99 Ford Escort Headlight Problem

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99fordescort - 10 Apr 2005 02:27 GMT

My wife drives a 1999 ford escort and has been having a problem with
the passenger side headlight. The ground wire (black color) has been
heating up and gets hot enough to melt the plastic connecting socket
and the wire insulation--sometimes the bulb will fry. The other wires
are fine. I am on my third headlight harness. I have made sure that
the connecting socket is tight, used electric grease, checked for
corrosion and made sure the ground is good. It never blows any fuses.
I am stumped as to why a ground wire would heat up like this. THe car
was wrecked on the same side by the previous owner. Is there anyway I
can isolate the ciruit to the light so this doesnt happen? I dont want
to have to chase around the main wiring harness. Relays?

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hurricane 575 @ihotmail.com - 10 Apr 2005 02:31 GMT

>My wife drives a 1999 ford escort and has been having a problem with
>the passenger side headlight. The ground wire (black color) has been
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>can isolate the ciruit to the light so this doesnt happen? I dont want
>to have to chase around the main wiring harness. Relays?

run a smaller guage ( thicker) ground wire
check headlite switch
btw after market connectors have smaller guage ground
do volt drop test on ground side

hurc ast

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tom - 10 Apr 2005 11:49 GMT

ignore the a.shole that gives out wrong advice that this week is going by
the name hurricane.
check your ground wire where it connects to the body it may be primed in the
area, and you are not getting a good ground. this will cause the wire to
heat up. also check for a short in the wires. also, are do you have stock
light bulbs, or aftermarket high intensity bulbs??
the high intensity bulbs use more power, and need a relay setup in the power
lines.

> >My wife drives a 1999 ford escort and has been having a problem with
> >the passenger side headlight. The ground wire (black color) has been
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> hurc ast

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99fordescort - 10 Apr 2005 15:52 GMT

> ignore the a.shole that gives out wrong advice that this week
> is going by
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
> >
> > hurc ast

Regular stock DOT bulbs here.

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Shoe Salesman - 13 Apr 2005 13:57 GMT

> > ignore the a.shole that gives out wrong advice that this week
> > is going by
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
>
> Regular stock DOT bulbs here.

because of the wreck it might be a ground problem at the "stock" location.
Try grounding the wire somewhere else.

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