i removed my lights to do a paint job and upon fixing them back on, had this strange problem: the parklights are working fine, when its at normal lights, the bigger bulb on the right is off while all other lights are on. but if it is on high beam, all lights are on, even the right one. i checked the fuses, looked at the wirings and all looks fine to fine. did i miss anything? there must be electricity flowing thru the lights but ??? duh ??? pls help or i will be driving all around with high beams...:o

Never checked but is the low beam on when the high been is on?

I could just be a bad connection and the taking on and off upset it. When you go to high beam you are pushing more amps through and it over comes the "dry" connection.
Take the connection off/on again and see what happens

Maybe your low beam filament in that light is blown.

my guess is probably a poor earth.

Low beam filament burnt out, I'd guess. Happened to me once. They usually go first because they are used much more (if you're in the city). Solution is to get a new globe. If you do, make sure it's 60w/55w and don't go for one of those 100w plus ones or you run the risk of overloading your wiring.

hi all,
i have tried replacing the globe and switching the lights around (left to right) before, same problem... so it can't be the globe. will check the earth again this evening. the low beam filament still looks fine...

[Edited on 13-2-2003 by 70giorgias]

maybe a connection at the connector? like the wire is not making connection

Fuses?

There is one for each low and each high beam (4 fuses).

Poor connection to the plug on the back of the bulb (the wires can be pulled out of theis connector) ?

Poor earth (usually a brown wire screwed to the body near the fuel tank)?

bad earth I'd say. Head lights and tail lights never earth well thru the screws that attache them to the body work.

update: had a drive yesterday and the third fuse from the right keeps blowing(has done it 3 times already - i was guessing it was from the stereo). must be an electrical problem. have to get my hands on a voltmeter... blue741 could be right, it seems there is a bit of overspray on the connectors (what is the best way to remove the paint? i tried a bit of turps but i think its a bit dangerous, the electricity might cause a fire...) what can i do about the earth??

Firstly low is not on when high is and visa versa. If this happens then you will get serious heat problems and you lenses will crack.
Use thinners to clean the paint. There is no fire danger as it evaporates in about 30 seconds on sunny day.
Th eproblem definatley sounds eart related.

[size=4]Yes its probably a bad earth - it can cause havoac with headlamps- mainly.... I have recently rewired a couple of Falcon Utes - and as they had been cut and joined before.... etc... I cut them all off and found the wires with the current in them for Hi & low Beam and then also made a new earth connection. Its always best to use new connectors and drill new holes or use larger screws. I always use stainless steel self tappers for earth screws... I would say that the current is running thru both filaments at the same time and thats why its blowing the fuses..
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now i am getting paraniod... sounds like i need to get it done relatively soon...

Re the comments on fixing poor earth connections.

As Lee says, new connectors and holes redrilled for fresh metal with new larger screws is a good idea.

As a quick fix - a light sand paper of the connectors and unscrewing the screwing up the old screws can work wonders as a too (just rubs the rust off the threads). If you can find new self tapping screws the same size - that will help freshen the connections too.

Weird stuff happens with poor earth connectors - the power TRIES to find a way back to the battery, so you can get weird effects, especially with the earth connections in the tail light area - odd things can glow when they shouldn't, and cause real head scratchers.

thanks for the tips guys, am getting help from a fellow veedubber tomorrow, hopefully he will do the magic. i am getting hopeless with the voltmeter... will update y'all again. "

finally! i got it sorted out. thought i share the pain, i solved the right headlights by tracing the electrics, checking the ground and found the problem to be a strange fuse - the contacts were there and not broken yet there was no current flowing through it. changed the fuse, the right worked and guess what? the left lights blew! after a couple of bulbs, two mornings, several cussing, 6 fuses later... i changed the fuse to a higher resistance one and it works! (why didn't i think of that in the first place!?) hopefully, this holds up! thanks for all the suggestions, guys! really appreciate it!

What amp fuse are you using? Thats not really the way to fix a fault. Its just hiding it.

its a 16 amp fuse. is it ok? i got some advice that i should increase the amp as i am running a cd player.

Nah ..... i would keep looking.
IF you only have the headlight connected to that fuse something else is the matter.
I am pretty sure only teh wiper motor is 10 amps.
In Diredt Current Power = Volts X Amps
If your blowing a 8 amp fuse ..... lets be conservative 10amps X 12 volts = 120 W.

Your head lights dont pull that much!
You either have a high resistance connection somewhere or 1/2 a short.

Dont solve the problem with a bigger fuse - you could risk a fire.

here is the strange thing.

it was blowing a 25 amp one, but the 16 amp works fine. it seems like the twilight zone. has my physics knowledge go awry? the more ampheres, the more voltage it carries? it seems to defy logic?

Volts = Amps X resistance V=IR
Power = Volts X Amps P=VI
= Amps X Amps x Resistance P=I2R

The ONLY thing constant here is the volts.
As the resistance goes down the amps goes up. The ONLY way you can make the resistance go down is witha short.

If it was blowing a 25 A fuse and not a 16 A then i would guess it is a problem with the wiring. Somewhere you must have a part time short.
Have a REAL good look.
Mate...is it was blowing a 25A fuse that is not good. Wires are not meant to carry 25A. You risk burning a wire and melting your wiring loom...or a fire.
Not trying to scare but 25A is in the .... um ..... TFH range (Too #$@%en High)

thanks for the advice. will have a closer look... sounds like more time under the hood. hahah!

its been raining for the past two weeks in brissie and i couldn't get a chance to get under the hood without the risk of water getting in. i realized that the previous owner must have done some re-wiring. i looked up an original beetle manual on the net. this is what i found(attached)

? I dunno about that. I thought all fuses were 8amp (white) except for 2 red 16 amp fuses for the headlights. A bit hard to see the shading in that diagram. Maybe im reading it wrong or im just plain wrong. When you were blowing the ealrier fuses, were they possibly 2.5 amp and not 25?

i can't tell if its 25 or 2.5, there is no indication of a decimal. the previous owner who reconditioned the engine put the blue fuse in it. i am sure its not to match the color of the car.

i will run a voltmeter and see if i can work out the amp on that fuse, just to make sure. there is no shorts(i followed muir's book to look for shorts and apparently - none), thanks for the tips again!

Basic rule about choosing fuses: the fuse must have a lower current rating than the wire. That's so the fuse blows before the wire catches fire. As has been said, putting in a bigger fuse is risking a fire. Whenever you're doing any rewiring, always make sure the wire on the battery ( +ve ) side of the circuit is fused, and always make sure all wires in the circuit are rated high enough (ie are fat enough) to carry the required current. You can get an idea of what currents can be carried by different size wires by looking at the wire section in the JayCar (or similar) catalog.

uhmmm.. whats a jaycar catalogue?:jesus

The fuses should be White and 8 amp for High, Low and parkers.

You should have 6 white fuses in the block... with white going to hi Beam, Yellow is low beam and grey is parkers.

The rest should be rest 16 amps.