Headlights out (all of them)

[timsrv]

Okay, got one of the cornering lamps off, and i nearly got the plastic headlight trim ring out but theres one's screw near the bumper that seems impossible to get to, do I also have to drop the bumper to get these off???
See post #26 of this thread HERE for some progress of this too.

I always drop the bumper when removing the headlight garnishes. As long as things aren't all rusty it's easy. There's the 4 big bolts on the underside, then 4 smaller bolts up high (2 on each side). After that it's just the blinker light harnesses (one on each side) and maybe a few 10 mm bolts on the little trim pieces at the bottom of each side (if your van has them still). Bumper pulls off from the front, then you can easily get off the headlight parts. Tim

[89van]

Thanks Tim, gonna be taking my van to the auto shop tomorrow so it really helps i got a reply. Without it i'd be stumped lol, also should inspect up front since I saw one of the bumper mounts? I dont know what it is exactly but i'll take a picture of it, was bent way back away from where it was supposed to. Nothing major but its there. Thanks again!

[89van]

UPDATES:
-Dropped the front bumper successfully after removing a couple too many bolts on some other bumper pieces (The metal trim piece underneath the front, some screws on the back for the bumper grille) and only slightly bent the AZ Flag Vanity Plate
-Found an extra key stashed in a magnetic key box on the front bumper support thats affixed to the van, not the bumper. Kept it there just incase!!!
-Removed the trim ring (hence why I dropped the bumper) and plugged back the headlamp harness weather seal that was blowing in air into the passenger's footwell; Quality of Life!
-Couldn't remove the headlamp pot screws (The big black ones) they're seized on there good and I don't wanna snap 'em.
! > Checked the 40A HEAD fuse behind the seat and wouldn't you know, it was blown and burnt somewhat! I'll grab a pic tomorrow, it's dark out and the lighting isn't the greatest for a tiny part like this. Did put in a spare I have and I'll be checking periodically on it when I use the van more. Replacing the fuse did nothing so there's that, new one didn't blow either.
-Checked the steering column wiring harness for a burnt pin; none to find.

So, this narrows it down a bit in the technical aspects: might be looking for a bad ground since it appears to be getting too much amperage hence the blown fuse. Maybe a bad ground somewhere, someone else had a bad ground in their van from a protector thru the wall being removed. Might be the same case and hopefully nothing too bad. Only know when ya find it!

[89van]

Got a bit caught up in relaxing over the weekend, heres my original fuse's blown condition

One of the pins definetly burnt good. Think it might've been the bottom one I'll double check to confirm it. Not good but at least the fuse did its job.

[89van]

So, at a bit of a dead end here, want to check the ground on the circuit as someone said, the headlight harness appears to run up into the dashboard somewhere unknown, just kinda at a dead end here and today i'm not feeling too hot about it. Maybe tomorrow I'll get somewhere but everything is still the same: relays click, except for the hi-beam one buried in the dash, horn worked so that's cool, no headlights.

[89van]

Welp, this morning I made an interesting observation: ALL of my sealed beam units have moisture in them! A handful of days ago I gave my entire fleet a good wash, and that's probably where it came from. That is not good, so I'll be ordering a full set (when i bought the van I was skeptical about at least two units, one which was already cracked and i put a plastic bandaid on it, and another one which might've been not good too) and removing the bumper again, no big deal as I've done it once before.

Also I'll be checking my "new" fuse to see it hopefully still not burnt. Yeah I know i'm a bit inconsistent on this job but since it's summer I have more time than i know what to do with so I'll be re-investigating the steering column and horn slip ring as I've noticed at certain angles of steering, the horn does work except for dead-center. Probably still the mistake I made in Junior year of HS!!! As for the Hi-Beams, ah I'll figure it out. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

[89van]

Seems like a fitting update for the thread, pardon the necro... Tonight I (with the help of a classmate and the Factory Wiring Diagram) determined the appropriate power flow of the headlight circuit (Battery -> 40A Fuse -> Relay -> 15A fuses for L/R lamp Hi and Lo assemblies.) Found out my relay had gotten quite warm enough to melt some plastic and that's probably why my 40A fuse popped, but somehow my 15A ones were fine, probably order of the fuses then!

My theory as to how this happened was: Original headlight assemblies accumulated moisture in them, must've been doing something (too much resistance, or pulling too much current?) to get the relay toasty, but the 40A fuse sacrificed itself to prevent damage obviously. Connections on the old relay are pretty crusty, so I might have to postpone my fog light wiring to sort this headlight issue out FINALLY! I will upload my findings and the wiring diagram for those interested tomorrow

[89van]

Upon inspection of my headlight relay mount, it seems to be quite melted to my dismay. Similarly, the relay (by random chance, it had the exact same part number as my old one!!! ) i got from another van with part of the fuse box mount stuck to it (see photos) also had a melted power-out pin. Must be an issue on these vans apparently...

Anywho, here's some photos:

My relay mount, note the melty bits! Gonna have to clean the terminals to help with a good connection.


Relay on the left is my good "New" one and on the right my original "Bad" (will have to test it and figure out if its good or not) relay on the right. Also included a quick diagram on how to test your 3-pin relay thanks to one of my auto teachers in school


My original relay, the power-out pin looks a little sad compared to the other two.


The female bits that came attached with my "New" relay. The power-out pin also seems melted like I mentioned before. Wonder why that could be...


And of course, the factory diagram for anyone else willing to probe out their own headlight issues. Very simple circuit in my opinion obviously! Also made the quick test of a 3-pin relay a bit clearer since my camera doesn't like to focus sometimes


Of course, these are just my discoveries and experiences with the headlights, finnicky of course. Hopefully, the diagrams should help someone on here trying to troubleshoot their headlights too! Happy hunting!