1993 Pontiac Grand Am, headlights will NOT turn off (FIXED)

MECHANIC116

MEMBER
1993 PONTIAC GRAND AM

I have a '93 Grand Am that has a strange headlight malfunction. They will NOT turn off. If the battery is hooked up, they stay on, ALL the time. Just the headlights. All the other lights only come on if you turn on the parking lights, or all the way to the headlight position. Key doesn't have to be on either. This malfunction didn't occur until after I had the engine out of the car and put it back in. I have been over it with a fine toothed comb. I cannot find the cause of this problem. I also found this same problem and answer posted on this same forum.

"Question: 1992 Pontiac Grand Am 4 cyl mileage: 78000. I walked out on 1 Jan and found the headlights on. Got the keys to start engine fearing dead battery, the car started right up. The lights were not on the night before. Turned off car, removed key, light switch off, headlights stayed on. Hit high beam, headlights went off, high beams came on. Pulled out headlight control unit from fuse panel, headlights stayed on. Unplugged each light individually and in high beam/headlight pair, thinking it might be a short, lights stayed on. Had to unplug lights to get them off.

Answer: If we did not know better, we would suspect the Y2K bug. Without actually “seeing” your vehicle, it is difficult to diagnose the problem. We are guessing at some damage done to the headlight wiring causing a short between a power wire and the headlight wire."

This leads me to believe that this is a common occurrance with this particular model car. Hope someone has the answer. Thanks.

3 Replies

MECHANIC116

MEMBER
28 POSTS

I have discovered the cause of this problem and have fixed it. This problem occurs when a tiny piece of plastic that insulates part of the printed circuit inside the headlight switch breaks off and allows the high/low beam contactor to short out. The result is the headlights on, all the time. I took pictures which I will post later. I cleaned the circuit board and fixed it with some epoxy. The switch itself is part of the turn signal/hazzard/headlight switch assembly which is sold as one piece. They can be bought for anywhere from about $66 to about $115, depending on the manufacturer. The headlight section is attached to the assembly with 4 small torx bit screws. Once unscrewed, it comes apart easily. The shorted out area will be obvious, due to burning indications.