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Electrical draw, headlights dim etc.

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Old Aug 15, 2010
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Interceptor944's Avatar
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From: Harrison, Michigan
Electrical draw, headlights dim etc.

Ugh...Not sure where to start. Issues only occur with my headlights on. The abs light is lit up with the left turn signal and it flashes very quick and light. Bulb is fine. Both headlights are quite dim with the left almost out. Also my fog lights are drained or will not come on, or my off road lights will not. Last night the A/C fan was working but was not cold. As soon as I turn my headlights off everything works fine. Left turn signal and a/c. I have noticed that the prior owner had an air horn setup under the hood. I decided to hook that back up since it had a bad relay. I'm starting to think that maybe this is why it was unhooked since my problems started "I think" after hooking it back up.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2010
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From: arthur
he hooked it up to a power lead of another part

the horn relay is drawing to much power and preventing the other part(s) getting theirs
 
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Old Aug 15, 2010
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From: wilmington, nc
best thing to do is undo the last electrical thing you did. see if it helps. if it does, then there is your issue.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2010
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Thanks peeps...I was wondering if it was the horn setup.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2010
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Crap...Unhooked everything and still the odd draw with the headlights on. Right now I can't drive at night.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2010
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From: richmond,va
start pulling fuses to see what circuit has the draw.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2010
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K, a yanking fuses I will go........That sounded bad...
 
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Old Aug 15, 2010
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Check the circuits per ccosgrove71; turn on the headlights and then pull the fuses until the headlights brighten up.

Check the grounds !

Have you check the battery/alternator output under load ?

Find out here the air horn is drawing its power from and disconnect it from that end.
 
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Old Aug 15, 2010
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Since the problem you have is affected directly by the headlights, id start tracing wiring and checking grounds, a few months ago a friend of mine had a similar issue and it was a single ground wire broke off from the connector where it was attached to the frame,(his lights were dim as well, and wouldnt blink sometimes or only 1 light would light up at a time) id probably use the airhorn setup as an area to start with considering it was disconnected and the previous owner could have pinched some wiring or something causing the problems.
 
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Old Aug 16, 2010
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Well I followed the ground wire from the left front headlight and tightened it back up to the frame. It seems to have fixed the problem. I will know more by tonight after messing with it. Thanks again chuckies :).
 
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Old Aug 16, 2010
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haha its always the grounds for some reason.
 
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