Low beam on driver side stop working

:fire: 97 X Limited with driving lights - everything else works but the low beam on the drivers side (Driving lights on both sides, brights on both sides and lowbeam on passenger side.) I traced the wire back to the fuse box in the door/dash and there is no power to the 20 amp fuse there. What's my next step - HELP!

 

[Tonedeaf]

havent had time to look.

if i aint at work at wally world then its GoodYear. Tommorrow though i will be free from both places so i will check then.

 

[checkedout]

My driver side headlight goes out often. I found that one of the pins in the connector works itself out enough that it doesn't make contact. So I jiggle the wires on the back of the connector (at the headlight) until I find the one that makes the light come back on then push as hard as I can on the wire to push the pin back up into the connector.

 

[thewishkah]

I have had a similar problem and it turned out that my light socket was melted and it got melted plastic on the pin of the bulb so after i changed the socket it still didnt work so i checked the metal prong/pin in the bulb and saw it was scortched and had melted plastic on it. changed the bulb and it worked fine till the next time it melted. can anyone explain why they keep melting right now i only have eurodezigns 45/65? i think nothing with such a high power that it should have melted again. the bulbs are 6000k if that makes any difference,

sorry for the thread jack

 

[Bubbaboy]

It's the LOM

I have a 1997 Explorer EB and was having the same issue... High beams worked, passenger low beam worked, fog lamps worked, but driver side low beam didn't work. Checked the fuses, replaced the bulbs and still no driver side low beam.. Thank you to the person that suggested the problem was the Lamp Out Module.

First let me explain I'm a CPA and I don't know much (if anything) about repairing cars but just in case anyone else has this problem and wants to try to fix it on there own here are my two cents...

As someone else indicated the LOM in the 1997 Explorer EB is located in the center consol. The center consol isn't screwed in so you just need to pull on it to get it to pop out. I would recommend unhooking the computer (the one that shows your oil life and average speed...) to get it out of the way. You just have to pull out the three seperate connections. Once the computer is out of the way you will see the LOM screwed in with two screws on the right side of the bottom half of the center consol. Its black and there are a bunch of wires hooked into it.

Unscrew the two screws and you can pull it out. You will know it is the LOM because on the back there will be a sticker on it that says its the Lamps off Module. The wire connecter does come off if you pull hard enough and push in the little plastic thing in the middle... I had to pull fairly hard to get this thing off.

If you get this far then what your left with is a black case that has three hooks... take a screwdriver and pull the hooks apart to reveal the electronic component inside....

Now as I mentioned I'm a CPA and I know even less about electronics than cars, but if you flip that component over (the side without the transistors) you might notice that one of the connections (very small) doesn't appear to be soldered as well as all of the others. You will find it towards one of the corners.

I drove down to Radio Shack and slapped down a cool ten bucks for a soldering iron and let it heat up and just put the smallest amount of solder on that connection... It was easy, even for me...

Hooked and screwed everything back together and what do you know... LOW BEAM WORKS....

Good Luck

 

[Bill Kemp]

Great info for all, Bubbaboy. I just put this in the FAQs for easy reference.
Thanks.....

 

[Tonedeaf]

pulled the LOM box last night and found the broken solder connection everyone kepp talking about. piece of cake to fix. now my headlights are working properly. thanks to this forum it saved me alot money from having to go to the for dealership to get it fixed.

 

[mish1862]

I had this problem with passenger headlight and fog lamps. Sure enought it was the LOM. I didn't see the solder problem so I just put the LOM back. When I tried my lights they worked. If it happens again I know where to look. I would like to mention that my system check didn't pick up the headlight being out. Last summer my driver side dim was out. The system check caught that. The problem was the multi-function switch. Maybe the system check gives a clue as to which direction to look??

Glad I found this site,
Karen

 

[93liftedXLT]

Great info for all, Bubbaboy. I just put this in the FAQs for easy reference.
Thanks.....

Are you related to any kemp's in oregon? or missouri?

 

[Bill Kemp]

I'll have to look. G. Ward Kemp wrote a book on the family years ago. Have you heard of it?

 

[jr4773]

anyone know how to fix these lights?

hi im new to explorers dealing with this one light out problem wondering what it could be 95 eddie bauer fog lights are gone....but not shorting out...check the LOM i dont think i have one i pulled the messege center out and dont see what these other are talking about....wondering if maybe relays in the rear could be the problem have no owners manual or anything just a test light and so know how but i am stumped....just go this truck as a payoff for some work i did.....had no lights at all in it...lol trying to get it going runs great.....put the lights in and they worked for a minute then the driver low beam went out..no pwer at the plug for low beam...any help would be fabulous

thanks
jr4773

broken 95 eddie bauer

 

[Bill Kemp]

If it has a message senter you have a LOM and its probably bad. I guess if you cant find it you may have to go to the dealer.
Sorry I cant be of more help.

 

[jr4773]

Light Out Fixed

ok i looked a bit harder and found the LOM......lame ol module.....anyways indeed it was burned a little.....apparently the previous owner who removed the light before i got it..had very high wattage bulbs....and it had cooked the connections in the lom so happy i found this site....I wasted so much time looking for this problem before THANK YOU ALL WHO HAVE POSTED about this problem :navajo:

 

[Tonedeaf]

ok, i pulled the LOM a few months ago and fixed it. well after i installed my HID kit, the passeneger headlight went out again. i pulled the LOM again to find the same solder point broken again. i soldered it again and a few of days later it goes out again. i can only assume its because of the lights. anyone else have this problem and know how i can fix this.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Are you useing a harness w/the hid kit or did you just use the oem bulb socketts to plug the ballasts into. The ballasts take a lot of juice right at start. A harness is usually recomended.

 

[Tonedeaf]

yea its just the OEM socket. hadnt gotten around do doing a harness upgrade.

would it be recommended running it through a relay???

 

[Bill Kemp]

would it be recommended running it through a relay???

Yes it would. Thats all your doing with a harness. Its just useing the OEM wiring as a switch for the relay.

 

[Tonedeaf]

changed my headlights back to silverstars intil i get my HID deal working right and tonight when i got off i turned on my lights and all the way i notice they werent all that bright and they finally just cut out, so i flipped on the high beams which luckly still worked got home and pulled the LOM and WOW!!! and it is literally fried. the board is melted around the transistors. its shot to hell and back. know i am gonna have to replace it. would getting one off a newer model IE: 2001 be better and after i put on the harness upgrade will this solve all this ****.

 

[Bill Kemp]

I dont know about the newer LOM ect. It may be better than the earlier ones.
I do know that useing a harness will take a lot of stress (resistance/heat) off your oem wires. I would think that your problem is caused by the high amps that the ballasts need at start up. Once they are on they dont use many amps but they sure suck them at start.

 

[Tonedeaf]

well the problem with the LOM started shortly after i had gotten my explorer, when the right low beams stopped working. and before i had done the first thing to my X. so i know its nothing i have done, do the LOMs heat up that much normally or did i just get a bad circut board.


i called a junk yard and they said i would be about $40 to pull one off another X, so i called up the local dealership and they said brand new it would $66 with tax. so i'll prolly just go pick up the new one.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Ya, there have been a number of problems w/the LOM from others that were not running high watt bulbs or much of anything out of the ordinary. I probably jumped to a conclusion that the problem was the HIDs.
Good luck & let us know if the new LOM looks any different.