Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

Ok..Let me know if anyone has a clue on this one. My daughter has been
complaining about her headlights not being quite bright enough, so I marched
out with my trusty voltmeter and checked it out. The negative (pink with
white line) wire to the bulbs is sitting at 1.5 volts above 12v negative
battery ground. I'm showing that with the engine running and 14.1 charging
volts, the headlamps are getting an effective 12.5 volts.

Any ideas here? Has anyone seen this before? Any help would be much
appreciated.

Regards, Jim L.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

"Jim L" <j.lofgren@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:vklVf.9258$6%2.249@trnddc08...
> Ok..Let me know if anyone has a clue on this one. My daughter has been
> complaining about her headlights not being quite bright enough, so I
> marched out with my trusty voltmeter and checked it out. The negative
> (pink with white line) wire to the bulbs is sitting at 1.5 volts above 12v
> negative battery ground. I'm showing that with the engine running and
> 14.1 charging volts, the headlamps are getting an effective 12.5 volts.
>
> Any ideas here? Has anyone seen this before? Any help would be much
> appreciated.
>
> Regards, Jim L.
>

Update: In order to find out where my 1.5 volts was going, I pulled the
headlight relay and substituted a jumper to ground to eliminate the relay
and relay ground from the picture and was still missing my 1.5 volts to the
headlamps in the way of an inadequate ground.

In my way of thinking, this only leaves a bad headlight switch. One with
some internal resistance.

My neighbor has a 2001 Santa Fe, so I prevailed on him to let me measure the
voltage on his headlamp ground and it was about .7 volts. Not monumental,
but some less.

So now the quandry...do I take it to Hyundai and let them tell me it is
within acceptable limits and my daughter needs to take off her sunglasses at
night?

When I directly ground the headlamps, the brightness comes up measureably,
so I could give her a switch on a ground jumper....sort of a semi
hi-beam..(:} just joking... I could get some hi intensity headlamps and
call it good...just thought of that one but it is sounding better just as I
type. Anyway, Thanks for the sounding board!

Jim L.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

"Jim L" <j.lofgren@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:vklVf.9258$6%2.249@trnddc08...
> Ok..Let me know if anyone has a clue on this one. My daughter has been
> complaining about her headlights not being quite bright enough, so I
> marched out with my trusty voltmeter and checked it out. The negative
> (pink with white line) wire to the bulbs is sitting at 1.5 volts above 12v
> negative battery ground. I'm showing that with the engine running and
> 14.1 charging volts, the headlamps are getting an effective 12.5 volts.
>
> Any ideas here? Has anyone seen this before? Any help would be much
> appreciated.
>
> Regards, Jim L.
>

Update: In order to find out where my 1.5 volts was going, I pulled the
headlight relay and substituted a jumper to ground to eliminate the relay
and relay ground from the picture and was still missing my 1.5 volts to the
headlamps in the way of an inadequate ground.

In my way of thinking, this only leaves a bad headlight switch. One with
some internal resistance.

My neighbor has a 2001 Santa Fe, so I prevailed on him to let me measure the
voltage on his headlamp ground and it was about .7 volts. Not monumental,
but some less.

So now the quandry...do I take it to Hyundai and let them tell me it is
within acceptable limits and my daughter needs to take off her sunglasses at
night?

When I directly ground the headlamps, the brightness comes up measureably,
so I could give her a switch on a ground jumper....sort of a semi
hi-beam..(:} just joking... I could get some hi intensity headlamps and
call it good...just thought of that one but it is sounding better just as I
type. Anyway, Thanks for the sounding board!

Jim L.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

"Jim L" <j.lofgren@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:vklVf.9258$6%2.249@trnddc08...
> Ok..Let me know if anyone has a clue on this one. My daughter has been
> complaining about her headlights not being quite bright enough, so I
> marched out with my trusty voltmeter and checked it out. The negative
> (pink with white line) wire to the bulbs is sitting at 1.5 volts above 12v
> negative battery ground. I'm showing that with the engine running and
> 14.1 charging volts, the headlamps are getting an effective 12.5 volts.
>
> Any ideas here? Has anyone seen this before? Any help would be much
> appreciated.
>
> Regards, Jim L.
>

Update: In order to find out where my 1.5 volts was going, I pulled the
headlight relay and substituted a jumper to ground to eliminate the relay
and relay ground from the picture and was still missing my 1.5 volts to the
headlamps in the way of an inadequate ground.

In my way of thinking, this only leaves a bad headlight switch. One with
some internal resistance.

My neighbor has a 2001 Santa Fe, so I prevailed on him to let me measure the
voltage on his headlamp ground and it was about .7 volts. Not monumental,
but some less.

So now the quandry...do I take it to Hyundai and let them tell me it is
within acceptable limits and my daughter needs to take off her sunglasses at
night?

When I directly ground the headlamps, the brightness comes up measureably,
so I could give her a switch on a ground jumper....sort of a semi
hi-beam..(:} just joking... I could get some hi intensity headlamps and
call it good...just thought of that one but it is sounding better just as I
type. Anyway, Thanks for the sounding board!

Jim L.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

I'm showing in the schematic that Red is power, White is low beam ground,
and Gray is high beam ground. So first, I'm suspicious that you're
testing the wrong wire (but I've also seen the schematics incorrect, so
you could very well be on the right track, too).

Second, before you start hunting the voltage drop, check to see whether
the bulbs are installed correctly and the lamps are aimed well. The
number one cause I've seen of complaints of dim or improperly aimed
headlamps is improper bulb installation.

As for your voltage drop, I'd suspect it's largely in the junction block.
If you've tested everything correctly and you do indeed have a 1.5V drop on
the ground circuit, I'd say that's too much. I also think anyone who says
that anything more than 1V drop on this type circuit either doesn't know
very much about automotive electricity or doesn't actually want to do the
work.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

I'm showing in the schematic that Red is power, White is low beam ground,
and Gray is high beam ground. So first, I'm suspicious that you're
testing the wrong wire (but I've also seen the schematics incorrect, so
you could very well be on the right track, too).

Second, before you start hunting the voltage drop, check to see whether
the bulbs are installed correctly and the lamps are aimed well. The
number one cause I've seen of complaints of dim or improperly aimed
headlamps is improper bulb installation.

As for your voltage drop, I'd suspect it's largely in the junction block.
If you've tested everything correctly and you do indeed have a 1.5V drop on
the ground circuit, I'd say that's too much. I also think anyone who says
that anything more than 1V drop on this type circuit either doesn't know
very much about automotive electricity or doesn't actually want to do the
work.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

I'm showing in the schematic that Red is power, White is low beam ground,
and Gray is high beam ground. So first, I'm suspicious that you're
testing the wrong wire (but I've also seen the schematics incorrect, so
you could very well be on the right track, too).

Second, before you start hunting the voltage drop, check to see whether
the bulbs are installed correctly and the lamps are aimed well. The
number one cause I've seen of complaints of dim or improperly aimed
headlamps is improper bulb installation.

As for your voltage drop, I'd suspect it's largely in the junction block.
If you've tested everything correctly and you do indeed have a 1.5V drop on
the ground circuit, I'd say that's too much. I also think anyone who says
that anything more than 1V drop on this type circuit either doesn't know
very much about automotive electricity or doesn't actually want to do the
work.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

Thankyou Hyundaitech! I haven't checked bulb installation....I need to do
that and then actually take the vehicle out after dark to see how the aiming
is. I appreciate you getting me back to the basics as I tend to get off on
tangents.

As far as the Ground wire, on this 02, the ground is definitely red
(actually Pink) with a white stripe. I grounded it to the chassis with a
jumper and the headlamp brightness came up measureably. This car is a
special case because it was a salvaged car and even though it has under 60K
miles, I'm afraid I may get some frowns at the dealership. I may still try
that. All the electrical and mechanical was intact through the rollover, but
the roof took a bit of a beating.

Rather than replacing the junction block, I may mount a relay under the hood
and supply a local ground through the relay when the lights are turned on.
I talked myself out of brighter headlamps because they would just draw more
current and my 1.5 volts would probably go up over 2 volts. I would get
nowhere besides the fact that I would be overtaxing an already questionable
connection.

I think I will give Hyundai a call and see what they say.

Thanks again for your help! You are a Godsend!


"hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote in message
news:16dcabbc0e0e4c4af7377ddf7ab2ea99@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> I'm showing in the schematic that Red is power, White is low beam ground,
> and Gray is high beam ground. So first, I'm suspicious that you're
> testing the wrong wire (but I've also seen the schematics incorrect, so
> you could very well be on the right track, too).
>
> Second, before you start hunting the voltage drop, check to see whether
> the bulbs are installed correctly and the lamps are aimed well. The
> number one cause I've seen of complaints of dim or improperly aimed
> headlamps is improper bulb installation.
>
> As for your voltage drop, I'd suspect it's largely in the junction block.
> If you've tested everything correctly and you do indeed have a 1.5V drop
> on
> the ground circuit, I'd say that's too much. I also think anyone who says
> that anything more than 1V drop on this type circuit either doesn't know
> very much about automotive electricity or doesn't actually want to do the
> work.
>

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

Thankyou Hyundaitech! I haven't checked bulb installation....I need to do
that and then actually take the vehicle out after dark to see how the aiming
is. I appreciate you getting me back to the basics as I tend to get off on
tangents.

As far as the Ground wire, on this 02, the ground is definitely red
(actually Pink) with a white stripe. I grounded it to the chassis with a
jumper and the headlamp brightness came up measureably. This car is a
special case because it was a salvaged car and even though it has under 60K
miles, I'm afraid I may get some frowns at the dealership. I may still try
that. All the electrical and mechanical was intact through the rollover, but
the roof took a bit of a beating.

Rather than replacing the junction block, I may mount a relay under the hood
and supply a local ground through the relay when the lights are turned on.
I talked myself out of brighter headlamps because they would just draw more
current and my 1.5 volts would probably go up over 2 volts. I would get
nowhere besides the fact that I would be overtaxing an already questionable
connection.

I think I will give Hyundai a call and see what they say.

Thanks again for your help! You are a Godsend!


"hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote in message
news:16dcabbc0e0e4c4af7377ddf7ab2ea99@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> I'm showing in the schematic that Red is power, White is low beam ground,
> and Gray is high beam ground. So first, I'm suspicious that you're
> testing the wrong wire (but I've also seen the schematics incorrect, so
> you could very well be on the right track, too).
>
> Second, before you start hunting the voltage drop, check to see whether
> the bulbs are installed correctly and the lamps are aimed well. The
> number one cause I've seen of complaints of dim or improperly aimed
> headlamps is improper bulb installation.
>
> As for your voltage drop, I'd suspect it's largely in the junction block.
> If you've tested everything correctly and you do indeed have a 1.5V drop
> on
> the ground circuit, I'd say that's too much. I also think anyone who says
> that anything more than 1V drop on this type circuit either doesn't know
> very much about automotive electricity or doesn't actually want to do the
> work.
>

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

Thankyou Hyundaitech! I haven't checked bulb installation....I need to do
that and then actually take the vehicle out after dark to see how the aiming
is. I appreciate you getting me back to the basics as I tend to get off on
tangents.

As far as the Ground wire, on this 02, the ground is definitely red
(actually Pink) with a white stripe. I grounded it to the chassis with a
jumper and the headlamp brightness came up measureably. This car is a
special case because it was a salvaged car and even though it has under 60K
miles, I'm afraid I may get some frowns at the dealership. I may still try
that. All the electrical and mechanical was intact through the rollover, but
the roof took a bit of a beating.

Rather than replacing the junction block, I may mount a relay under the hood
and supply a local ground through the relay when the lights are turned on.
I talked myself out of brighter headlamps because they would just draw more
current and my 1.5 volts would probably go up over 2 volts. I would get
nowhere besides the fact that I would be overtaxing an already questionable
connection.

I think I will give Hyundai a call and see what they say.

Thanks again for your help! You are a Godsend!


"hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote in message
news:16dcabbc0e0e4c4af7377ddf7ab2ea99@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> I'm showing in the schematic that Red is power, White is low beam ground,
> and Gray is high beam ground. So first, I'm suspicious that you're
> testing the wrong wire (but I've also seen the schematics incorrect, so
> you could very well be on the right track, too).
>
> Second, before you start hunting the voltage drop, check to see whether
> the bulbs are installed correctly and the lamps are aimed well. The
> number one cause I've seen of complaints of dim or improperly aimed
> headlamps is improper bulb installation.
>
> As for your voltage drop, I'd suspect it's largely in the junction block.
> If you've tested everything correctly and you do indeed have a 1.5V drop
> on
> the ground circuit, I'd say that's too much. I also think anyone who says
> that anything more than 1V drop on this type circuit either doesn't know
> very much about automotive electricity or doesn't actually want to do the
> work.
>

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

If you want to post your vin, I'll check it to see if your car is listed as
salvaged by Hyundai. If so, there won't be any warranty.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

If you want to post your vin, I'll check it to see if your car is listed as
salvaged by Hyundai. If so, there won't be any warranty.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

If you want to post your vin, I'll check it to see if your car is listed as
salvaged by Hyundai. If so, there won't be any warranty.

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

Very Cool...Thankyou!...The VIN is KMFSC13D02U226888

Best Regards,
Jim L.



"hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote in message
news:e6867a08e664271d2c87c1cb171a50af@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> If you want to post your vin, I'll check it to see if your car is listed
> as
> salvaged by Hyundai. If so, there won't be any warranty.
>

Re: Dim Headlights on a 02 Santa Fe
 

Very Cool...Thankyou!...The VIN is KMFSC13D02U226888

Best Regards,
Jim L.



"hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote in message
news:e6867a08e664271d2c87c1cb171a50af@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> If you want to post your vin, I'll check it to see if your car is listed
> as
> salvaged by Hyundai. If so, there won't be any warranty.
>