Hello,
2005 Chevy Aveo LT Hatchback
I have very limited mechanical knowledge and even more limited electrical knowledge. My wife started having electrical issues in her Aveo earlier this year. She seems to have a short of some sort and her radio periodically goes out - a quick beating of the dashboard can bring it back in most cases. My inquiry is unrelated to the radio, but I figured I'd throw it out there.
My current issue is the driver side headlight socket. My wife said her headlight started going in and out lately bought a new bulb. I went to change it and saw that the plastic socket was burnt up and melted around the headlight prongs. so much so that when I went to pull it out one of the bulb prongs stayed in there. I bought the replacement socket, wired it up, and got nothing. I verified the bulb is working. I took the other headlight out just to compare and do some voltage readings and determined that the 3 wires that go to the socket do not have power running to them.
Firstly, does each headlight have it's own fuse and could that be my issue?
Secondly, when I was looking at the wiring I noticed some serious decay on an electrical part I have no idea about and when I went to fiddle with it literally crumbled and fell apart in my hands. It looks to be some type of ground or something surrounded by ceramic maybe???? I have no clue but the main wiring that the headlight wires run into is has a wire coming out that is (was) connected to this mysterious piece. The inside is a spring. I attached the picture (not sure if it worked) and was hoping someone could tell me what this is, what purpose it serves and how the hell I can get a new part. It looks like I need the entire White Piece and the wire connectors on both sides due to very heavy corrosion. It is located to the bottom left of my battery and there is a metal bracket connected directly to the body/frame that holds up a plastic/ceramic piece with a spring in the middle and wires going into each end.