HEADLIGHT RELAY ISSUES

Strange headlamp problems on Saabs can often be attributed to a failing Headlamp relay. Here are a few situations we have seen:
Issue 1 - Headlamp switch will work backwards: Turn on the switch and the headlights go off and turn off the switch and the headlights will go on.
Issue 2 - High beams will disappear. You will have no highbeams. Be sure to check the headlight bulbs PRIOR to ordering the relay. We have seen both high beams burn out at the same time
Issue 3 - High beams will not work only the low beams will. You can sometimes fix this issue by removing the relay, taking off the cover and resoldering the connections on the relay bottom but in most cases you will have to replace the relay to cure the problem long term.

NOTE from Jim Haines one of our contributors: Yep, my '04 9-5 kept having a bogus "failure" of just the driver side high beam that wasn't the lamp and "cured" itself. Touch wood, spending the bucks for the Bulb Check/Lamp Control Relay seems to have fixed it. Of course it waited until the warranty ran out!

Mitch Horton

On 1997 9000 CSE refused to turn off with ignition key when the headlight relay was malfunctioning. I kid you not, pulled out the key the car kept running. I had been having some trouble with the headlight relay and the high beams were stuck on so I pulled out the relay and the engine shut off pronto. We have actually seen some issues with this. Replacing the relay typically cures the issue.

Thanks to Rob for the Contribution

Our 2000 93 had a similar issue. One evening the headlights did not come on at all. I checked the different light settings and nothing worked. I replaced the bulbs the next day and it didn't completely solve the problem- the high beams worked but the low beams didn't work. I checked the front low beam fuses (left and right) and they were fine... I brought it to a local shop and I was told that the Headlight Relay Control Module needed to be replaced. To the tune of $300 parts and labor... Bit steep, but this solved it.