Headlights going out

They did it without a load that's why I had my friend do it. I have a multimeter that does it but I don't trust it at all. When my friend did it we did it with the headlights on high and blower motor on high. That's what I thought you do to do a real test?
The voltages I have are what the multimeter said right off of battery

 

My $ is on the ground wire.

Remove the main ground wire from the battery post. You can't shortcut this. The ground circuit MUST be isolated, and to do this you MUST disconnect all the ground wires from each other and test independently. Test for resistance between the battery end of the ground wire (which is disconnected now) and the frame of your truck…or the other end of the wire if you can reach it. You should read .1 or less (depending on meter) ohms. That was .1, not 1.0. .1 indicates continuity in the circuit which is good. While you have the leads attached, move the wire around a bit ensuring there are no intermittent beaks in the wire that you can't see. The reading on your meter should remain at .1 Anything higher than that and there is resistance in your ground wire (not good). This can be caused by corrosion, a break, a half broken wire….many things that you may not be able to see. Resistance in your ground wire will cause your charging system to not operate properly.

 

your probably have w frayed wire somewhere in the harness. when it gets really cold, the frayed wire probably freezes and ends up shorting the electricals. since water could blast ground anywhere it touches.

 

I replaced the headlight switch. The lights are much brighter now haven't had them on long enough to see if they turn off but the lights still don't turn off when the door is open

 

I will do the ground test like you said after dinner! Merry Christmas haha

 

The lights are as bright as before the problem started! I can see! Haven't driven long enough but still the door does not turn off the lights. Wipers are working but the sprayer no longer does.

 

I agree. The commonality appears to be ground for the switches (or relays) controlling the headlights and wiper sprayer pump. You can calibrate your multimeter resistance by shorting the test leads and subtracting that from the reading while testing your wiring. [The test leads on my Fluke 115 reads .2 ohms as a point of reference.] Most multimeters have an internal fuse in series with the teat leads to protect the resistance measurement circuitry.

 

I will check grounds but since my lights are at full brightness and still shutting off (annoying but now good to drive at least) what components control auto off feature? Maybe those also were damaged since that still does not work

 

I'm glad to see that you fixed the dimming and cutting out problem.

I'm guessing that the body control module turns the lights off when you open the door.

 

Where is the body control module located on these trucks?

 

It's been a while but I fixed my wiper issue (broken ground wire at the sprayer). Fixed my heat which stopped working (corroded connection on fan). The headlights all of the grounds were tested by a friend who is an electrical engineer. The grounds are good. The switch, relay, bulbs are new. As stated before the lights no longer turn off with the door opening. Can I get information on that system? How it is hooked into lights?

 

Did you test the door switch?

 

I had an issue with my headlights after a very cold spout here, as well
Whenever I would switch to my highbeams it would completely kill the lights, which was pretty exciting, I gotta say
I'd have to turn the lights to the off position then back on to get them lit up again; and after that, it might let me go to high's

After a week or so, I stopped having the problem all together and it hasn't returned

 

Mine never did that. I've checked the grounds replaced the switch the relay and the bulbs. No luck

 

Just a thought, do you use or have a tilt steering wheel? Some people tilt the wheel every time they get in and out and this may lead to failure of the steering column mounted switches and wiring. I have seen plenty of wires pulled out of GM vehicles from this very thing.
You seemed to be getting closer to solving the issues when you replaced the headlight switch. The wiper controls may be the same way...

Edit: Crap, sorry I missed the previous post, sounds like you got the wiper problem fixed. Best of luck with the light issue, I have no idea on that.

 

I feel like it's the system that makes the heaights turn off when you open the door with key off. I can't find a wiring diagram anywhere that shows that connected in any way. As far as the tilt column I've moved it maybe once a year when the dust annoys me enough to do a real clean instead of just wipe it off.