Headlight Issue

[Zilverado]

So, it seems like when it rains it pours... lots of little nit-picky things starting to crop up all of a sudden...

My '86 Chevy has the 4-lamp headlight system. I noticed tonight on my way home that I was missing the low beam on the passenger side. Thought to myself - "no biggie, just pick up a new lamp tomorrow and away we go". Well, it turns out that the lamp does come on when I turn on the high beams. Then all 4 lamps are on.

I just got home and it's late and dark and I'm tired, so I didn't even start to check things like wires and connections, but I thought I would quickly ask for some thoughts.

So what gives here? Could this be a headlight switch thing (please say no ? What else???

[BLE 'BURBAN]

No
The low beam headlights on a quad light system like yours has 2 elements in it and 3 terminals on the backside. one for low beam and one for high beam. As to where the high beam only has a single element in it and 2 terminals on the backside.
So most likely the low beam is burnt out. replace it and all should be good.

On a side note, you can always replace your high beam single element headlights with the lowbeam dual element headlights so that in the future if your out somewheres and have a low beam burn out again you can just easily swap out the lamps and be back on the road in no time.

Your headlight bulb part numbers for the halogen lamps are...
LOW BEAM =H4656
HIGH BEAM =H4651

[C-10volvo]

get yourself a pair of sylvania silverstar headlamps (H4656ST) and be impressed by the difference. Its the only bulbs i use in my non-Xenon cars.

[TexasJeff]

I agree with Ken (C-10volvo) I put Silverstars in my truck about 5 years ago and they are well worth the money ($20-25 per bulb)that you spend for them.
Huge difference in the amount of light they give off compared to normal lamps,
and it was a easy swap.

[Zilverado]

Thanks for all the replies guys - I TRULY appreciate it.

Here's a really embarassing question (I'm almost afraid to ask). Are these headlight "bulbs" replacable, or is it a sealed headlight assembly? In all my years of driving this truck, I've never needed to change them, and I've always just assumed that these were sealed lamp units - typical of older vehicles. When you guys are refering to "bulbs", I think just a replacable bulb inside a headlight assembly, like newer cars/trucks.

I am away from the truck right now and can't check for myself. And like I say, it's such a simple thing, I'm embarassed to ask, but...

[TexasJeff]

They are sealed units, so basically they are the bulb.