I am a new member here and i have been searching and searching but i cant really find an answer so now its time to reach out for some help.

I just acquired a 2002 CL500 about a week ago that is in need of some work. I fixed my ABC leak and now that notification and the seat back notification are gone i get some messages about lights that are out.

"Side Lamp Left" which i thought was the side marker light because it wasn't lit up. easy enough. well once i removed the lens cover i found that the wires were cut and the power side of the wire was jumped back up to the small light bulb in the small headlight. i noticed that that bulb would flash off and back on every now and then like the computer was checking the circuit.

well i cut the jumper wire lose from the side marker light and soldered the bulb holder back on after cleaning the bulb holder connections. the side marker light comes on but i still get the warning on the dash, and the small light in the high beam housing does not light up now.

i switched the bulbs left to right and the bulbs work. i actually switched the entire headlight housings side to side to see if it was something in the housing. no go, issue is still on the drivers side.

I used a meter to check the wire coming in that should have power on it to light up the small bulb in the high beam housing but there is no power at all, not even for a second when i first turn it on.

from what i can see the person that did the work before i got it was using the side marker light power wire to power the small bulb in the high beam housing as well. there was a resistor installed in line on the power wire that goes to the bulb in the high beam housing. bypassing that resistor doesn't change anything.


any ideas where i can start looking to fix this issue?

 

Follow the wires back and check the resistance of each section. If you find an open circuit, you found where the problem is. If any of the wires run past hot stuff, or is exposed to the elements, they are particularly prone to insulation breakdown.

 

i started that from the bulbs back to the first connector. past that everything is still factory wrapped. i was hoping it was like some of my other cars where there is a common issue and a "look here" kind of solution.

i will have to wait till i have some more time to pull the car apart to trace wires that far.

 

Bulb errors are so common in these cars I just ignore them

 

If it was just the bulb error it wouldn't bother me nearly as much, but I physically don't have one of the lights working. That is what I am trying to fix.