[spbridenstine]

I noticed this evening that both headlights are working. However, when I press the stalk forward, only the passenger side high beam activates. The driver side light doesn't change at all.

Any ideas on what is causing this? No warning lights are showing in the dashboard panel.

Edit: so after doing some more research (should have done it before posting!), I would guess that the shutter on my driver side assembly isn't working.

So I'd be interested to know if you all agree with that assessment, and how difficult/costly it is to fix.

Thanks!

[lowrydr310]

It could be a bad shutter or it could be a broken wire at the harness. I picked up four headlight connectors with wiring to practice making a custom harness for my xenon retrofit and I found the shutter wire on one of the harnesses broken at the connector. It looked fine but as soon as I touched the wire it pulled out of the little rubber grommet in the connector.

I don't know about pre-LCI headlights but the LCI xenon's I have to install have a huge cover on the back and when opened I can see the wires for the shutter. If you can get to that, apply power and ground and see if the shutter lowers.

[spbridenstine]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

It could be a bad shutter or it could be a broken wire at the harness. I picked up four headlight connectors with wiring to practice making a custom harness for my xenon retrofit and I found the shutter wire on one of the harnesses broken at the connector. It looked fine but as soon as I touched the wire it pulled out of the little rubber grommet in the connector.

I don't know about pre-LCI headlights but the LCI xenon's I have to install have a huge cover on the back and when opened I can see the wires for the shutter. If you can get to that, apply power and ground and see if the shutter lowers.

Ok, thanks for that info. When you say harness/connector, are you talking about the circled piece in the picture attached?

[lowrydr310]

Yes that's it. If you pop that cap off (with a tiny screwdriver) you'll see the individual wires going into the connector.

It's not likely that the wire is broken at that connector, but still a possibility. If you have some small wire you could disconnect the headlight connector and try applying 12V to the shutter pin on the headlight connector. Pin 4 is ground, pin 5 is for the shutter. I tested my new lights like this using the jump start positive terminal under the hood, the one with the red cap.

Here's one diagram of the pins - disregard the notes about adding the ground or splicing the shutter to the high beam, those are for the halogen to xenon conversions.

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114484

If the shutter doesn't work like this, then the problem is internal headlight wiring or the shutter solenoid itself.

[spbridenstine]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

Yes that's it. If you pop that cap off (with a tiny screwdriver) you'll see the individual wires going into the connector.

It's not likely that the wire is broken at that connector, but still a possibility. If you have some small wire you could disconnect the headlight connector and try applying 12V to the shutter pin on the headlight connector. Pin 4 is ground, pin 5 is for the shutter. I tested my new lights like this using the jump start positive terminal under the hood, the one with the red cap.

Here's one diagram of the pins - disregard the notes about adding the ground or splicing the shutter to the high beam, those are for the halogen to xenon conversions.

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114484

If the shutter doesn't work like this, then the problem is internal headlight wiring or the shutter solenoid itself.

So can the solenoid be replaced?