[ttocs]

the multifunction switch was the next part in the circuit to be checked. It goes through there prior to the lights so you can select the high/low beam. A check with the meter really fast would show if power goes in but not out, they are known to go bad as there is a bunch of moving parts in them

 

[Daryl]

When I pull the headlight switch all the way out, only the amber driving lights come on. No headlights or high beams. And even though the headlights didn’t come on, I tried the fog lights and they didn’t work either.

 

[ttocs]

did you try the brights? Like I said the circuit goes from that switch, to the multifunction switch that then sends it to the high/low beams but if it goes bad(and they do) you can have no output on low or bright or both lights.

 

[Snorky]

i think you may have lost a ground somewhere

Beat me to it

 

[Daryl]

I will pass this on to the guys at the shop. Sounds like it will streamline the diagnostic tests. Thanks Scott and Snorky! I’ll give an update later today.

 

[Daryl]

No luck so far. They only had a little less than an hour to work on it. I’ll drop it off Tuesday (their next available) and leave it for as long as they need.

 

[LEGALLYFAST]

Do you have the schematics? You could take the wire off the switch and use a jumper wire to try each circuit individually. I believe each wire has a ground at each light. Also, maybe you have two bad bulbs lol. Not impossible but once the last time you changed those.

 

[LEGALLYFAST]

Do you have the schematics? You could take the wire off the switch and use a jumper wire to try each circuit individually. I believe each wire has a ground at each light. Also, maybe you have two bad bulbs lol. Not impossible but once the last time you changed those.

If you have a power probe, it would even be easier

 

[Daryl]

Do you have the schematics? You could take the wire off the switch and use a jumper wire to try each circuit individually. I believe each wire has a ground at each light. Also, maybe you have two bad bulbs lol. Not impossible but once the last time you changed those.

Recently enough that they shouldn’t be blown. I really don’t drive it much and even less frequently at night or the darkness of 0-dark-thirty.

 

[ttocs]

if you are comfortable with a meter you could try testing some of the wires in the switches. Start at the light switch itself and one of the wires should show 0v with the lights off, then 12v with them on. No need for a schematic, there are only a few wires and it only takes a few mins to check them all. If you find 12v out on one of the wires then move to the multifunction switch and there you should find one wire shows 12v out for the low lights and another wire for the brights.

 

[Daryl]

I don’t even know what to set the multimeter at

 

[LEGALLYFAST]

VDC. You should see pretty close to what you see at the battery so take a voltage reading at the battery or if you test it with the car on it should be whatever the alternator output is. The battery should hopefully be above 12 V but it could be a little less. With the alternator it should be somewhere between 13.8-14.2

 

[LEGALLYFAST]

You would set it on VDC or it will say V with a straight line. The other one which would be for AC we’ll have a wavy line next to it

 

[ttocs]

A short youtube vid would probably teach you everything you need to know about a volt meter. I know people are just generally intimidated by wiring as it can be overwhelming with as many wires as there are in the car but I/we can help guide you.

 

[Daryl]

Friends, I’ll take all the help I can get! Grateful for the help

 

[Daryl]

This is my tester. Am I to use only the DCV (ie, the first click clockwise from the OFF position) and then the ACV (2nd click)? And what sequence on the wires at each DCV and ACV? Does the ignition need to be in the ON position or the car running

 

[LEGALLYFAST]

Use the red one on the right

 

[Daryl]

This is my tester. Am I to use only the DCV (ie, the first click clockwise from the OFF position) and then the ACV (2nd click)? And what sequence on the wires at each DCV and ACV? Does the ignition need to be in the ON position or the car running View attachment 47754, the Innova 3320

Or this, if it’s of any help??

 

[Daryl]

Scott,
Took your advice and searched YouTube for a tutorial and the overwhelming majority of people say it’s a POS and isn’t accurate and/or doesn’t give reliable reads. Figures… the one I choose turns out to be crappy! Researching a replacement. Any ideas?

 

[ttocs]

You don't need it to read .01v so that meter is fine for 12v/0v. As he said first set it to dc voltage. Just to get an idea go stick the leads directly on the battery as this will not only test the meter/battery but allow you to see what the resting voltage of the battery is. It does not matter if you have red to red, black to black if you have them flipped it will only show -12v there will be no sparks or smoke.

From there go back and get behind the switch. Ground the black lead on the meter and then take the red and check all the wires on the switch, with the switch off. One of those wires should show 12v on it, if not then we have a problem before the switch.

If you have 12v then pull the switch and again measure all the wires and one of them that previously showed 0v should now show 12v. If you have 0v out on all the wires then we know it is the switch, if you have 12v out on a wire then we need to move to the multifunction switch.

Seriously don't let it scare you I do not know how you could do any serious damage/harm unless you break something taking it apart.