1994 ZX

[nancyt]

Hello, I have an old car that is still going strong. My headlights just went out and I was wondering what may have caused it. Over the last 2 years one fuse has been melting every 6-7 months and I have just replaced it and moved on. Well, now just replacing it isn't working. When I jiggle the wires behind the fusebox, the lights come on every once in a while - mostly just the high beams. One small light always comes on, on one side only. This fuse is also connected to the rear window defroster. Obviously from this post I am not a mechanic. Can anyone tell me if I would be able to fix this on my own? I can follow instructions I am looking to get rid of the car soon, which is why I don't want to put too much money into it at this point.

Thank you!

[HDI]

Welcome to the forum.
When you say the fuse is melting, do you mean blown or the plastic around the fuse is melting ? If it's blowing there is an intermittent fault causing that, if it's overheating there is either high resistance in that fuse holder or an overload on that circuit. If an intermittent fault, it could be anything on that circuit. Is the problem related to when you turn something on which isn't used very often ? Does it blow when the lights are used ? On dip or main beam ? Has the car ever had an accident repair which may have damaged wiring ? This type of problem can be very difficult to trace, especially at a distance, so we need all the information you can provide.

[citronut]

i had no head light working on a customers pug 306 which turned out to be a thick blue wire under the enfgine bay fuse box was broken,
your problem sounds like the conectors in the fuse holders have become over heated, so the first thing to try is clean and tighten them up,

regards malcolm

[nancyt]

I have owned the car for 5 years or so, and I don't think it has been in an accident. I first noticed the melted (not blown) about 1.5 years ago and since then, there have been two more times I have had to replace it because the lights wouldn't turn on. This fuse is connected to the headlights and the rear window defroster (heater). Now even with the new fuse the lights are not turning on, heater light not turning on. If I jiggle the wire right behind the fuse box, I seem to get the light on the dash display to come on that indicates the low beams are on. However, they are not. If I can manuever it enough to get the high beam lights on, both headlights turn on. However, most times I can get the lowbeam dashboard light to come on, but when I try to get it the high beams on, the dashboard light goes off and I have nothing. Nothing really precipitated this - I seem to have had my headlights one hour and then not the next. I may have used my rear window defroster and that could have caused it. When I stick in the new fuse, it does appear to be more wiggly, less secure than the other fuses. How does one fix high resistance?

[citronut]

sounds like the fuse holders have over heated through a bad conection, so you need to try and remove each of the fuse holder terminals clean and squeeze them to tighten them up on the fuse,

regards malcolm

[nancyt]

Thank you for your answers. How does one go about cleaning the fuse terminals?

[citronut]

if you cant remove each one from the fuse box i will be dificultbut im sure not impossible

regards malcolm

[nancyt]

Hello, I cleaned the fuse terminals and the lights now function albeit the low beam on the right hand side. It is actually just the little light on the side. The H4 halogen light works on high beam. Everything seems ok on the left. Any suggestions on how to proceed? I have replaced the bulb and no fuses are burnt/blown.