Headlight gremlins - Little help for a newbie

[skipwillson]

I purchased a '97 Explorer Eddie Bauer about three weeks ago and I cannot get the low-beam headlights to work. This site has already been a big help, so I thought I'd post my problem.

Below are all the symptoms I've noted:

- Hi-beams come on when they should, including 'flash-to-pass'
- When the hi-beam is on, the short filament in the bulb is lit. I assume this is in fact the hi-beam filament and not the low-beam.
- When I bought it the headlights worked, but I can't be sure that they weren't set on high-beam.
- The driver-side light is much dimmer than the pass-side (on hi-beam)
- All parking lights work front and rear
- The 'Check Headlamps' message does appear in the message center
- I've replaced both headlight bulbs and both fog light bulbs and checked all the fuses.
- Fog lights worked for a brief time after replacing the bulbs, but now do not (and fog light switch does not light when pressed)

- I've checked all the related fuse terminals and made note of the voltages at different times below (some may not be relavent). These fuse numbers come from the Haynes manual and the owner's manual.
Fuse# - Headlight switch off/headlight switch on/hi-beam on/hi-beam flash
4 - 0/11/0/11
8 - 0/9/0/9
33 - 0/0/12/12
10 - 12/12/12/12
15 - 12/12/12/12
21 - 4/4/4/4
22 - 12/12/12/12
MAXI#11 - 0/11/11/11

Any suggestions as to what I should check/replace? Thanks in advance.

______________________________________________________________
'97 Explorer E/B - Basically stock
'03 Acura TL Type-S (Daily Driver)
'08 MX-5 Miata (Wife's car and my other toy)

 

[puzzell]

try you mfs ie you wiper turnsingle and hi beam switch had same prob and that what fixed it

 

[hworksinc]

The multifunction switch may be the culprit, but I know that the lights-out-module (LOM) on the 95-97 models had issues which can keep the headlights from working properly. IIRC there's an easy way to bypass the LOM with some jumper wires for troubleshooting purposes. There are a few good threads around here about it.

 

[skipwillson]

After pulling the LOM and attempting to solder a couple of the pins, I decided to simply bypass the LOM using the directions found here:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233458&highlight=bypass+LOM

I still have the problem that the driver side headlight is not nearly as bright as the passenger side on low or high beam. Reading the voltages at the fuse panel, the driver side is indeed getting fewer volts than the other.
I think I'll try the wiring harness I've read about and see if that does the trick. My stock fog lights now work as well, though they're fairly useless.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions.