96 Silverado has very dim low beam lights

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

My 96 has very dim lights at night on low beam. In contrast it has very bright lights on high beam, but I also have the relay kit installed that keeps all 4 lights lit up. I'm wondering if my daytime running light circuit board could be messed up keeping my low beam lights dim at night? Is there a check I could do to test this? Can I remove the circuit board for testing? Where is the circuit board???

[scotts62]

TTT Im not sure but does anyone have any ideas?

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

I was told somewhere that in the daytime your running lights are on, but operating in a dimmer mode.

This seems to be what my lights are like, the lighting is yellowish, and I have trouble seeing the centerline.

[89chevsj]

how long have you had the truck? has it just recently started doing this suddenly? or did you just realize it. i have (in my opinion) dim low beams too, but iblame it on the awesome 22 year old lights on it haha. they have never been changed ever. you might have a bad ground somewhere. I'm not positive but i think hi's and lo's run off a different ground.

[keenee]

just bought my suburban in november, feel the same, low beams are too dim. Someone knows, help us to see at night.

[Boog]

I'm not close to my 97 right now but I think there is a drl module you can pull to disable them. Or a fuse, maybe #15? Disable the running lights and the low beams should burn in normal low beam brightness.

[1badgmc]

Originally Posted by Boog

I'm not close to my 97 right now but I think there is a drl module you can pull to disable them. Or a fuse, maybe #15? Disable the running lights and the low beams should burn in normal low beam brightness.

Right. Fuse 15 kills the DRLs. Pull that and see if it makes any difference.

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

My headlights are polished and in like new condition, the lenses are not yellowed.

I will pull fuse 15 this weekend and see what it does, altho they seem to be bright when on high beam (I cannot distinguish which light is bright or dim when on high beam). I'm thinking the drl's are messing it up, or a bad ground....

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

I pulled fuse 15 for the dlr's this weekend while my truck was parked in the garage at night. I didn't notice any difference, and I actually pulled and reinstalled the fuse with the lights on (in the dim mode) and didn't notice any change in brightness.
I guess my next plan is to clean the ground wires on both sides, after that if I don't notice any difference maybe a higher wattage low beam bulb???

[89chevsj]

or HID's. they're definately brighter than halogen.

[1badgmc]

If your lights are that dim, you have a deeper problem than just needing higher wattage bulbs. You say your headlights are polished up and nice and clear, so there's no reason that your proper bulbs shouldn't be bright enough for you. Higher wattage bulbs would just be a band-aid on the real issue and if you went with HIDs like 89chevsj suggested and you have a low power issue, you'll end up killing the ballasts.

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

Yes, my headlamps are clear and polished. The low beams are dim and I'm at a loss other than to clean the grounds. It sounds like others with the same year have the same issue. The brights are really bright, the dims are really dim. From the print it looks like the grounds are the same. I don't need HID bulbs by any means, but maybe it's time for new bulbs??? Any idea's?

[carsinsc]

Are they adjusted properly? May be a simple fix.

[89chevsj]

are you sure the inside of the headlight assembly is clean? I've seen people bring things in for low light problems with headlights and they ended up being dirty inside the housing. is there another truck that you have access to that you can do a headlight check with? switch one buulb from your truck with the other, and turn on the HL on the other truckto see if your bulb is just dim. worth a shot. maybe check for proper voltage.

[463]

Originally Posted by 1971LT1SWBPOSI373

My 96 has very dim lights at night on low beam. In contrast it has very bright lights on high beam, but I also have the relay kit installed that keeps all 4 lights lit up. I'm wondering if my daytime running light circuit board could be messed up keeping my low beam lights dim at night? Is there a check I could do to test this? Can I remove the circuit board for testing? Where is the circuit board???

i would first swap the low beam relay thats installed under the hood and see if that fixes it. if not it's the ground wire off that low beam relay installed under the hood. one more week point is where the low beam factory wire was tied in for the relay kit or the out put to the light. or the 12 volt feed wire is messing up and not giving the relay full voltage. here is a link that will get more details http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...ys/relays.html