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Topic
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-1997
-Buick/Lesabre Custom
-1997 Buick Lesabre Custom Sedan
-3.8L (231) 3800 SFI V6 Series II 4-Speed Transmission//2WD
-Country: USAI had a question out of curiosity. What is the REAL difference between a Lesabre Custom, Limited, etc in terms of the Headlamp Assembly Electrical Configuration? What I mean is when I go to purchase a set of new Headlamps for this car which is still running its original headlamp assemblies from 1997, which as you can guess the quality of the poly-carbonate headlamp lenses are starting show their age. I am presented with headlamp assemblies for those WITH cornering lamps as well as WITHOUT. My curious question is this: how labor and cost intensive would it be to add cornering lamps to my vehicle so I can get the MUCH cheaper WITH cornering lamp headlamp assembly option?
Thank you in advance 🙂
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Replies
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If the light bulb sockets are included…
And the assembly is a direct bolt in …
I should imagine that all you need do is add a pair of standard relays to the cornering lights and run 2 control lines ( right and left ) from the blinker switch circuit power.
That way, when the blinker is used and the circuit is hot, that will become the control side for the cornering light relays.
Then just add 12V light feed.
Here is a somewhat simplified sketch …I have a follow up on this question. I realize this question is somewhat old but as it still directly relates to this same question, I though it would be more appropriate to follow up here versus posting a duplicate question. If i need to post anew please let me know.
So, my follow up is this: thank you all for your help so far and for the general wiring diagram! Just one thing I am confused about, could you please put this in some procedural context? What I mean is, where would these relays, and wires be added? It recently occurred to me that I know Buick/GM released this same model/year WITH the feature as a standard option on the 1997 Buick Lesabre Limited.
So, if GM/Buick released this car with and without Cornering Lamps as an option, it shouldn’t be too overly complicated to add this one feature should it? Also, if that feature existed on a similar model, wouldn’t it stand to reason GM would wire up the Cornering Lamps but just not connect them or add the sockets to streamline both editions? Thank you all again! As always any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated!
You would need to remove the head light assembly to see if the harness for the cornering light is present.
Can’t say for certain on your vehicle, but in many cases optional equipment such as your cornering lamps are wired into the harness and terminated with a plug and require a mating pigtail with the light socket to complete the wiring.As to the wiring..
The diagram above would only allow you to have the cornering lights operate as side blinkers if your headlight harness isn’t wired for cornering lamps.
To get them to function as actual cornering lamps if not pre-wired by the factory would require the relays to be wired into the turn signal switch but before the flasher.
A wiring diagram would be needed to make the job easier.But here is a basic layout..
Hello all!
I know it has been awhile since I have posted a follow to the headlamp confusion. I finally got around to inspecting the harnesses behind the headlamp and to my amazement, the harness is present oddly enough! The mystery doesn’t end there however.. It appears that while the cornering lamp is present the factory decided that instead of seating the cornering lamp socket in the headlamp they decided to seat it in a forward facing lens assembly located inside the lower front fender to the right of the normal turn signal lamp, which if you ask me is a little bizarre when it could have just been attached to the existing headlamp, but this lead me to another question. Please correct me if I am wrong by all means, but with this new found information at hand-does this mean that if I wanted to add cornering lamps to the actual headlamp, that all I would need to do is splice in a couple proper gauge wires and color matched to the original circuit wiring and a bulb socket? This way I can keep everything the same just add a new leg off the same circuit?
Thank you all!
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