Kevin Lang
Well-Known Member
This is why you don't buy a Sunfire used from the lot of a Toyota dealer, especially when the buyer is someone who is FAR too trusting 
Soes, this 2001 silver sunfire has had headlight problems since, well, ever. The repair bills left in the glovebox by the previous owner show MULTIPLE repairs on the headlights.
So the dealer told them that all had been fixed. Shortly after purchasing the car, turning on the brights would turn off both headlights. This was allegedly (key word) fixed.
So now that it has been a year or so, I heard about this issue with the car in that both headlights will flash very dimly like a 90s rave when the engine is first turned on, yet if the headlights are engaged normally, only the drivers' side comes on...however BOTH come on with the high beams.
I was asked to put in some silverstar ultras that had just been bought. I knew that wasn't the problem, but brighter is always better and the bulbs had been bought and opened, so I put them in.
First thing I saw was that the 2 bulbs in there were of different types, a Wagner and a GE, and looked vastly different, and the one on the drivers' side (Wagner) had this black crap inside of the bulb, coating the lens.
So then I looked at the passenger side wiring. And there I saw the AWESOME "repair" job.
Apparently, the headlight wires in the existing harness have died, so some genius cut them, left them hanging exposed in the cavity, then jury rigged another harness to the drivers' light, using 3 different types of wire, electrical tape, duct tape, and shrink wrap tubing to make this "cable". Also, one 2 wires go into this monstrosity, but only one is connected to another on the other end, the other cable just dangles in the air.
Sadly, I did not have time to really play around with this, and as much as I want to, this is something that needs to be taken to the dealer, the repairmen (COUGH), and the Maryland State Inspection locale, because this is ludicrous.
Here are some pictures:
This is the splice job in all of its glory.
[Broken External Image]:
Here's a close-up of the same "repair". Notice how the wires coming in are NOT the same color as the wires coming out, and then how even those wires change color after the heat shrink tubing. Also notice the original wires just sticking out there, stripped.
[Broken External Image]:
Finally, here's a shot of the "cable" going across the radiator. The masterminds who did this simply wrapped the 2 wires (one of which again connects to nothing) in a whole roll of electrical tape...they didn't even think to run them back through the stock corrugated tubing which is already in the same location!
[Broken External Image]:
They say that the Pontiac Sunfire has electrical problems after 100k. Ours joins this statistic, but it was helped. TJR, hopefully you have better luck than ours.
On the plus side, with such a low car, and with people getting used to the imbeciles with their lifted Rams with their pink improperly installed HID bulbs, people can drive the car with the brights on and get away with it, which is good, as it is the only way to actually SEE anything
The Used Car Dealership--Still less trustworthy than the dude on the side of the road.
Soes, this 2001 silver sunfire has had headlight problems since, well, ever. The repair bills left in the glovebox by the previous owner show MULTIPLE repairs on the headlights.
So the dealer told them that all had been fixed. Shortly after purchasing the car, turning on the brights would turn off both headlights. This was allegedly (key word) fixed.
So now that it has been a year or so, I heard about this issue with the car in that both headlights will flash very dimly like a 90s rave when the engine is first turned on, yet if the headlights are engaged normally, only the drivers' side comes on...however BOTH come on with the high beams.
I was asked to put in some silverstar ultras that had just been bought. I knew that wasn't the problem, but brighter is always better and the bulbs had been bought and opened, so I put them in.
First thing I saw was that the 2 bulbs in there were of different types, a Wagner and a GE, and looked vastly different, and the one on the drivers' side (Wagner) had this black crap inside of the bulb, coating the lens.
So then I looked at the passenger side wiring. And there I saw the AWESOME "repair" job.
Apparently, the headlight wires in the existing harness have died, so some genius cut them, left them hanging exposed in the cavity, then jury rigged another harness to the drivers' light, using 3 different types of wire, electrical tape, duct tape, and shrink wrap tubing to make this "cable". Also, one 2 wires go into this monstrosity, but only one is connected to another on the other end, the other cable just dangles in the air.
Sadly, I did not have time to really play around with this, and as much as I want to, this is something that needs to be taken to the dealer, the repairmen (COUGH), and the Maryland State Inspection locale, because this is ludicrous.
Here are some pictures:
This is the splice job in all of its glory.
[Broken External Image]:
Here's a close-up of the same "repair". Notice how the wires coming in are NOT the same color as the wires coming out, and then how even those wires change color after the heat shrink tubing. Also notice the original wires just sticking out there, stripped.
[Broken External Image]:
Finally, here's a shot of the "cable" going across the radiator. The masterminds who did this simply wrapped the 2 wires (one of which again connects to nothing) in a whole roll of electrical tape...they didn't even think to run them back through the stock corrugated tubing which is already in the same location!
[Broken External Image]:
They say that the Pontiac Sunfire has electrical problems after 100k. Ours joins this statistic, but it was helped. TJR, hopefully you have better luck than ours.
On the plus side, with such a low car, and with people getting used to the imbeciles with their lifted Rams with their pink improperly installed HID bulbs, people can drive the car with the brights on and get away with it, which is good, as it is the only way to actually SEE anything
The Used Car Dealership--Still less trustworthy than the dude on the side of the road.
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