No Lights!!!!

[Chris Harrach]

Good Evening all.

Ive just had the extremely frightening experience of having my headlights go completely out on me, on the Expressway at 80 mph!! Im now trying to figure out just WTF happened??

Originaly, I had a problem with the left side headlight going out and only coming on when I used the High Beams or Flashers. When I couldnt fix it, I ran a wire from the left side low beam wire, to the right side low beam wire, with an in line fuse. This seemed to work except for the "Beep" and accompanying message telling me to "Check headlights"

So Im now sitting in the parking lot of a Starbucks using thier WiFi to see if ANYONE can tell me whats going on and what I can do to fix this. I've already tore out most of my dash, checked fuses (all are good) removed light switch, (cant tell if its good or bad) And done a rudimentry check of visibale wires to see if any are melted or fused together. So far I cant find any, but ive only got a failing flashlight, and its getting cold out here. (supposed to go down to 28 tonight. Cccccold for Atlanta!)

Any and ALL help will be greatly appreciated. I dont plan on going anywhere till daylight. Glad Im wearing my field jacket and have a good blanket in the back.

:roll: :roll:Chris Harrach

 

[schiavonske1013]

Since you have the eddie bauer im guessing you have a message center? if you do, there is a device called a lamp out module that will tell the message center if any lights are out. over time usually a connection comes loose in the module and turns the lights off. the module should be located under the message center somewhere. try wiggling the wires to see if you can get them to come on

 

[schiavonske1013]

here is a link on how to bypass your lamp out module, many people, myself included, have successfully used this trick

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233458

 

[Chris Harrach]

Yes I do have the message center in my console and the Beeps & "Check Headlights" warning would come on periodically when I was driving at night. I knew that since I had spliced my left headlight to my right one, they were on so I ignored it & hit the Reset button. I'll try looking for the module in question. as I do have the message center out at the moment. Thank you so much for the information.

Sincererly
Chris Harrach

 

[Chris Harrach]

Another Quick Question....

Got a quick question:

If I've got the Message Center unplugged & out of the center console, wouldnt that be the same as bypassing the LOM?? Just curious since that was one of the first things I removed before I took everything else off this evening. I still had no low beam lights with it unplugged, but since Ive never had this problem before, I dont know if just unplugging it would be enough.

Thanks againg
Chris Harrach

 

[drbenz]

Got a quick question:

If I've got the Message Center unplugged & out of the center console, wouldnt that be the same as bypassing the LOM?? Just curious since that was one of the first things I removed before I took everything else off this evening. I still had no low beam lights with it unplugged, but since Ive never had this problem before, I dont know if just unplugging it would be enough.

Thanks againg
Chris Harrach

If you notice in the wiring diagram the power to the headlights goes through the lom, thats how it can tell if the bulb is out or not. If the module is just disconnected you get the same result as pulling the wire off of the headlight so the input and output wires in the lom harness have to be connected somehow as in the bypass method in this thread.

 

[Chris Harrach]

Thanks for your reply. I have the module out and there is a very visable part that is burned out. Not a good thing to see as I believe it may have eventually caught fire. In any event, I would like a little clarification on the bypass proceedure, just so I know Im doing it right and dont end up setting my ride on fire. As I understand it, it's as follows:

1. Unplug module.

2. Cut the White/Light Green wire. aka. pin 1

3. Cut the Dark Blue/ white wire. aka. pin 11

4. Soldier and heat wrap wires. from step 2-3

5. Cut Dark Blue/Light Green Wire aka. pin 12

6. Cut Dark Green/ Orange Wire. aka pin 13

7. Soldier and heat wrap wires. from step 5-6.

Do I solder/connect, the White/Lt.Green wire (pin 1) to the Dk. Blue/white wire (pin 11), and solder/connect, Dark Blue/Light Green wire (pin 12) to the Dark Green/Orange wire (pin 13)? OR do I just insulate the cut ends? Once again, thanks for the help.

Sincererly, Chris Harrach

 

[bobflood]

Thanks for your reply. I have the module out and there is a very visable part that is burned out. Not a good thing to see as I believe it may have eventually caught fire. In any event, I would like a little clarification on the bypass proceedure, just so I know Im doing it right and dont end up setting my ride on fire. As I understand it, it's as follows:

1. Unplug module.

2. Cut the White/Light Green wire. aka. pin 1

3. Cut the Dark Blue/ white wire. aka. pin 11

4. Soldier and heat wrap wires. from step 2-3

5. Cut Dark Blue/Light Green Wire aka. pin 12

6. Cut Dark Green/ Orange Wire. aka pin 13

7. Soldier and heat wrap wires. from step 5-6.

Do I solder/connect, the White/Lt.Green wire (pin 1) to the Dk. Blue/white wire (pin 11), and solder/connect, Dark Blue/Light Green wire (pin 12) to the Dark Green/Orange wire (pin 13)? OR do I just insulate the cut ends? Once again, thanks for the help.

Sincererly, Chris Harrach

You have to connect them as indicated, not just insulate the cut ends, in order to complete the circuit to the headlights. Before you turn them back on, you might want to pull the fuse on your connection from left to right headlight you installed previously. Good luck from a fellow Atlantan.

 

[Chris Harrach]

You have to connect them as indicated, not just insulate the cut ends, in order to complete the circuit to the headlights. Before you turn them back on, you might want to pull the fuse on your connection from left to right headlight you installed previously. Good luck from a fellow Atlantan.

Hey Bob!

Thanks for the reply! Now that the sun's out, and having spent a fruitless search for another LOM at Pull A Part, im going outside to try my luck at the Bypass proceedure. Thank you for the clarification as to what to do with the wires.

Sincerely
Chris Harrach

 

[Youngcheezy]

Stuck on the side of the road with no headlights eh?? well grab some wire and run a hot from the battery to the headlights HAHA until ya get home! Just a quick-get-you-home kind of a fix though..

 

[Chris Harrach]

No Lights! update.

Success!!!! The LOM bypass proceedure works like a charm! Now all I have to do is put it all back together. Many thanks to schivanoski1013, drbenz, and bobflood for the invaluable assistance. You guys are the best!! I do have one more question on this light subject, and that is how can I get the driving/fog lights to operate independently? At the moment they only come on when the headlights are turned on? I guess its something to do with the year model of my Explorer (1997 E.B.). But I'd like to be able to run them alone. Any thoughts or ideas?
Anyway thanks again!!!!:exp:

Sincerely

Chris Harrach

 

[sport97]

Glad to see you got it worked out. Somewhere on here there is a how-to for changing the fogs to turn on when the parking lights are on instead of the lowbeams. This allows for parking lights/fogs, low beam/fogs, or high beam fogs.

Here is a thread on it: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31137

edit: I think you can run one of the wires to the battery, or a "key on" function wire allowing you to run the fogs without the parking lights. It mentions it in there somewhere.

 

[Chris Harrach]

Fog light puzzler.

Glad to see you got it worked out. Somewhere on here there is a how-to for changing the fogs to turn on when the parking lights are on instead of the lowbeams. This allows for parking lights/fogs, low beam/fogs, or high beam fogs.

Here is a thread on it: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31137

edit: I think you can run one of the wires to the battery, or a "key on" function wire allowing you to run the fogs without the parking lights. It mentions it in there somewhere.

Thank you for the reply to this. I poured over everything that was on the thread (all 9 pages) but Im a bit confused as to what to cut, splice, wire color, etc. etc. It seems everyone had a different year & model Explorer, and some wanted the lights independant of the parking lights, while others didnt. Still dont have a clue.

Chris Harrach