2003 Pontiac Sunfire: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Mar 10, 2010 · Electrical, Lights · 18,000 miles · 00

Failure to the headlight harness, with time, corrosion attack the headlight harness. Which will cause the headlight intensity to lower or worst, total headlight failure. That mean that you can be driving at night and totally lose your headlight. This defect has been repaired 4 times now, and I need to have it repaired a 5th time april 2004.

Filed Mar 1, 2010 · Electrical, Lights · MI

2003 pontiac sunfire. Headlamps do not work. Found out thru internet search this is a common problem on this vehicle. There are multiple wiring problems with this vehicle that gm should fix (fog lamps as well). The lamps already went out a couple of times before. It is a safety hazard because if this happens at night you have no lights. Gm keeps skirting around the issue until your warranty runs out then it costs you more money than you have to get it fixed. Very, very, very frustrating. Just do a internet search for sunfire headlight problems/do not work/ etc. And you'll see.

Filed May 27, 2009 · Lights · 3,000 miles · PA

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 pontiac sunfire. While driving approximately 40 MPH at night, the headlights suddenly became extremely dim. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and repaired according to a safety recall. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer on three separate occasions for identical failures, but the repairs did not correct the issue. The federal safety agency campaign id number was unknown. The failure mileage was 3,000 and the current mileage was unknown.

Filed Feb 20, 2009 · Lights · 20,000 miles · WI

Head lights fail for no reason and at any time. This can include both high and low beam and fog lights. Has been repaired now for the 5th time at a gm dealer ship.

Filed Feb 19, 2009 · Lights · 8,700 miles · OH

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 pontiac sunfire. The contact stated that the driver's side headlight was not working on the vehicle. The forward electric harness allowed water to enter into the light and caused it to fail. Soon after purchasing the vehicle in 2003, the headlights failed. The dealer informed him that there was a recall (gm recall number 03029) on the lights. The vehicle was repaired because it affected the signal lights and driver's side headlight. The contact recently took the vehicle back to the dealer for repair, but they stated that it was previously repaired and would not be repaired a second time. The failure mileage was 8,700. Updated 03/23/09. *lj updated 03/24/09.

Filed Feb 8, 2009 · Lights · 30,918 miles · 00

The front wiring harness on my 2003 pontiac sunfire 2 door has failed for the 4th time due to corrosion of the obviously-too-small gauge wiring and inappropriate placement and water-proofing of the wiring harness and connectors. Headlight(s) or foglight(s) typically either fail outright, or dim to about 10% intensity, caused by corrosion in the wires and connectors. Previous failures of this wiring harness affecting both headlights and/or foglights occurred in jan 2005, jan 2006, and jan 2007, and were repaired by removal of corroded wire sections and re-splicing of wires. Discussions with both gm and independent mechanics confirm my suspicions of similar failures in many other sunfires and cavaliers. I agree with a lifelong mechanic who says the only proper solution is a complete rewiring job. This is an extreme hazard as complete headlight failure or dimming can happen any time without warning. A dead of night failure anywhere, in the city, near a school, or on a country road as happened to my daughter's friend in her sunfire, cannot be construed as anything other than life-threatening; fog light and headlight failure at any other time is dangerous. If the failure of sunfire/cavalier rear brake and turn lights warranted a 2004 recall, then surely this equally or more threatening chronic problem deserves one. Why this has not been addressed already is beyond me. Gm has acknowledged the problem by issuing a series of tsbs over the years on this problem: #03018, #0309, #030842002, #021903, and the federal safety agency has been apprised of them. I am a hobby mechanic who has spent 45 years building and racing powerboats and working on and restoring cars. I know a design fault when I see one. This issue must be addressed before someone is killed or seriously injured. The suspect wiring harnesses should be recalled and replaced, rather than waiting for them to fail (time and time again) and then making splices to the wiring and cleaning up the connectors.

Filed Jan 10, 2009 · Electrical · MI

I have had alot of shortages on my 2003 pontiac sunfire. I have been researching on line and there have been alot of similar issues. Such as power window shortages, high beam and low beam shortages, the locks, and issues with the dashboard gauges not working. I feel that this is to many issues with shortages and it is a safety issue.

Filed Jul 23, 2008 · Electrical · 18,000 miles · MA

2005 headlights went out when driving at night - pontiac dealer wrapped harness with electrical tape. Stated it was from washer fluid leaking. Approx 12 months later incident occur again. Taken to another dealer on request of pontiac. Re-wrap harness different area. Service light on 2 weeks ago. Dealer wrapped entire harness. Pontiac service notified several times complaint numbers obtained. Safety issue as lights go out. Wiring harness deteriorated. Bandaided 3x. Concern re: lights going out again at night. Feel this is a dangerous situation.

Filed May 16, 2008 · Lights · 24,600 miles · PA

Referring to the passenger-side headlight: while driving my children home after it was already dark, I noticed that the passenger-side headlight seemed a little dimmer than the driver-side headlight. I also had on my driving lights that are below the headlights. We were on a particularly dark road where there is a tendency to be deer, so when it was clear of opposing traffic, I put the high-beam lights on. After putting the high-beams on, all the lights.....headlights, high-beams, and driving lights went out....while I was driving. A red "service" light came on the dashboard. I was very startled at this and had to pull over to the side of the road. I switched the lights off and then on again and nothing would work and the "service" light remained on. Fortunately, I was not in a high traffic area or this could have been a very serious accident waiting to happen, especially if I panicked. My children were very worried that we were pulled off in the dark. I decided to shut the car off, hoping to reset something, and turn it back on. When I did this, the "service" light was not on, and the headlights and driving lights came on. The passenger-side light was still dim when I looked at it, and I also noticed that the high beam lights were lit and dim, although the high beam switch inside the car was not on. I bought a new headlight and changed the bulb, but there was no change in the brightness of the headlight, it was still dim.

Filed Apr 10, 2008 · Electrical · RI

Driving to the store one night I realized halfway there, my dash light behind the fuel gage was almost out and then realized everything illuminated by my headlights looked very dim, like they weren't on, just my fog lights. I pulled over to find that it was just my fog lights, I had no low beams yet the switch showed my lights to be on. Thankfully no police were around, I've been told driving without your lights on is a red flag to the police that you may be driving drunk or driving recklessly, which neither was the case. Luckily a friend was driving behind me and pulled over at the same time. We both looked at it and then he had to help me get back home, didn't know I had high beams still. I've tried everything to figure out what's wrong and still working on it 6 months later. I'm now on a disability income and can't just bring it to the dealer/mechanic to see if they may or may not be able to fix it and end up with an outrageous bill, especially if I have to keep going back. I was doing research to see if I missed a recall or an article stating the problem & fix with this issue when I found this website and see that it has an awful lot of the same complaints as mine. Kind of a relief. After reading most of them, I still haven't found a comment/complaint that says exactly what the issue is and if it's expensive. If I'm not the only pontiac owner with this issue and at a loss, what should I do next besides the obvious? Is there an actual fix for this problem that I haven't read/found yet or when there is one, will I/we be notified?

Filed Jan 7, 2008 · Lights · 55,346 miles · OH

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 pontiac sunfire. While driving at night, the low beam headlights failed to operate. The dealer stated that the headlamp circuit malfunctioned due to a failed wire and corroded connection. They made the repair. The current and failure mileages were 55,346. Updated 3/5/08 *cn the rear turn signals were inoperative as well.

Filed Jan 5, 2008 · Lights · 25,000 miles · WA

Low beam headlights quit working. The bulbs tested fine, the fuse tested fine and the multifunction switch seems to be working properly. I replaced the switch with a known working switch and the low beams still do not work. I drive when it is dark outside and am forced to use my high beams to see and make sure that I am seen by other drivers. I talked to the dealership and they suggested replacing the multifunction switch which I did and the low beam lights still do not work.