What are your electrical troubleshooting skills like? I'm guessing non-existent - and if that's correct, then take the vehicle to an auto-electrician and have it sorted out.

It's most likely the combination switch, but, there is no guarantee that replacing the switch will fix the problem

 

fordem how could you think I have non-existent electrical skills! As a mech engineer I have only slightly above non-existent electrical skills but I'm a good learner and follow instructions well.

Happy to poke around with a meter if you have some ideas about where to look.

One clue which may be relevant - the lights on the automatic gear shift also went out in the past month (ex. P, R, N, D, 1, 2) . Not at exactly the same time but about 1 month prior to loosing the headlights.

 

I'm going to suggest something stupid....blown filaments in both lamps? its been known to happen.

 

It is not "stupid", It is actually quite common. A lot of people even don't notice when one light is out, and low beams are used more than high beams so the normally burn out sooner.

I would try at least one bulb before going any further.

For info: While there are some differances between Trackers and Sidekicks, and some of these are in the wiring, the basic headlights are the same. The difference would be daytime running lights or not. SO... is your Tracker equipped with DRL?

Many (most?) Japanize cars have ground switched headlights. Fairly easy to troubleshoot when you get your head wrapped around where the power is coming from and going. The power is applied to the common contact to the twin filament bulb. The system (switches and the like) then grounds the filament that you need lit.

 

It's not that stupid - I assumed that both high & low beams were out, but looking back he says high beams & blinkers (flashers ?) are working.

Mcancill - a man with electrical experience wouldn't ask where to look, he'd have grabbed the meter and gone looking - I could find the problem with your car in about one tenth the time and with one tenth the effort & frustration it would take to explain. These vehicles have negative or ground switched headlights which can be confusing to people with experience, people without can get hopelessly lost.

If you were driving a Suzuki I could walk you through it, but you have a Tracker which is slightly different - Ack's FAQ should have a wiring diagram for a 96 Tracker, I don't know how much different that is to the 92, but it's a place to start.

 

hey fordem, do those beasts have a separate fuse for high and low beams? or just one common fuse for both?

 

Trackicks have a separate fuse for left and right headlamp, but not for the high/low beams.
Poster: the solid red wire feeds the high beam circuit - I’d start checking with that.

 

Left & right sides are fused separately, but that one fuse powers both high & low on the same side.

Start at the back of the headlamp socket - three wires - on a Suzuki the fused power comes in on white/red (white with red stripe) on one side, and white/blue on the other, the other two wires are red (no color stripe) which is the high beam, and red/white (red with white strip) which is low beam. How it works is the power is supplied on the white/red or white/blue wire, and then the light turns on when the red or red/white wire is grounded through the combination switch.

I don't know what the colors of the Tracker wiring are but if you can find the headlamp sockets, you should be able to figure it out by comparing them - if it is also safe to jumper the red & red/white wires to ground for test purposes (the light should turn on), but if you ground the white/blue & white/red you'll blow the headlight fuses. Once you've identified the wire colors you can head under the dash and find them again where they connect to the combination switch.

 

Trackers have the same colours . From the 93 workshop manual..............

 

OK, problem solved with some help from an electrically minded friend.

We read via some other research that the DRL controller is a common problem which controls the daytime running lights. Located the DRL to the left of the brake pedal (little black box). Pulled that out and there was an obvious bad connection - the connector was blackened and partially melted on one of the pins.

We jumped red/white to red/green to bypass the DRL controller and the lights returned. So we bypassed permanently by cutting and crimping the red/white to red/green. DRL are not required by law here so good to go.

 

DRL are not required by law here so good to go.

Dont know where you are in Canada, but in BC the DRL are a requirement..

EDIT: I see you are in Vancouver, you are in violation...

"Are daytime running lights mandatory in BC?
Daytime Running Lights. Daytime running lights have been mandatory for vehicles in Canada since 1990. It appears many drivers and vehicle dealers are not aware of this requirement. ."

 

Here is a ($60) module that turns your turn signals into DRL. http://dastern.torque.net/Mods/DRL/DRL1.html

In Canada the DRL must be headlight based...

 

In Canada the DRL must be headlight based...

If that is correct, there will be many new vehicles (post 2015) with LED based DRLs that don't meet requirements - there's a 2015 Kia in my signature that for certain doesn't.

 

Good to go

 

I assume high beams still worked fine before.

 

easy fix, ignore DRL controller, fit relay to turn lights on when key is on. Pretty simple to wire in, this relay will need to turn off when high beam is selected of course so you don't end up with all filaments lit.

or fit a separate set of DRL's

 

While not an expert... Not as far as I can tell.

I have found two separate sources that say otherwise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytime_running_lamp#Canada and the link in my prior post. But like anything on the internet, it is up to the user to ensure he(she) gets the correct info for their location.

 

While not an expert... Not as far as I can tell.

I have found two separate sources that say otherwise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytime_running_lamp#Canada and the link in my prior post. But like anything on the internet, it is up to the user to ensure he(she) gets the correct info for their location.

The authority in this case would be CMVSS108 which should be available on line. - I'm not sufficiently interested to go hunt it down, or to wade through it again.

 

I must say, I find some of the regulations for the various colors of directionals, etc., a bit over the top. In the EU, your directionals must be amber (so, the Tracker directionals, which are red, are ‘illegal’). It doesn’t matter if you use them (or don’t)...it’s the color that’s ‘important’. Also over here, the parking lights must be a different bulb and housing from the front directionals - again, the Tracker does not have this, so you get a ‘fail advisory’ at the annual inspection. When I objected to these regulations, advising that my car did not come with the proper housing for the front, I was basically advised that any ‘bespoke’ housing (not factory) would suffice. I suggested that I make them out of wood, and screwed them to my bumper. They actually advised that this might be ok. Geesh.

 

Also over here, the parking lights must be a different bulb and housing from the front directionals.

There are a great many vehicles built specifically for the UK market that don't meet that requirement.

Most of the BMC vehicles I grew up with housed both park & turn signals in the same unit - separate bulbs and a two piece lens, one clear the other amber.

This is a wikipedia image, you can see the lights I'm referring to clearly

 

The likely cause is a fuse, headlight relay, headlight switch, dimmer switch or a wiring fault. About the only cause that is an easy fix is a blown fuse. Consult your owner's manual to locate the main fuse for the headlight circuit and replace that fuse with one having the same amp rating. mybkexperience mcdvoice

 

raresky, it's nice of you to read through the old threads, you can lean a lot that way - but - please READ THEM before responding, and if you're not familiar with the vehicle & the discussion, consider not responding, avoid confusing the situation more that it needs to be.

First - the fault in this particular discussion was identified back in post #11 as the DRL controller.
Second - the vehicle being discussed does not have one single main fuse for the headlight circuit - it has two, one for each side - and since the high beams were working, we can rule the fuses out.
Third - you're about a year and several months late.

 

And fourth.....welcome to the forum....

 

My God you guys are ANAL... I've been driving BC roads for over 30 years... most of that in my 92 Geo Tracker...you honestly think a cop is going to pull you over for not having daytime running head lights...On a 30-year-old car? Mine has collector plates... LOL...just saying.