99fordescort

My wife drives a 1999 ford escort and has been having a problem with
the passenger side headlight. The ground wire (black color) has been
heating up and gets hot enough to melt the plastic connecting socket
and the wire insulation--sometimes the bulb will fry. The other wires
are fine. I am on my third headlight harness. I have made sure that
the connecting socket is tight, used electric grease, checked for
corrosion and made sure the ground is good. It never blows any fuses.
I am stumped as to why a ground wire would heat up like this. THe car
was wrecked on the same side by the previous owner. Is there anyway I
can isolate the ciruit to the light so this doesnt happen? I dont want
to have to chase around the main wiring harness. Relays?

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hurricane 575 @ihotmail.com

On 9 Apr 2005 21:27:49 -0400, 99fordescort
<UseLinkToEmail@AutoForumz.com> wrote:

>My wife drives a 1999 ford escort and has been having a problem with
>the passenger side headlight. The ground wire (black color) has been
>heating up and gets hot enough to melt the plastic connecting socket
>and the wire insulation--sometimes the bulb will fry. The other wires
>are fine. I am on my third headlight harness. I have made sure that
>the connecting socket is tight, used electric grease, checked for
>corrosion and made sure the ground is good. It never blows any fuses.
>I am stumped as to why a ground wire would heat up like this. THe car
>was wrecked on the same side by the previous owner. Is there anyway I
>can isolate the ciruit to the light so this doesnt happen? I dont want
>to have to chase around the main wiring harness. Relays?
run a smaller guage ( thicker) ground wire
check headlite switch
btw after market connectors have smaller guage ground
do volt drop test on ground side

hurc ast

tom

ignore the asshole that gives out wrong advice that this week is going by
the name hurricane.
check your ground wire where it connects to the body it may be primed in the
area, and you are not getting a good ground. this will cause the wire to
heat up. also check for a short in the wires. also, are do you have stock
light bulbs, or aftermarket high intensity bulbs??
the high intensity bulbs use more power, and need a relay setup in the power
lines.
<hurricane 575 @ihotmail.com> wrote in message
news:460h519g8v553m57ud0qgvgv849pol94ge@4ax.com...
> On 9 Apr 2005 21:27:49 -0400, 99fordescort
> <UseLinkToEmail@AutoForumz.com> wrote:
>
> >My wife drives a 1999 ford escort and has been having a problem with
> >the passenger side headlight. The ground wire (black color) has been
> >heating up and gets hot enough to melt the plastic connecting socket
> >and the wire insulation--sometimes the bulb will fry. The other wires
> >are fine. I am on my third headlight harness. I have made sure that
> >the connecting socket is tight, used electric grease, checked for
> >corrosion and made sure the ground is good. It never blows any fuses.
> >I am stumped as to why a ground wire would heat up like this. THe car
> >was wrecked on the same side by the previous owner. Is there anyway I
> >can isolate the ciruit to the light so this doesnt happen? I dont want
> >to have to chase around the main wiring harness. Relays?
> run a smaller guage ( thicker) ground wire
> check headlite switch
> btw after market connectors have smaller guage ground
> do volt drop test on ground side
>
> hurc ast

99fordescort

"tom" wrote:
> ignore the asshole that gives out wrong advice that this week
> is going by
> the name hurricane.
> check your ground wire where it connects to the body it may be
> primed in the
> area, and you are not getting a good ground. this will cause
> the wire to
> heat up. also check for a short in the wires. also, are do you
> have stock
> light bulbs, or aftermarket high intensity bulbs??
> the high intensity bulbs use more power, and need a relay
> setup in the power
> lines.
> <hurricane 575 @ihotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:460h519g8v553m57ud0qgvgv849pol94ge@4ax.com...
> > On 9 Apr 2005 21:27:49 -0400, 99fordescort
> > &lt;UseLinkToEmail@AutoForumz.com&gt; wrote:
> >
> &nbsp;> >My wife drives a 1999 ford escort and has been having
> a problem with
> &nbsp;> >the passenger side headlight. The ground wire (black
> color) has been
> &nbsp;> >heating up and gets hot enough to melt the plastic
> connecting socket
> &nbsp;> >and the wire insulation--sometimes the bulb will fry.
> The other wires
> &nbsp;> >are fine. I am on my third headlight harness. I have
> made sure that
> &nbsp;> >the connecting socket is tight, used electric grease,
> checked for
> &nbsp;> >corrosion and made sure the ground is good. It never
> blows any fuses.
> &nbsp;> >I am stumped as to why a ground wire would heat up
> like this. THe car
> &nbsp;> >was wrecked on the same side by the previous owner.
> Is there anyway I
> &nbsp;> >can isolate the ciruit to the light so this doesnt
> happen? I dont want
> &nbsp;> >to have to chase around the main wiring harness.
> Relays?
> > run a smaller guage ( thicker) ground wire
> > check headlite switch
> > btw after market connectors have smaller guage ground
> > do volt drop test on ground side
> >
> > hurc ast

Regular stock DOT bulbs here.

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Shoe Salesman

"99fordescort" <UseLinkToEmail@AutoForumz.com> wrote in message
news:1_523698_7f1faabf1a3d55e4d46514a6144177ee@autoforumz.com...
> "tom" wrote:
> > ignore the asshole that gives out wrong advice that this week
> > is going by
> > the name hurricane.
> > check your ground wire where it connects to the body it may be
> > primed in the
> > area, and you are not getting a good ground. this will cause
> > the wire to
> > heat up. also check for a short in the wires. also, are do you
> > have stock
> > light bulbs, or aftermarket high intensity bulbs??
> > the high intensity bulbs use more power, and need a relay
> > setup in the power
> > lines.
> > <hurricane 575 @ihotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:460h519g8v553m57ud0qgvgv849pol94ge@4ax.com...
> > > On 9 Apr 2005 21:27:49 -0400, 99fordescort
> > > &lt;UseLinkToEmail@AutoForumz.com&gt; wrote:
> > >
> > &nbsp;> >My wife drives a 1999 ford escort and has been having
> > a problem with
> > &nbsp;> >the passenger side headlight. The ground wire (black
> > color) has been
> > &nbsp;> >heating up and gets hot enough to melt the plastic
> > connecting socket
> > &nbsp;> >and the wire insulation--sometimes the bulb will fry.
> > The other wires
> > &nbsp;> >are fine. I am on my third headlight harness. I have
> > made sure that
> > &nbsp;> >the connecting socket is tight, used electric grease,
> > checked for
> > &nbsp;> >corrosion and made sure the ground is good. It never
> > blows any fuses.
> > &nbsp;> >I am stumped as to why a ground wire would heat up
> > like this. THe car
> > &nbsp;> >was wrecked on the same side by the previous owner.
> > Is there anyway I
> > &nbsp;> >can isolate the ciruit to the light so this doesnt
> > happen? I dont want
> > &nbsp;> >to have to chase around the main wiring harness.
> > Relays?
> > > run a smaller guage ( thicker) ground wire
> > > check headlite switch
> > > btw after market connectors have smaller guage ground
> > > do volt drop test on ground side
> > >
> > > hurc ast
>
> Regular stock DOT bulbs here.

because of the wreck it might be a ground problem at the "stock" location.
Try grounding the wire somewhere else.