Headlight Plug Burnt out.... Again

Djordan2

Original poster
Member
Feb 5, 2012
46
Hello GMTnation I have had an issue with my Headlight Plugs burning up inside the Headlight assembly, I purchased new Headlight assemblies in december and noticed today that the headlight was out on one side again.. took the bulb out and What do you know Light and Pigtail Melted.. Not sure what to do here .. My thought was to purchase some HIDs and use the stock housing.. Does anyone think this would Work.. I know some HIDs require you to plug them into the existing Pigtail but if the pigtail keeps melting them Im not sure what to do...
P.S. The Headlight assembly is covered under Warranty But Im looking to prevent this on the future.. any Ideas Would Be Appreciated!!!!
 

djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,950
North Las Vegas
First off welcome to the site. Please complete your profile so that we actually know what vehicle you are talking about since we have forums that can be universal.

There has been a problem with the headlight wiring on the earlier models. You can buy replacement plugs and splice it in.
 

Djordan2

Original poster
Member
Feb 5, 2012
46
djthumper said:
There has been a problem with the headlight wiring on the earlier models. You can buy replacement plugs and splice it in.

I did this on the First Headlights and the wires and plug melted also... only happens with the low beams .. Trying to bypass the low beam plug altogether
could I do this with HIDs and Just tuck the plugs from the headlight assembly away?
 

STLtrailbSS

Member
Dec 4, 2011
1,617
Whats the wattage of the bulbs that your using?
 

davenay67

Member
Jan 16, 2012
217
I had the plug melt on my passenger side headlight. Replaced with a higher temperature housing from one of the local auto parts stores and it's been OK ever since (probably close to a year ago when I replaced it).

Dave. :smile:
 

Djordan2

Original poster
Member
Feb 5, 2012
46
STLtrailbSS said:
Whats the wattage of the bulbs that your using?

The headlights I used Came With the OEM headlight assemblies When I Purchased them.. They Didn't have any Specific Markings for wattage Any Specific Wattage I need to be Looking For?
 

Boricua SS

Member
Nov 20, 2011
3,080
Ohio
Factory bulbs are usually no higher then 55W... so anything over 55, your risking the wires.. I saw your thread about HID's. HID's come in 35W or 55W.. so most of us do 35W and have been safe..

Just go to your local parts store, pick up some new pigtails, then go for the HID conversion...
 

KNBlazer

Member
Feb 8, 2012
811
if you keep having trouble with your headlight socket that you purchased at your local auto parts store, then I would suggest trying OE AcDelco as a last resort, I had trouble with bulbs constantly burning out in my license plate, got a bit expensive after switching to LEDs with the problem still being present and the bulbs burning out after a few weeks. I went ahead and inspected them and sure enough they were brown and black, spliced new AcDelco sockets and never again had the problem. IMHO, it's best to spend twice the first time than to spend a night banging your head into the wall figuring the problem out... :rotfl:... IIRC, there is a website that has all of the ACDelco pigtail and socket Pn's...
 

Djordan2

Original poster
Member
Feb 5, 2012
46
Ill head into town and see what I can find I did attempt to splice a new pigtail in one and that resulted in a huge Failure as the wire where The Butt Connectors were used melted all the way up to the pigtail.. Im truly at a loss for this.. might need to replace the whole headlight harness!!!.. anyone ever done this?
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Djordan2 said:
Ill head into town and see what I can find I did attempt to splice a new pigtail in one and that resulted in a huge Failure as the wire where The Butt Connectors were used melted all the way up to the pigtail.. Im truly at a loss for this.. might need to replace the whole headlight harness!!!.. anyone ever done this?

I did this for the low beams in my headlights as a precautionary measure, since I had them already cut open at the time, with some spare 9006 HID pigtails. (the only way to release the pins holding the high/low beam wires, is from the inside) There's a write up in the Articles section for adding clear corner turn signal lenses, skip to the 2nd (optional) step if you want to see how I did it. :twocents:

But, if you're going to use HID relay harnesses as we discussed in your other thread, just replacing that pigtail should be OK.
 

Djordan2

Original poster
Member
Feb 5, 2012
46
Thanks a ton I ordered some HIDs and the harness yesterday I'll update as soon as I can..
 

Djordan2

Original poster
Member
Feb 5, 2012
46
Ok so I Installed the HIDs and The next day.........you guessed it Completely melted the plug.. From what I understand the HIDs draw their power
from the battery and only used the on signal from the factory pigtail... I even used electrical grease inside the plug..So now im not sure what to do!!!!
 

Mark20

Member
Dec 6, 2011
1,630
Just throwing out a semi random thought; short to ground somewhere near the plug or from the plug? But aren't the TBs headlights plastic like the Voy?
 

Djordan2

Original poster
Member
Feb 5, 2012
46
Mark20 said:
Just throwing out a semi random thought; short to ground somewhere near the plug or from the plug? But aren't the TBs headlights plastic like the Voy?

If you are talking about the headlight assembly yes they are plastic...
 

MAY03LT

Member
Nov 18, 2011
3,412
Delmarva
Djordan2 said:
Ok so I Installed the HIDs and The next day.........you guessed it Completely melted the plug.. From what I understand the HIDs draw their power
from the battery and only used the on signal from the factory pigtail... I even used electrical grease inside the plug..So now im not sure what to do!!!!

Did you install the relay harness?
 

MichEnvoyGuy

Member
Dec 3, 2011
522
On E-bay they sell ceramic plugs... I replaced mine, which I have repaired at least a dozen times since 2004, with the ceramic plugs last fall and it hasnt melted yet!! I run regular ol' stock bulbs, nothing special. I'd still melt through plugs at least 3-4-5x per year :hissyfit:
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
A pic of your install might help, just in case there's something that got overlooked, we may catch it.
 

Djordan2

Original poster
Member
Feb 5, 2012
46
Figured I would give an update, HIDs were a No go, had the replacements installed at a place called Carolina Custom truck here in SC they are Pretty Reputable. So I ordered a new set of headlights from ebay and once again the Plastic Plug that goes into the headlight bulb melted along with the wires themselves, Within 3 months both headlight plugs melted, Tried Ceramic Plugs, the Wires melt, Really don't know what to do here.. think it might be time to sell the thing after it gets out the shop..lol
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Dude, if you sell your truck... HOW MUCH lol.
 

Wooluf1952

Member
Nov 20, 2011
2,663
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Djordan2 said:
Figured I would give an update, HIDs were a No go, had the replacements installed at a place called Carolina Custom truck here in SC they are Pretty Reputable. So I ordered a new set of headlights from ebay and once again the Plastic Plug that goes into the headlight bulb melted along with the wires themselves, Within 3 months both headlight plugs melted, Tried Ceramic Plugs, the Wires melt, Really don't know what to do here.. think it might be time to sell the thing after it gets out the shop..lol

Are you using bulb grease to combat corrosion on the contacts?
 

Djordan2

Original poster
Member
Feb 5, 2012
46
I have used a few different types of contact grease every time with the same results.
 

cleanwaterguy

Member
Jul 27, 2013
27
Cornwall Ontario
davenay67 said:
I had the plug melt on my passenger side headlight. Replaced with a higher temperature housing from one of the local auto parts stores and it's been OK ever since (probably close to a year ago when I replaced it).

Dave. :smile:

Can you provide some details about the higher temperature housing that you used?
 

Gevans17

Member
Jan 8, 2012
63
O'Reilly carries a high temperature socket/plug assembly no more melting issues since making the swap
 

Hypnotoad

Member
Dec 5, 2011
1,584
www.suvlights.com

I helped a friend install (and by help I mean I pretty much did everything) one of these harnesses a few years back. He had problems with some hids frying the factory harness. It's a real nice product.

These harnesses use your factory headlight wiring to power a relay, that controls the headlights with larger wiring.
 

Forum Statistics

Threads
23,271
Posts
637,476
Members
18,472
Latest member
MissCrutcher

Members Online