hi all just doing a little more work on the car, i put a new digital cluster (not brand new it was pulled from another trans am and worked good) got it all back together and it worked great first thing i did was a system check and after i closed the driver door it said "Pontiac" i thought sweeeeet next day i go out and fire her up, flip the lights on and now she displays "F headlamp" both light are working motors, signals, running and all how do i clear this message? when i put cluster in i disconnected the battery cause i was gonna have door open and didnt want to drain my battery. did i do something wrong???

 

bump

 

"F LAMP" means one of the front 1157 bulbs are out.

After any error message, you can reset the display so it says "PONTIAC" by holding the "SYS CHK" button for a few seconds.

 

there is 1157 bulbs on my car? all the lights work though headlights, hi beams, turn signals, running lights, im currently getting the fog lights repaired but i was told the fog lights are not monitored in the system check circuit. also i disconnected the battery should that reset it as well?

 

hmm i dont know this might help but my turn signals do blink slow, but the are all working. could this be the root of my "F lamp" problem?

 

Slow blink could be problem with bulb, socket, wire or flasher. Problem could defintiely be related to your error message. Disconneting the battery will not help because if there's a problem it will come back on next ignition cycle.

 

what would be the first thing to check? i already checked the filaments in the bulbs and there does not appear to be any damage to the wiring going into the socket but i didnt check all the wiring

 

I've never had to chase this problem down, but I do know how the system works. There is a "lights monitoring module", located under the dash near the steering column that compares the left and right lighting circuits with extra wires that do not exist on non-digital dash cars. If there is a difference (when a bulb is burnt out), the module closes a switch to ground and sends it to the DIC (system check) to indicate "F LAMP". The "F LAMP" circuit actually checks the front park/turn lamps, as well as the low and high beam headlight circuits. If all lamps are good, and "F LAMPS" is indicated on the DIC, the dark green wire that runs from pin "M" at the module to pin "C" at the DIC is shorted to ground.

 

ok all the lamps work but the turn signals blink slow so im thinking my problem could lie in that what would cause them to do that if all filaments are working?

 

If all the bulbs are good and both left and right blink equally slow, change the flasher.

 

where is the flasher located on a 87?

 

Remove driver's side hush panel. I don't remember exactly, but I think it's in a panel that swings down near the ALDL port.

 

ok i have an update after a while.....new flasher and i still have the same error message PLEASE HELP!!!!

 

lol im an idiot lol i just got what the 1157 meant.

 

All the bulbs have to have the same resistance i had this problem for a while on my 88 gta digi car as well replace each bulb with the same part numbers an then disconnect the battery hook the bat back on an the do the system check an it should be fine thats how i did it an i no longer get any error functions come up except low coolant

 

update: i have my owners manual so i looked up the bulb values i need 2057 for my turn signals, 194 for my courtesy lights, and H6054 for my headlights. i replaced all them with same brand lights and still i have the message. my problem has to be in the light monitor module unless with my hood lights being gone thats why i have the message, but i dont think the hood light is monitored neither are fog lights

 

Fogs are not monitored. What is a hood light?

 

you know the light that illuminates when you open the hood to see the engine

 

update: i fixed the problem, well sorta. what i did was i took the lights monitoring module removed the cover and pulled the circuit board out and put it all back together. now the DIC displays "PONTIAC" when my lights are turned on instead of the "F Lamps" when i flip the switch. while for the time being i lost the whole lamp monitoring system i gotta replace the module, which im discovering is pretty hard to track down. until i find one i just have to keep an eye on my bulbs. at least i dont have the annoying beep beep beep when i turn my lights on. all my other systems are normal, so im happy with it for now

 

did you have any luck on fully fixing it? I just ran into the same thing

 

no i didnt fully solve the problem, what i did do was under the dash there was a lights monitoring module and i just pulled out the circuit board inside and boom no more F Lamps, however there is no monitoring of any more lights by doing this you have to keep an eye on them the old fashoned way. i changed all the bulbs with new, checked the resistance, i dont know what was causing the issue. after i did that the screen displayed PONTIAC but no longer checks the lights

 

I actually somehow ended up fixing it last night. This is a stupid question but did you try and disconnect the battery? what did that fixed it was have the ignition on (not engine running) and disconnected the negative and as it was coming off it was rapidly connecting and disconnecting causing the dash to turn off and on very fast. Fully reconnected it and checked the dic and no F lamps anymore, just cycled right through it with no error like it should, even with the lights on. I did do this after a few drinks so I don't know how bad that was for the car but it did work, just attempt at your own risk

 

yes i did disconnect the battery, it went away even when i would check system i still didnt get the F Lamp only when i turned the lights on did the message come up and will stay on until i disconnect battery again. i pulled it for 15 min once and it didnt work i was trouble shooting the problem for 2 months until i found the post about pulling circuit board, so in frustration i ripped that board out and smashed it with a hammer lol (i had a few in me) but it was gone and thats all i care about