Why do my aux. lights keep going out?

Nissan11

Nissan11

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Location
Marston, NC
I have a problem with my lights going out. I just bought 2 pairs of lights (different lights.)

One pair is 7", round and 55w. The other pair is rectangle and I believe 55w as well (the cheap ones from the auto store).

I have both pairs mounted on my front bumper, and they are running on completely seperate circuits. Each pair is operated by its own toggle switch and its own fuse and relay.

I have had 3 of the square lights go out in the last 6 months. The last time one went out was yesterday.

Today, I turned on the two round lights but only one came on, the other wont.

So, one light on each circuit is bad and it happened one day apart. I never notice the lights go out while driving, when I hit a switch one just doesnt come one.

What could be my problem? The round lights are a week old and I used the wiring that came in the box.

I think the wiring for both lights is 16g, both use an in line fuse.

My battery is an optima yellow top and one set of lights was going to the side post, the other to the top post.


Im assuming the bulbs are blown, that is the only thing that could have hapopened to single out one light, right?
 
Remove bulb and check the element inside it. Are the lights wired in parallel? (as they should be) If so, and element is good check connections. It's a simple circuit. There's only so many things it can be.
 
rattlecanpaint said:
Remove bulb and check the element inside it. Are the lights wired in parallel? (as they should be) If so, and element is good check connections. It's a simple circuit. There's only so many things it can be.
Click to expand...

By parallel do you mean each light has a wire going to a seperate power blade on the relay, rather than just one blade?
 
I just checked and both the bulbs are good. So, this means the issue has to be somewhere between the relay and the lights, right?
 
What are you grounding too? Are you just wrapping the wire around a bolt or are you using a ring lug on the wire to attach to a bolt for ground?
 
If they're the el'cheapo lights, my guess would be they are not built to withstand the shock of being mounted on something that goes offroad and they are blowing the bulbs.

I ran into this with buying cheap rock lights. Spent more money than if I would've bought a good set the first time.
 
John B. said:
If they're the el'cheapo lights, my guess would be they are not built to withstand the shock of being mounted on something that goes offroad and they are blowing the bulbs.
I ran into this with buying cheap rock lights. Spent more money than if I would've bought a good set the first time.
Click to expand...
Ditto. I replaced more than one set of cheap lights set up as rock lights. What I found is on the cheap lights, the connection terminals on the wiring inside the light would break.
 
Both pairs are grounded to the battery at different posts (again, it's an optima).

So each pair shares a single ground, I just checked and both are good and fastened correctly. I took both bad lights apart and the bulbs are fine, at least the filament is fine, and I don't see any other issues in the lights. The wires are fastened securely to the bulb.

The last 2 times the lights went bad I changed the single light out with a replacement and it worked.

If the bulb filaments are good and the wiring inside the lights are secure, could there still be issues with those individual lights causing them not to illuminate?
 
I had a problem in the past with the cheap wiring that comes with these lights. Some of the kits have one power wire that runs to the lights with a double connector that hold two round pin connectors that then run to each light. That "splitter" or Y connector would vibrate and have a poor connection. I would solder and heat shrink all connections that way if you lose a light, then its probable a bulb, and if you lose the pair, its probably either the relay, or connections to the relay.

If you have a multimeter, and you aren't grounding directly to the battery, you can always check for continuity from the groud to the neg battery terminal. A faulty ground is usually the most common problem, but is also most often over looked.
 
do you have a digital multimeter? if not go buy one, they are cheap and will answer your question for you. When you say you have a good ground there is no way to really know with out knowing the resistance or knowing if you are getting a full 12v to your wiring. For under 20 you can fix all your electrical problems yourself and not guess at it.
 
Today I hit the switches and one of the lights that wouldn't come on now works. It worked the whole way out from arrowhead camp ground to the outpost over the rough roads. I dont know what's going on.
 
You've got a loose connection somewhere. Go do a wiggle test on all the connections. (turn lights on and wiggle the wires at each connection) don't forget the low amp side to the switch also. It's just as important for the system to work.
 
I got home and grabbed my multimeter this evening. I traced the problem to the lights. For some reason, the connectors inside the light aren't transferring current. The fit is tight, there is no corrosion, but I unplugged them and plugged them in a few times and the lights started working. I cut those connectors and replaced them and now the lights work like a charm.
So, fir future reference, if your cheap off road lights quit working and it's not the bulb, replace the wire connectors inside the lights.
 
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