randilynn

I hope I'm putting this in the right place...lol. I have a touch of a problem with my HHR. Someone installed fog lights that don't work, my passenger headlight only works if I slap it a little or turn the hi-beams on. I've had the bulb AND the assembly replaced (someone happened to back into that side of the car) and I'm not sure where to start could it be wiring? or should I check the fuses first? Thanks in advance.

randilynn

Its a 2009 2.2 LT

843de

Hmmm...the fog lights might be a fun one to figure out, if it's a botched install, you might be better off having someone go back Step #1 and start fresh.

Slapping the headlamp to bring it to life brings a couple things to mind, a bad connection in the lamp socket, a broken wire in the harness, or a broken filament in the bulb.

Twistedtat

X2 on the fog lights. Tracing the woring back to square one is tje best route. The headligjt issue with the described symptoms sounds like a wiring issue seeing as you have replaced the whole assembly. If it were a fuse I would assume th7ey would not work at all, because the circuit would be incomplete. If you have access to a multi meter that would help. Good luck.

whopper

and check the grounds with that multimeter, especially that headlight.

donbrew

They might be related. The proper way to install fogs is to use a relay to turn them off when the high beams are on. They are supposed to be connected.

I would guess at either a ground or miswired add-on relay.

08LaRam

If it(headlight) comes on when you slap it there HAS to be a loose connection, whether it is a broken wire(due to mentioned crash), loose connection on hot lead, or loose connection on ground. A miswired relay (as long as the connections are secure) will not cause the headlight to blink on or off if it is 'slapped', if wired wrong it is just wrong...it won't change state because you hit it unless the relay itself is faulty. You might check the headlight socket itself as it may have been damaged when your car was struck.

oldracer

Looks like there are two issues and I would tackle them separate. First as already mentioned I would do a wire trace of the fog lights and if they are in the location of the stock ones you'll have to pull the fender liner. Make a diagram and note the colors of the wires and where each one attaches. You did not mention what type of lights the fogs are and if they are HID like I installed they will need a relay for each side, etc and the wire connections are pretty standard. You will need a multimeter to see what power is available to the fogs and if they are stock location and connected then they will only come on with the low beams on. They might also have their own fuse which has blown so that will be seen when tracing the wires.

For the headlight having intermittent light or light with high beams on, as noted it sounds like the wire connectors at the back of the headlight. I have had connectors fail on 3 cars in the last five years and one was so bad I finally had to wire the lights with relays as there was a fault in the wire harness. This can happen if stronger bulbs are installed. The passenger side had no issues but the drivers side did, similar to your issue. The way to check the connector is to see which wire does the high and low voltages and wiggle the low and see if the light works. Most auto parts stores sell a replacement connector with pigtails so you can replace a bad one.