High Beam Worksbut no Low beam!!!!PLZ HELP

[adrianfrchicago]

I recently noticed that when i started my 98 900se i got a notice of a front light failiure, i turned off the car and turned it back on and it worked fine. couple of day went by and when started my car i had no healights. had to drive home with my high beam. I went the next day and bought new bulbs as the old ones looked old. that didnt fix the problem so i went to the fuse boxes and all the fuses were ok! I thought in that case it has to be the relay....but because the highbeam worked i just switched the two in the box to see if this would help...with no luck.,.....so it is not the bulbs,not the fuses, prob not the relay(not sure cause im not an expert) but because when i switched them out i had the same problem with only highbeam workin. Could it be the switch inside the cabin? when i pull it out it looks fine. the dealership was so un helpful they wanted me to do a inspection for almost 200 bucks.
Please help me and you can always email me directly, my saab needs ur help. as i have taped the light half way to not blind ppl when im driving. lol. it does look MEAN though. LOL
adrian_orlowski@comcast.net
Please help

[900SEed]

There are two different ways you can hook up the harness to the light bulb. Check to make sure it isn't installed backwards. My headlight were acting funny after i installed new bulbs because i had the harness on backwards. Good luck.

[Thedriver]

Originally Posted by adrianfrchicago

I recently noticed that when i started my 98 900se i got a notice of a front light failiure, i turned off the car and turned it back on and it worked fine. couple of day went by and when started my car i had no healights. had to drive home with my high beam. I went the next day and bought new bulbs as the old ones looked old. that didnt fix the problem so i went to the fuse boxes and all the fuses were ok! I thought in that case it has to be the relay....but because the highbeam worked i just switched the two in the box to see if this would help...with no luck.,.....so it is not the bulbs,not the fuses, prob not the relay(not sure cause im not an expert) but because when i switched them out i had the same problem with only highbeam workin. Could it be the switch inside the cabin? when i pull it out it looks fine. the dealership was so un helpful they wanted me to do a inspection for almost 200 bucks.
Please help me and you can always email me directly, my saab needs ur help. as i have taped the light half way to not blind ppl when im driving. lol. it does look MEAN though. LOL
adrian_orlowski@comcast.net
Please help

Yes, you are right in assuming it could be the switch, it also could be the headlight bulb blown module or a bad earth connection.

The switch could be easily checked by using a multimeter and simply check if the contacts are making when you turn the switch on.
Alternatively, if you dont have a multimeter, you may be able to put your finger on top of the dipbeam relay and have some one turn on the headlights dip beams via the switch, then see if you can feel a little click in the relay as you turn it on, it may off course be too quiet to feel, but worth a try, if you feel a click, you know the switch is energising the relay coil.
You could also just pick up a used switch and try it out or swap out with a friend with same car.

The headlampblownbulb failure module is usually in the main fuseboard in engine bay and may be an orange colour , these are easy to test if you know how, and here is how to quickly check the headlamp function.
Remove the module, and switch on headlamps, dont worry about bulb failure message, then get yourself a little loop of electrical wire, and loop out contacts 56B and 56BL should bring on the left headlamp and then loop out 56B and 56BR should bring on the right headlamp, if they come on, you know the fault is in the module. You can either replace the module, or try and repair it, as ive heard you can sometimes get some bad solder connections inside it which can be resoldered.

If the above things are ok, then check the earth connections around the headlamp area, but i think they would also affect mainbeams, so its either the headlamp switches or the bulb module

Either way, the above options will save you some bigbucks

[adrianfrchicago]

Thank you guys,. i will check that when i get out tommorrow. and i will let you know how it went.
thank you so much again.

[earthworm]

There are two relays in play here.I believe these are identical and rather simple.

One is a "dipstick" relay - see the Haynes manual.
Also check out the switch, it may be cleanable - the one for the old 900 was..