Check your lamp control relay - Saab 9000 Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
The banner above is an advertisment - if it asks you to download software, please ignore.
Site News - 3/26 M Car Covers (by State of Nine) | 12/12 Make Amazon Pay Saabnet!

[General | Members | C900 | 9000 | NG900 & OG93 | 93 | 95 | NG95 | 99 | Sonett | Vintage Models | Clubs | Other Cars | FAQs | Gifts | Member Photo Galleries | Member Directory | Classifieds | Manuals | *Buddy Registry | *Mileage Registry | Polls | What's New | Raffle | Photo of the Month | Sponsors]

9000 Bulletin Board
1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest]
(Search Author's Posts: e.g. Keyword:username)*Members Only


[Main 9000 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Check your lamp control relay
Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board
Posted by sam96CS [Email] (#852) [Profile/Gallery] (more from sam96CS) on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:46:58 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Right HI Beamot working, AEro, Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:05:01
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

It's probably your lamp control relay, a large square orange relay located under the hood near the battery. You can replace it for $45 or maybe fix it. Maybe my notes below will help. Sam

The lamp control "relay" isn't a relay at all. It checks the flow of current through the headlights and flashes an alarm on the Pictogram if a bulb is burned out. In theory anyway. The part is prone to solder failure where the 8 pins are soldered to the circuit board, and this is especially true of the 3 pins associated with the high beam. You need a mangifying glass to see what you're doing.

First remove the orange cover. It has tabs on 3 sides. I found I could not lever the tabs over the base without the risk of the case spliting. So I removed one tab from the opposed pair with a box cutter. Then the other two tabs could be pried and levered with two small screwdrivers. This reveals the pcb which is vertically attached to the plastic base and terminals. The pcb is soldered to the end of the terminals which extend over and through the base to its edge.

The pins are identified and assigned as follows:
56a feeds both 56aR and 56aL (High Beam),
56b feeds both 56bR and 56bL (Low Beam).
31 is linked to c2 and runs through a transistor - so it needs handling with more care. (You will not get any current to flow here unless you unbalance one pair of the lamp feeds through a load - which would then bias on the transistor).

Use a multimeter to check resistance as follows:
There should be no resistance between 56a and 56aR (high beam right side)
There should be no resistance between 56a and 56aL (high beam left side)
There should be no resistance between 56b and 56bR (low beam right side)
There should be no resistance between 56b and 56bL (low beam left side)

What I found was infinite resistance between 56a and both 56aR and 56aL. This makes sense because neither high beam worked. The solder at 56a looked cracked. So I put the relay innards on the stove top between the two rear burners with a heavy salt shaker behind it (using the burner rings and salt shaker to keep it from moving when touched with the soldering iron. I plugged in the Weller model SP-23 iron (25 watt) and waited 5 minutes for it to get hot - the handle was warm to the touch close to where it flares. I turned on overhead light and exhaust fan. I heated the 3rd pin, which corresponds with 56a, applying the tip of the Weller to the base of the pin. It smoked just a little when the old solder melted. After that I had continuity between 56a and 56aR, but I didn't have continuity between 56a and 56aL. So I heated the 1st pin, which corresponds with 56aL until I got a little wisp of smoke. Now there is continuity between 56a and 56aL.

It can be tested before replacing the cover by plugging it about 3/4 of the way into the socket. Be gentle when removing it, apply force to the base rather than to the pcb as much as possible (I removed the headlight relay to make the base more accessible).

Now both high beams work, and so does the blue high beam indicator light on the instrument panel. If either high beam fails to turn on, the Pictogram correctly shows there is a headlight problem (without giving any specifics).


Posts in this Thread:
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

Name: Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
E-Mail: (Optional)
Re-Enter E-Mail: (Confidential & Secure - Not revealed to other users!)
Note: Please check your spam folder for BB responses.

Subject:

Posting rules are simple - No for sale/wanted ads may be posted here - use the site classifieds.
You may not cross-post your message to multiple BBs.
Not permitted: political/religious topics and being disrespectful (personal attacks, insults, etc...).
Site Members do not see any red text, inline ad links, bottom of page anchor ads, box ads, or anti-spam check.

Message: (please no for sale/wanted classifieds - post those in the Saabnet.com Classifieds)
Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).


Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post above, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).

Optional Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/)
Link Title: (Optional)
Optional Photo/Image Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/img.jpg)
Photo/Image to Upload: (Please be patient while file uploads)





StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2024 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)

This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP - Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot



Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!