Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Auto Electric Issue

I thought I would ask since there's way more traffic here than the truck forum and I'm a little pressed for time.
My son is on the road with his band. They are in a 2017 Chevy Express 2500 van. They have a headlight, one only, that goes out intermittently. Banging on it brings it back. Bulb has been replaced and he switched bulbs from left to right. Its obviously a ground and should be an easy fix. Here's the thing. Searching Google I found it is grounded through the BCM which does some magic chit I don't comprehend. The first thought was I could just add a ground wire and they can be on their way. Since I don't get how a BCM really works, my concern is adding a separate ground by tapping into it or cutting it will trigger a check engine light. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of problem? Am I going to cause more problems trying it?
Thanks

I don't know much about a BCM but I think there's a reset on it. If there is, try resetting it.

if banging on the lamp brings it back on, get behind it if possible? and start wiggling the plug & wires to try and isolate the problem... or pull the lamp out & let it hang by the cord if you must to find out what's loose or damaged......

We have a Truck forum, and I'd be more inclined to help you there... otherwise, if you cannot respect the decorum of the forum then I'd suggest a dealership for free advice.

Oddly enough, they were at a dealership because they needed brakes and a stealership was the only shop around that could get them in today. They said it only needed a new bulb. My son just shook his head and said no thanks.
I see what you did there "decorum of the forum".

Tell em ta drive during the daytime.

decorum the halls with Balls of folly... fa la la la la... la la la la...

Not hardly, those guys are part vampire. And they won't get far doing the boomer long distance driving strategy.

Young people gotta do everthing the hard way.

So van is 7 years old ? Have lights ever been replaced...is this a bulb within a housing with a lens or big head lamp...i think it should be a bulb in the housing...and it's probably a halogen bulb...not LED...halogen bulbs get hot, and the heat transfers to the bulb connection(pigtail & socket). I'm willing to bet some money that the socket shows thermal damage, and now the contacts don't stay in contact, but banging on it "wiggles" them enough to restore continuity. Move the headlamp assembly out of the way and inspect the wiring and socket, for corrosion or melting...I bet you'll find damage...replace the pigtail/socket assembly...should be 3 wires, cut close to the bad socket, inline splice the 3 wires and reinstall bulb and headlamp assembly...that should fix it for a few years at least !

Run a temporary jumper to the other headlight ground.

Didn't we all? I used to work at fire stations that ran 15 to 20 calls a day when I could have gone to the places that did 3-4 and got paid the same. The dain bramage is irreversible.

That's what I'm thinking. Gonna start with the basics, powers, grounds and connectors. Thankfully there's a Chebby dealer about 2 miles away.

He's lucky - most GM trucks cannot keep lights working at all...

This - the first and smartest thing to try. Most of the time this intermittent problem is due to a faulty connection near the bulb.

No BCM reset available.
The BCM supplies ground to the low beam headlamp relay
The relay supplies power to the headlamp bulb connectors
Each headlamp bulb has it's own ground

The ground point is on the front of left or right fender according to GM's wiring diagram.
My guess is a bad connection in the headlamp connector itself

So here it is. It was a bulb. I saw it die. Pulled it out, actually lit when I started to pull it from the connector which made me think it was the connector. Removed, test power and ground and all was fine. Plugged it back in, no worries. Had him turn the lights on and got a quick orange glow and was done. Nothing. Put a new bulb in and it worked and seemed fine. The only left over in my mind was maybe it is over powered on that circuit and it will eat up that bulb. We'll find out in a few days I guess.

Changing to some new high intensity bulbs can and will ruin the sockets. As stated before look for heat damage. Good it works, how long is the question!

What is voltage to that bulb socket? Different with engine on vs off?

Tried spraying electronics cleaner into the socket?
Maybe the slots are corroded.