This 2001 Chevrolet Impala came in with the complaint that the low beam headlights would not work. I went to the headlight bulb and found power on both terminals of the low beam bulb. This indicates that a ground is missing. After looking at a wiring diagram I determined that there were several possibilities: broken wire, loose ground connection at left side of dash, blown fuse,faulty headlamp relay, faulty dimmer switch and faulty body control computer. The dimmer switch however was the one point were most things could be checked. I removed the lower dash cover and the metal bracket behind it to access the wiring connector.
The yellow connector is for the airbag system and the connector that I was looking for is just below it.
Working room was pretty tight and the plastic edges are very sharp so I pulled the connector down to gain better access.
The white lever has to be flipped over to separate the two connector halves.
With the connector separated I decided to reattach it to it’s mounting clip. You can see the mounting clip for the air bag connector just in front of the connector.
From looking at diagrams earlier I had determined that I needed to check terminal C4, Dark Blue for bleed through power from the low beam headlight bulbs. It is the second terminal from the right in the second row down. Terminal C3, Light Blue is the ground supply wire that is sent to the dimmer switch from the headlamp relay. I do not know why the color codes change from the main harness to the combination switch harness but on the main harness side the C3 wire is Light Blue and on the combination switch harness the wire is yellow. On the main harness side the C4 wire is Dark Blue and on the combination switch side it is Brown.
Anyhow, I had bleed through power on the C4 terminal and I had ground on C3. I could touch the two wires together and the low beams would come on. Diagnosis of a faulty combination switch. Now that I had it diagnosed, all I had left to do was to change the switch. I had to remove the steering column cover. There are two torx screws attaching the lower cover and the tilt lever had to be pulled out of the column. There are two inverted torx screws holding the upper cover from the inside that have to be removed. Once the covers are removed the two attaching screws can be removed.
I use a torx bit and 1/4″ ratcheting wrench because it allows me to change the switch without removing the steering wheel and air bag. Takes a little coordination and effort but it saves a lot of time.
There are a couple of wire ties that have to be removed and one harness support that needs to be unclipped. Then the cruise control subharness can be detached.
The wire connector also has to be removed from the shifter interlock solenoid.
Out with the old and in with the new and all is well. I took a picture of the headlight relay. It is the upper, larger rectangular box that cannot be fully seen in the picture. This view is of the backside of the fuse box that is at the left end of the instrument panel.
P.s. I will be making a donation!
Thanks for the walk through! I was able to diagnose the problem with your help. Unfortunately the dealership wants $533.08 for the switch!! So I think I’m going to wire a toggle switch to the harness until I find a cheaper one. 🙂
If it clicks when the headlight switch is turned on, you will need to double check terminal C3, Light Blue wire. It is the ground supply wire that is sent to the dimmer switch from the headlamp relay.
My 2000 Impala has no low beams after coming out of storage.
I have voltage at both terminals at the lamp.
Using the brake pedal shaft as ground for my meter I measured small voltage on C4. But checking continuity between C3 and the pedal shaft shows no continuity indicating no ground on C3(?).
I shorted out pins C3 and C4 and the low beams did not come on.
The relay clicks when the switch is turned on.
Could the relay still be bad even if it clicks (yet not supply ground)? Any other ideas?
The power reading you are getting on the second wire with one bulb plugged in and the other unplugged is feedback from the one installed bulb. If the ground was present the voltage would be used up inside the bulb to heat the element. Does the headlight relay click when the headlight switch (on the left side of the dash) is pulled on?
was double checking fuses..pulled left low beam fuse and checked for pwr, had pwr on both fuse terminals..pulled right and had pwr on one…put left back in and had pwr on both terminals of right..I have very few hairs left..this is driving me crazy