What might be the problem? Drivers side headlight not as bright as the passenger side. The drivers side blinker will stop blinking if I turn on the headlights, and the wipers will not go if the headlights are on.
there should be some grounds you can check on that side up front around radiator support and firewall. That’s where I’d start.
Wow, so you just think it might be a grounding issue, not a alternator or voltage regulator?
I never even gave that a thought. Why not the alternator or voltage regulator? I’m trying to learn something here, so please be patient.
I agree with PP. Except for the dim headlight, this does sound like a grounding issue. Why, you ask. When there is a high resistance problem in the bond between the chassis ground and the negative side of the battery it causes a voltage drop across the high resistance when current flows through that resistance. As the current goes higher (when more accessories are turned on)it causes the voltage drop to also go higher across the resistance. Any voltage that gets robbed by the bad ground connection will cause a loss of voltage to the powered accessories that are in series with the bad ground connection. High current draw devices like headlights will make lower current devices like dash lights (or wipers) unusable if the condition is bad enough.
The dim headlight may be due to a bad ground connection but also check the connector to the light for a bad connection there. Any signs of heat damage to the connector is a sure sign the connector is faulty. If there is a seperate relay to the light that is another thing to check. Swapping the relays would verify that if that is the case.
Checking the relay and fuses was the first thing I checked, on my Bimmer almost every component has a separate fuse, so I checked those things first, then I was stumped. I will look at the head light connector and then check the ground connection points. I did not want to just throw money at the issue, because you never know what was really broken when you go that route.
I would like to thank everyone for there help, as it turned out to be a simple fix. I was checking the oil on Monday and I stumbled across the loose ground wire. On each side of the radiator attached to the metal was 2 black ground wires so I immediately started the car and I touch the right side ground it was tight so I touched the left side it was loose and the light on that side would brighten and dim. I turned off the car, broke out my wrenches and everything is good, now all lights work, blinkers, wipers. Thanks again!
Imagine that! Thanks for letting us know. merry Christmas!
AHA!!! Finally, fixing a bad ground does work. I was waiting for it to happen for someone other than me.