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kahoona's avatar
kahoona
Explorer II
May 22, 2016

Please help with headlight problem

Hi
I have a problem with my 2002 Coachmen Mirada. It is on a 2001 F53 chassis. The low beams blink off every 2 seconds constantly. In addition to that the low beams come on when the high beams are turned on. They are not supposed to. The highs do not come on when the lows are turned on so it is not a crossed wire between the two. The headlamp pod has separate bulbs for high, low and daylight bulbs. This may not have anything to do with it but at the time when this started the bulb for one DRL blew and I did replace it.
I replaced the multi-function switch. Checked fuses. Checked relays. I pulled one headlight pod and checked it over but saw no problem with it. Having the wiring in those looms makes it hard to check. Where do I start? Are there traditional problem areas?
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
  • Sounds like a ground in the low beam circuit. Headlights have a circuit breaker in the switch (or in the circuit) as a safety feature so you do not drive down the road with a burnt fuse and no lights. You may hear a click under the drivers console also, the breaker tripping and resetting.
    First unplug low beam bulbs, one at a time, turn the lights on and check. Could be a bulb filament broken and shorting to the ground side. If that does not work, check around the low beam bulbs for bare/shorted wires. Then start working your way back towards the firewall, pay close attention where ever the wire goes thru the body or other parts of the R/V.
  • I don't know your rig but I wonder if the problem could be a defective bulb, old or new. I've had bulb filaments break and re-weld themselves in odd ways. Check your bulbs.
  • kahoona wrote:
    Hi
    I have a problem with my 2002 Coachmen Mirada. It is on a 2001 F53 chassis. The low beams blink off every 2 seconds constantly. In addition to that the low beams come on when the high beams are turned on. They are not supposed to. The highs do not come on when the lows are turned on so it is not a crossed wire between the two. The headlamp pod has separate bulbs for high, low and daylight bulbs. This may not have anything to do with it but at the time when this started the bulb for one DRL blew and I did replace it.
    I replaced the multi-function switch. Checked fuses. Checked relays. I pulled one headlight pod and checked it over but saw no problem with it. Having the wiring in those looms makes it hard to check. Where do I start? Are there traditional problem areas?
    Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.


    Check the ground wires going to the headlight bulbs, the grounds may be bad feeding voltage back to the other bulbs (or filaments).. You should find one single wire at each socket that does not go into the wire loom, follow it and it should terminate under a bolt 6"-12" from the bulb socket.. Remove the bolt and clean any corrosion from the wire lug and the bolt.

    Blinking bulbs can be caused by too high of a wattage (IE high power bulbs) that the vehicle was not designed for.. Typically headlight bulb circuits use auto reset breakers instead of fuses..

    Overloading the circuit with higher wattage bulbs will trip the breaker, the breaker interrupts the current and the breaker cools and resets. Lather, rinse and repeat.