Das Ninjabot Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 So I had asked about alternative headlight wiring harness options a few weeks back because I had a light go out. The bulb was good and the other one worked just fine so I assumed it was wiring. At that point I had not tried the relays, didn't occur to me for some reason. Fast forward a week and my other headlight went out. WTF. I swapped in new relays and both have new bulbs. The high beams work just fine and my fog lights have been getting me home from school at night. The housings are not stock, as they are one piece and appear to be projectors. I replaced the bulbs with the same ones that had been working previously. I can pull the lamp and get a part number, but probably not until Friday. I have spring break next week so I'm planning on digging into this and several other little electrical gremlins (mirrors don't adjust from the switch, and the rear defrost doesn't turn on, even though the switch lights up). Any insight? Anything I should be looking for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagleeye Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 any buzzing in the under the hood fuse box. ? subarus are not wired like people typically think they should be. a wiring diagram is needed. here are the free service manuals collated nicely by SLI. to dig a diagram out of: (maybe download to a flash drive, and scan with multiple anti-virus software,). https://sl-i.net/FORUM/showthread.php?18087-Subaru-Factory-Service-Manuals-(FSM)-Every-Model-USDM-EU bulb sockets and connectors cause problems, even those on the tail and stop lights. (like when you step on the brakes you blow a head light). in my own cars tracing engine, and wire grounds has solved such problems. (takes a while). edit: and bulbs that are of higher wattage may burn up fast and melt the housing. (so watch what you put in). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublechaz Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 I had headlight problems this summer, but they were not out completely. They were really dim. You could see they were lit from standing in front of the car, but from the driver's seat they didn't show anything on the road. Low beams were worse than highs. My problem was a failure in the stalk switch. This is somewhat hard to replace, and I think junkyard is the only option. You have to be super careful with the center part of this assembly, or your driver's airbag is ruined. A good test would be to get one of those manuals so you are sure *exactly* which pin is which at the headlight and use jumper wires right from battery and ground to see them light normally. Then you can check voltage to ground on the various pins with it wired up normal. Usually power comes to the light either right from battery, or through the relay (I forget), then the other two wires at the bulb are floating with the lights off - no circuit. One of them will connect to ground to show low beams, the other to show high beams. If there is voltage to ground on the active line while that beam is on, then something from there to the switch has gone high resistance which will cause dim lights. If the relay is between battery and the bulb socket, like I think, then you can check if voltage at the socket is lower than battery to see if the relay is high resistance. That would also dim the lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 If we have the same headlight assemblies then I may know why they're acting up, I had the same sort of problem. I have the one piece JDM projectors and the wiring for them was all sorts of idiotic. I have it converted to HID but the stock wiring is what failed and it failed on the side of the car that I was using to power the HIDs (they only need one power source to know when to turn on) So then both of the bulbs failed. The wire insulation dried out and eventually broke the wire right where the wires go into the lowbeam cover/cup thing. It was hidden within the stock wiring loom so you couldn't see it, but I guess it just happened in time, because they broke without even being touched. I ended up rewiring them to work with HIDs, so I ended up eliminating a bunch of the now useless stuff. Also the 9003 plug is wired backward, refer to the stock diagram, not google. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Ninjabot Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 I appreciate the responses guys. As time is at a premium for me with full time work and full time school, I'm going to do the one thing I hate most, and that's throw parts at the problem. I'm hitting the you-pull-it yard on the way home from work tomorrow and grabbing the headlight pigtails and stalk assembly and I'll install them all on Saturday. I figured that's probably just as much work as troubleshooting the wiring if that's the problem, and I do have a WRX Momo wheel I've been wanting to install. If neither of those work, I'll dive into the wiring diagram and be more methodical. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but I think its the best use of my limited time. Either I get it done relatively quickly or I get sucked into it anyways. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I'll update when I have a fix or roadblock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublechaz Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 I'd say get the steering centered on the donor car and take the stalk switch out while not letting it rotate. Tape it so it can't turn. Then do the same going into your car. That way you don't wind it too far and damage the part that feeds the bombbag. Take a sterring wheel puller to the yard with you unless you don't mind black eyes, chipped teeth, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Ninjabot Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 I'd say get the steering centered on the donor car and take the stalk switch out while not letting it rotate. Tape it so it can't turn. Then do the same going into your car. That way you don't wind it too far and damage the part that feeds the bombbag. Take a sterring wheel puller to the yard with you unless you don't mind black eyes, chipped teeth, etc. Got the puller in the go-bag already. Question about the clock-spring though. I take it from your post that the spring will come out with the stalk assembly, but it's hard to tell from the parts diagram. The wheel I have to swap out has the airbag and (I beleive) clock-spring on it already. Should I disassemble the new wheel and just plan on reusing my current spring since I don't know the orientation of the one that came with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublechaz Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 They come out together. Once they are out, then they detach from each other. I was going to just do a full swap, but I found my clockspring to be a little different from the donor, but with the same stalk group so I had to switch them. I got them out of center during this and carefully followed the FSM to find center and still managed to ruin the clock spring. At least I think I did. I got airbag light after that and was not able to clear the light even with doing the whole job over again. I pulled the cluster and de-pinned the airbag warning light connector to "solve" it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Ninjabot Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 Thanks for the info on the stalk assembly. I wasn't able to get the stalks at the you-pull-it yard near me, but I stopped at a used part dealer and they sold me a full column for half the price that either was charging for the stalk assembly alone! However, the weekend came to a screeching halt on Saturday when a mid-afternoon beer turned into a healthy hangover Sunday. I decided that doing anything that involved an airbag would be a bad idea with a less than sharp grasp on my surroundings. Alas, I'll have to wait until this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublechaz Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 I'm pretty afraid of the airbomb. Last time I was in there I disconnected my battery, held the brake pedal in for 30 seconds, then went away for about a half hour before working on it. It's not that they are that crazy senstive, it's just that if it goes off when you have your face in it, it will kill you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Ninjabot Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share Posted March 7, 2018 It's not that they are that crazy senstive, it's just that if it goes off when you have your face in it, it will kill you. Yeah, I'm not worried about the death part, I'm more worried about the pain part. And when all is said and done, I'm going to have two extra airbags sitting around. Wonder if there is any market for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Yeah, I'm not worried about the death part, I'm more worried about the pain part. And when all is said and done, I'm going to have two extra airbags sitting around. Wonder if there is any market for them? They do have resale value but it can get kind of sketchy. Junkyards have to report people when they buy them and if it's not being sold to something like a bodyshop or whatever, it looks sketchy on paper. But I've sold steering wheels with airbags on craigslist a couple times without issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 make a few youtube vids using the airbags to launch random shit into the air! ive done that a few times, was well worth the few bucks youd get selling them online haha we launched a tire about 30ft in the air one time, was awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Ninjabot Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 So I return with my tail between my legs to say how this problem was resolved. I took the time to put in a new stalk switch from a steering column I got for $27.00 and installed a used Momo steering wheel that I got. Everything hooked up just fine, and no headlights. Additionally I found out that the horn button doesn't work and there was a 1/4 inch bend in the wheel and it drives me nuts while driving now. Last night a friend asked if I replaced both sets of bulbs. Do'h! I only swapped out the high beams. For some stupid reason I thought they were dual filament and didn't pay attention at all to their positioning in the lense. Today I threw in new bulbs and of course they lit right up like nothing was wrong. Moral of the story: don't think too hard about a problem and double check your damned work! This would have saved me hours of consternation and now I have to swap out the wheel again. Oh well. I really appreciate the help, especially with regards to the clockspring, I'm sure that advice saved me from having an airbag light on at the very least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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