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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / General Car Topics / October 2005Monte Carlo Headlights
Okay folks... I feel kinda silly posting this, but I'm kinda wondering... Picked up a '98 Monte Carlo (Z34, of course) and noticed that then I toggle the high beam switch, the high beam lamps come on INSTEAD of the low beams. I'm used to the high beam lamps lighting along with the low beams (all four lamps lit). Is this normal for this year Monte? I haven't really noticed it with any oncoming traffic... So... if it's normal, great. If it's not... Well I think I'd better isolate the fault NOW, rather than wait 'til the car pukes out on the side of the road in the middle of a New York State snow event.... Thanks for your patience. Raymond Sirois Sr. KU2S SysOp: The Lost Chord BBS http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/9257 telnet://thelostchord.dns2go.com:6023 > Okay folks... I feel kinda silly posting this, but I'm kinda > wondering... [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > the low beams (all four lamps lit). Is this normal for this year > Monte? I haven't really noticed it with any oncoming traffic... You're incorrect. High beams never mean all four lights on. At least not on any car I've ever seen. (maybe really old ones?) >> Okay folks... I feel kinda silly posting this, but I'm kinda >> wondering... [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >You're incorrect. High beams never mean all four lights on. At least not on >any car I've ever seen. (maybe really old ones?) Well, of the cars with a four headlamp system I HAVE owned, (counting on my fingers) a 1963 Buick LeSabre, 1971 Fury III, 1974 Fury, 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, 1988 Lincoln Towncar, 1969 Dodge SuperBee, and TWO 1984 Pontiac Sunbirds, I seem to remember that with the highbeams on, the lowbeams would also be lit. I know it for a fact, because I have always done my own maintenance, including headlight alignment. Guess it IS possible that all of those cars had a wiring fault.... Raymond Sirois Sr. KU2S SysOp: The Lost Chord BBS http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/9257 telnet://thelostchord.dns2go.com:6023 > > You're incorrect. High beams never mean all four lights on. At > > least not on any car I've ever seen. (maybe really old ones?) [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > headlight alignment. Guess it IS possible that all of those cars had > a wiring fault.... My bad. I couldn't remember any instances of that, but of the two cars in my garage currently (94 Dodge Stealth and 02 RX300) the Stealth highbeams do NOT leave the low beams on, but the Lexus does. On the Stealth I can pull back on the turn signal stalk to "flash" the headlights and that illuminates all four lamps at once, but only as long as you hold the stalk back. So to the OP...apparently it depends on the model. >> > You're incorrect. High beams never mean all four lights on. At >> > least not on any car I've ever seen. (maybe really old ones?) [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >So to the OP...apparently it depends on the model. Not a problem. Anyway, the question remains (but is somewhat answered by Rick as being possible) is this setup normal for a 1998 Monte Z34? Raymond Sirois SysOp: The Lost Chord BBS http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/9257 telnet://thelostchord.dns2go.com:6023 >>> > You're incorrect. High beams never mean all four lights on. At >>> > least not on any car I've ever seen. (maybe really old ones?) [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > Not a problem. Anyway, the question remains (but is somewhat answered > by Rick as being possible) is this setup normal for a 1998 Monte Z34? I'll crosspost this thread to the GM Newsgroup. Someone there should know. > >>> > You're incorrect. High beams never mean all four lights on. At > >>> > least not on any car I've ever seen. (maybe really old ones?) [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > I'll crosspost this thread to the GM Newsgroup. Someone there should know. All 4 headlights being lit was common back in the days of glass & metal headlight fixtures. Now, with plastic/plastic headlight fixtures, heat is the enemy. > > >>> > You're incorrect. High beams never mean all four lights on. At > > >>> > least not on any car I've ever seen. (maybe really old ones?) [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > headlight fixtures. Now, with plastic/plastic headlight fixtures, heat is the > enemy. One bulb on each side was a high beam bulb. The other was a 2 filament bulb, high and low. Therefore, all four were lit only on high beams. Dave > > > >>> > You're incorrect. High beams never mean all four lights on. At > > > >>> > least not on any car I've ever seen. (maybe really old ones?) [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > > Dave And there are few vehicles that have that configuration any more, now being only two high/low dual filament fixtures per vehicle, or four headlights per vehicle, with discrete low beam outboards and inboard high beams. The official justification for the low beams going off when the highs were engaged was that high levels of foreground light from the low beams being left on with the highs diminished the effectiveness of the high beams, but I still think it's the heat from 4 bulb filaments burning at the same time in those plastic housings with plastic reflectors and plastic lenses. > > > > >>> > You're incorrect. High beams never mean all four lights on. At > > > > >>> > least not on any car I've ever seen. (maybe really old ones?) [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > from 4 bulb filaments burning at the same time in those plastic housings with > plastic reflectors and plastic lenses. You are probably correct that the plastic housings and reflectors wouldn't stand up to the heat produced by both filaments, but the old glass sealed beams wouldn't have had that problem, yet they only burned one filament at a time. I suspect filament life would be drastically reduced if both were on at the same time. Dave |
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