Weird Electrical Problem

[phantomzer0]

This is going to sound weird, but for some reason when I turn my headlights on, on the firebird, the headlight harness' start to smoke and get really really hot.

The drivers side harness has melted and started on fire already, so I currently can not drive my car at night! I've taken apart the headlights and examined all of the wires, everything looks to be fine. I even taped a few wires that looked bad.

Any idea if there could be anything else going on???

[PewterSS]

The only thing i could think of would just be a short in the harness or the wiring. Have anyones you could try or anything?

[jaysz2893]

have you replaced the lights with hyperwhite of somthing along that line of lights? I put them hyperwhite bulbs in my old Neon and my harness burned up.

[SoulReaver]

have you replaced the lights with hyperwhite of somthing along that line of lights? I put them hyperwhite bulbs in my old Neon and my harness burned up.

No he has stock lights in there. Could it just be an issue related to the bulbs? They are the stock replacement.

[Fastbird]

The only thing i could think of would just be a short in the harness or the wiring. Have anyones you could try or anything?

DItto. If it starts smoking and lighting on fire, there's a LOT of voltage getting through. Maybe the headlight controller, maybe a short.

[phantomzer0]

Hmm, they are silvania bulbs, maybe they were just some shitty bulbs? Where can I check for the controller?

[ls1dave]

i would try putting in some factory style bulbs and see what that does. I use sylvania bulbs in mine and they arent too expensive, but they are build right.

is it on both sides? if so, then its probably the BCM (body control module), if its on just one side, then its more than likely a short in the wiring.

[phantomzer0]

i would try putting in some factory style bulbs and see what that does. I use sylvania bulbs in mine and they arent too expensive, but they are build right.

is it on both sides? if so, then its probably the BCM (body control module), if its on just one side, then its more than likely a short in the wiring.

It was on one side, originally, but now both are doing it. :(

[krayzie7th]

I agree with ls1dave i think your bcm is the problem, i would check the harness i would maybe some wires are melted together touching each other.

[ls1dave]

hm...one now both... I just say start simple, with the bulbs, then work your way up.

[phantomzer0]

hm...one now both... I just say start simple, with the bulbs, then work your way up.

Ok, I'll check out the BCM and try some new bulbs. It just happened out of the blue, which is why it's so weird. thanks!

[SnyperBob]

Good luck man, let me know if you need any help figuring it out

[phantomzer0]

Good luck man, let me know if you need any help figuring it out
Will do, thanks!

[ls1dave]

Yea post up what you find out...troubleshooting is my job. Its nice to be able to do it on cars, as what i troubleshoot for work is medical equipment.

[formulajunky]

yeah tell us what you find to me it sounds like a short somewhere.

[Brian2006]

Sorry I didn't see this thread sooner, but I'll try to offer some help as well.

First and foremoest, I'd take a multimeter to the harness and see what voltage it's putting out right there. If it's over 14 volts, you possibly have a problem in your bcm. But then again, it would also burnt out your headlights and possibly blow a fuse. The way you say it's smoking makes me think there is a short as well. Just a minor short where it keeps the headlight on for a little while and something finally gives (the headlight or fuse).

However, the stock bulb harnesses seriously do suck. If those have finally become damaged, then I'd suggest wiring up your own kit and of course I already have a place bookmarked:

http://shop.3bspecialties.com/product.sc?categoryId=10&productId=22

Let me know what you figure out

[phantomzer0]

Sorry I didn't see this thread sooner, but I'll try to offer some help as well.

First and foremoest, I'd take a multimeter to the harness and see what voltage it's putting out right there. If it's over 14 volts, you possibly have a problem in your bcm. But then again, it would also burnt out your headlights and possibly blow a fuse. The way you say it's smoking makes me think there is a short as well. Just a minor short where it keeps the headlight on for a little while and something finally gives (the headlight or fuse).

However, the stock bulb harnesses seriously do suck. If those have finally become damaged, then I'd suggest wiring up your own kit and of course I already have a place bookmarked:

http://shop.3bspecialties.com/product.sc?categoryId=10&productId=22

Let me know what you figure out

First of all, you are seriously my fucking hero dude. The ends of both harness' have melted so badly they are unusable, the link you posted is what I've been looking for, for a while now!

This is what happening, if you were to take a switch, and wire it so that the power and the ground activate and connect when you turn the switch on, the wires will start to heat up, kind of like your cigarette lighter, this is exactly whats happening. The wires are heating up so bad, that the plastic sleeves and the plastic harness are melting, and causing smoke, and in one case fire.

The bulbs aren't burnt out, which is why I was so floored about the whole problem. I'm going to pick up two of those harness, maybe some HID bulbs from teh Vault, and take a multimeter to the existing wires, as suggested. My radio, windows, wipers, all that stuff works fine with no interuption, which is why I never thought BCM. I'm going to a good look at it all this weekend.

[SnyperBob]

Did any fuses blow out when this happened? Well, I guess not because it was still giving power to the lights and causing the smoke, etc...

Could it be a bad fuse or wrong fuse? I don't understand how it can pump that much power without blowing a fuse. Would that mean it's more of a short and it's bypassing the fuse block or something?

[Brian2006]

Did any fuses blow out when this happened? Well, I guess not because it was still giving power to the lights and causing the smoke, etc...

Could it be a bad fuse or wrong fuse? I don't understand how it can pump that much power without blowing a fuse. Would that mean it's more of a short and it's bypassing the fuse block or something?

Possibly. That or the bcm is pushing way more voltage than it should be to the point the harnesses are becoming inflamed. Hell, the stock harnesses suck at even the normal operating voltage.

[SnyperBob]

Hell, the stock harnesses suck at even the normal operating voltage.


lol

[Brian2006]

Curious on what the status is

[phantomzer0]

Ok, updates bitches.

Went to Autozone, bought two brand new headlight motors, new harness', a roll of electrical tape, two new headlights, and a 12 back of bud.

I completely gutted out the headlights and assemblies. Took the motors out and proceeded to get down to inspecting the wiring. I should have took some pics, but I didn't :(

Anyways, I found a few exposed wires near the horn, which was weird. The horn hadn't been working and as soon as I fixed up those wires, it began working again, which was sweet. The problem, I believe, was from the old wiring harness'. I took the drivers side one out and tons of water came out of it. To me, that says the water was inadvertently bridging all of the wires together. I mean, there was a ton of water in that thing.

So, I dumped all of the water out, and I let the part attached to the car hang upside down all night so it would totally dry out. Went in today and installed all the new stuff. I tested the wires out on a new bulb and everything was fine for 10 minutes. Every time the wires have overheated, they did so within minutes. So I assembled all of the headlight parts and hooked everything up. I left the lights on for 25 minutes and drove for a while with them on. Everything is fine. No overheating or anything.

Either the problem isn't fixed and it's going to happen again, or it's fixed and I can breathe relief. Either way, I'll find out the whole story in a few days, after some more driving.

Thanks for all the help guys. :)

[ls1dave]

Im glad, it seems that you have found/solved the issue.

so would you say that your car is horny again?

[phantomzer0]

Oh man, you don't even know. I popped a boner when everything was installed and working properly. If everything continues to be ok, I'll probably have to change my undies every ten minutes.

I'm so fucking happy right now it isn't even funny.

[SnyperBob]

Good man, that's great to hear! Are you bringing the beast over Friday then? :)

[phantomzer0]

Yeah for sure. It'll be a good test to make sure the shit doesn't fry up. I have to take them apart one more time though, I'm going to squirt some dielectric grease in the harness', just in case water gets too close to call. The grease will keep the water out, I hope.

[phantomzer0]

SON OF A BITCH. The drivers side headlight blew out, and upon closer inspection the fucking harness melted a little bit.

I am seriously at my wits end with this fucking shit. The passenger side is totally fine. I mean, I doubled checked everything and all is well. Why the hell is this shit happening?

I quit.

[Brian2006]

Electrical problems are a bitch. I saw you posting on tech about your loose battery ground. This is unrelated correct?

You really need to take a multimeter and see what voltage is being drawn at the harness. You could have probably saved a headlight if you tested that before hand.

[SnyperBob]

We need to test current, not volts. That's where we went wrong I think :(

[Fixxer99TA]

I wish I saw this thread earlier, no idea why I missed it. You guys really need to get in there with a multimeter, that will tell you exactly whats pumping too much OR whats shorted to what.

Looks like your first problem was a combination of things (short/bad harness/water grounding them all togeather), and then this last thing happened and is still happening (possibly BCM or another short somewhere? Your short/bad harness/water grounding them all togeather could have screwed with your BCM a little bit, but a multimeter will tell that). Its also possible that you just missed a couple wires when you went in there the last time. So second looks are always a good thing.

You can check current and volts, both would be good to know. Once your done and you have voltage at least AT the bulbs and maybe a few other places (just to pinpoint). No doubt something is letting way too much juice in, and Id hate to say it like LS1dave said but thats what BCMs do. Annoy you when they go bad with weird symptoms. Be thankful its confined to one circuit and not most of your car :D

[Fixxer99TA]

Electrical problems are a bitch. I saw you posting on tech about your loose battery ground. This is unrelated correct?

You really need to take a multimeter and see what voltage is being drawn at the harness. You could have probably saved a headlight if you tested that before hand.

True story, electrical problems are near impossible to throw parts at (you can, but you likely wont solve anything but destroying some good parts you just bought).

When your wires are melting, they are a good bit over their rating. I would imagine the only way this is possible is if the BCM is putting out too much (which you can also test), but not too much to pop the fuse. This is a tough one but still a possibility. A short could also do something like this, but it seems more likely that its the BCM at this point. Check those wires with the multimeter, tell us what that harness is getting for power, and then let us know what numbers you get.

[ls1dave]

... No doubt something is letting way too much juice in, and Id hate to say it like LS1dave said but thats what BCMs do. Annoy you when they go bad with weird symptoms. Be thankful its confined to one circuit and not most of your car :D

:D i hate being right when its something expensive.

altho, knowing now that its only one headlamp...correct me if im wrong, but dont both sides come from the same source? theres no situation where the headlights would be on at different times, so i would guess that they are connected to the same channel on th BCM. this means that theres most likely a short somewhere past where they split.

the best way to know is look at a wiring schematic of the BCM. see if the left hl and right hl connect up to different locations on the BCM. If they do then its more than likely the BCM, if not, then its probably not not, its a short somewhere in the line.

[Fixxer99TA]

:D i hate being right when its something expensive.

altho, knowing now that its only one headlamp...correct me if im wrong, but dont both sides come from the same source? theres no situation where the headlights would be on at different times, so i would guess that they are connected to the same channel on th BCM. this means that theres most likely a short somewhere past where they split.

the best way to know is look at a wiring schematic of the BCM. see if the left hl and right hl connect up to different locations on the BCM. If they do then its more than likely the BCM, if not, then its probably not not, its a short somewhere in the line.

Good thinking, this would be very true. Anyone with even a Haynes manual could take a look, I cant seem to find mine at the moment...

[Fixxer99TA]

Any luck phantom?