1994 Ford Explorer Headlight Issue

[Tyler Little]

Hi Everyone My name is Tyler. I'm new to the forums my Grandmother and friend bought me a Running and driving 1994 Ford Explorer XLT for $200 so I could build a Jurassic Park Jungle Explorer. The Vehicle is in pretty nice condition inside, Outside needs some love and care....

I am having an issue with the Headlights the low beams don't work at all just the parking lights front and back turn on. When I turn the high beams on the driver side high beam works but not the passenger side... I pulled the bulb out of the driver side and it looks like new and both filaments in the bulb are intact.. I checked the connector that plugs into the bulb on the wiring harness and did not find any corrosion.

I would appreciate any help to fix this problem thank youhttp://[URL=http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/litttyle076/media/13895557_10202194537941009_5335055423747780813_n_zpsyrlxmxz9.jpg.html][ATTACH=full]310722[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=full]416268[/ATTACH]

 

[natenkiki2004]

Swap the bulbs side to side to see if the high beam moves to the passenger side. They may look good but not work. I had one that would intermittently work and it looked perfectly fine, popped a new one in and it's been working consistently for months. Welcome to the forum.

 

[92exp4x4]

Welcome to the forum. Several people have done the Jurassic conversion, I am building one of these myself. Do a search if you have not already, to find their build threads.

I agree, swapping side to side is your quickest test for your high beams. After that you might want to invest in a volt meter or test light to troubleshoot the system.

 

[Tyler Little]

Swap the bulbs side to side to see if the high beam moves to the passenger side. They may look good but not work. I had one that would intermittently work and it looked perfectly fine, popped a new one in and it's been working consistently for months. Welcome to the forum.

Okay so I went out to swap the driver side bulb over to the passenger side and it works. The passenger side bulb was totally dead both filaments were burnt out so I have confirmed the high beams are working but why aren't the low beams? I don't know where to put my multimeter leads there are 3 pins in the connector and what setting it should be in order to check the voltage

In The picture below you can see the bulb from the driver side swapped over to the passenger side and is working in High Beam mode. When I switch to Low beams the light just turns off as if it was burnt out.

 

[timtimtimajim]

Personally I would just go buy a new set of bulbs. They really aren't that expensive. If new bulbs fixes the issue then great. But if it doesn't fix the issue then at least you know that the bulbs are good so you can better troubleshoot the rest of the system. As it sits right now you have no idea whether the bulbs are good or bad.

 

[Tyler Little]

Personally I would just go buy a new set of bulbs. They really aren't that expensive. If new bulbs fixes the issue then great. But if it doesn't fix the issue then at least you know that the bulbs are good so you can better troubleshoot the rest of the system. As it sits right now you have no idea whether the bulbs are good or bad.

You're right I should buy some new bulbs The ones that are currently in it are Sylvania HB1/9004 12V apparently they are from 2003 lol so yeah I guess I should replace them

 

[natenkiki2004]

Get some nice ones like the GE Nighthawks, they'll last a while and provide the best light our sucky headlights can put out.

Regarding the low beam problem, you gotta see if you're getting power to the bulbs (you can get new ones but in the mean time, probe it). There's a black wire, that's the ground. Probe one of the other two and if there's no voltage then I'm betting you have a switch problem. If you go through the troubleshooting and can't find a headlight switch locally, let me know I've got spare OEM headlight switches and can send one your way.

 

[Tyler Little]

Get some nice ones like the GE Nighthawks, they'll last a while and provide the best light our sucky headlights can put out.

Regarding the low beam problem, you gotta see if you're getting power to the bulbs (you can get new ones but in the mean time, probe it). There's a black wire, that's the ground. Probe one of the other two and if there's no voltage then I'm betting you have a switch problem. If you go through the troubleshooting and can't find a headlight switch locally, let me know I've got spare OEM headlight switches and can send one your way.

All I have is a Multi meter what setting should I set it at? I don't know much about working with wires...

 

[natenkiki2004]

It depends on the multimeter but you'd most likely be looking at 20VDC or 20V with the --- symbol which is DC rather than ~ which is AC.

 

[92exp4x4]

All I have is a Multi meter what setting should I set it at? I don't know much about working with wires...

Like Nate said, the system is 12 volts so set your meter on the DC range up to 20V. Don't be surprised if you see 14v when engine is running, this is normal charging voltage. It seems to me your mechanical knowledge might be limited? No problem, and good for you for wanting to learn.

You can connect the black lead of your meter to the battery negative post, the body or the ground side wire in the connector for the light. It doesn't matter because vehicles use the chassis as ground and batt neg is directly connected to it. Positive is not and you never want to short pos signals to the body, or ground without a load in between.

Next use the red lead to find which wires have voltage while your headlight switch is turned on. If you have voltage, great. You have found the circuit for the low beam. Next find the ground wire. Easiest way to do this is to put the red lead on the positive battery terminal and touch the black lead to the headlight connector pins. Only one wire will show voltage while connected this way, because it's common to both high and low beam circuts. That's the ground wire for the light, usually black.

After this you have established potential on both sides of the circut. Now you're half way there.. you can have all the potential and no light because of resistance in the circuit from damage or corrosion etc. This is where a test light comes in as it will load the circuit. You would connect it between the two wires and if everything is good the test light will come on.

This basic exercise will help you understand a circuit in its simple form. I don't know your level of knowledge here so I hope I'm not telling you something you already know. Electricity is very interesting and once you grasp the basics you can do a lot with it.

 

[Rhett]

Welcome to the forum. Your hood insulation looks about like mine -- I'm thinking about hitting the insulation with some hi-temp paint, but I'm worried about the smell.

Everyone covered all the bases on the headlights. One thing I will say is, if your switch turns out to be bad, LMC Truck makes a bypass wiring harness for 1st Gen headlights. Thought you might want to be aware of that. Have any of you ever bought that kit?

 

[natenkiki2004]

LMC Truck makes a bypass wiring harness for 1st Gen headlights. Thought you might want to be aware of that. Have any of you ever bought that kit?

No but I'll probably make my own, at least for one of my non-Explorer vehicles. Might even do it for the Explorer but there's not much voltage drop in the factory wiring. Plus, the bypass harness just bypasses power for the lights, it still requires a trigger which would be the factory headlight switch unless you wire another switch in place.

 

[Machine090767]

If you're going to do the Jurassic Park explorer theme, please don't half-ass it, or not do the exact model.
Some people do the theme, but not the actual correct theme. Many forget the brushguard with 2 small round lights mounted at the top in line with the hood, or the 4 rectangular lights mounted on the front roof rack crossbar.
Why people omit these items and say that their Explorer is an "Exact duplicate" of the Jurassic Park Explorer, is beyond me.

 

[92exp4x4]

If you're going to do the Jurassic Park explorer theme, please don't half-ass it, or not do the exact model.
Some people do the theme, but not the actual correct theme. Many forget the brushguard with 2 small round lights mounted at the top in line with the hood, or the 4 rectangular lights mounted on the front roof rack crossbar.
Why people omit these items and say that their Explorer is an "Exact duplicate" of the Jurassic Park Explorer, is beyond me.

I understand what your saying, but mine won't be exact. I'm not doing the interior and to be exact the cars in the movie were supposed to be electric. (I could do this with forklift parts), but I don't have time to design a drive system.

A lot of it has to do with money, time and a person's skill. I've had quotes from $500 to $20k just for the roof.. and $10k for paint. Crazy I know, that's why im doing myself. Good luck finding the 'correct' brush guard. They just don't exist anymore. Im building it my self, but I've also got $5k in welding/fab tools and body shop equipment and 12 years professional mechanical experience.

I say do it the way you want it to be and to the best of your capabilities. Either way it's a cool project and will get lots of attention. I have the capability, time and a little money, but mine won't be 100% movie correct. It will be the best representation that I can make myself and I can take pride in that. Tyler will do the same I'm sure.

 

[PVTJames]

Hello I don't know if you got your headlight issue fixed but I have a 94 explorer an I had pretty much the same headlight issue. It started out as just the low beams flickering they wouldn't stay on so I started driving with the highbeams on then they started flickering until my headlights didn't wanna work at all hardly (this was over the course of 6 mo to a year). I had it in the shop an all no one could figure out what it was. So one day I decided to pull out my headlight switch itself wich was showing good power an all that. it looked a little "burnt" at the plug. I replaced the headlight switch never had another problem. the part cost me no more than $20 I believe.

 

[Tyler Little]

Hi Everyone sorry I took so long getting back about the headlight issue. I bought new bulbs and that did not fix the problem but I did notice this little box near the head light on the driver side, the connector going to this was unplugged so naturally decided to plug it back in and my low beams are working again.

 

[Tyler Little]

If you're going to do the Jurassic Park explorer theme, please don't half-ass it, or not do the exact model.
Some people do the theme, but not the actual correct theme. Many forget the brushguard with 2 small round lights mounted at the top in line with the hood, or the 4 rectangular lights mounted on the front roof rack crossbar.
Why people omit these items and say that their Explorer is an "Exact duplicate" of the Jurassic Park Explorer, is beyond me.

Unfortunately I am doing this on a budget and I'm not willing to spend a fortune on a 22 year old SUV that has 188,000 KMs on it. Also the first gen explorers 91-94 have a very unreliable transmission. I'm going to paint it, I do have the logos Not the correct sizes, The movie car had 3 lights on the roof not 4. I mounted mine on the luggage rack so I can move them forward or backwards. This is by no means going to be an exact replica I have to work with whats available

 

[natenkiki2004]

That little box looks factory-ish but I know it isn't. Or did some models have daytime running lights?

Regarding the transmission, as with anything, maintenance is everything. Treat it well and it will last.

 

[Tyler Little]

That little box looks factory-ish but I know it isn't. Or did some models have daytime running lights?

Regarding the transmission, as with anything, maintenance is everything. Treat it well and it will last.

You are correct sir it is a the day time running light module. In Canada it is mandatory to have your headlights on during the day, this one was unplugged for some reason. I kinda like this because I don't have to pull the headlight knob out at night because the lights automatically come on[

 

[natenkiki2004]

Well since they work, maybe it was just someone that didn't like them running all the time? Watch your battery over the next few days, it's possible that there's some kind of voltage leak and that's why it was unplugged.