Turning on Headlights Causes Acceleration Problems

[thesoaper]

So, for the past few months, I've been experiencing this problem with acceleration with my 2007 Versa. I can press my foot all the way to the floor on the accelerator, but it will never kick into the last two gears. When it first started, I noticed it was only happening at night, and it baffled my mind as to how the car could only be having these issues at night. But tonight, while driving home it suddenly occurred to me it could be the headlights. And sure enough, if I turn the head lights off, I can press my foot to the floor and get all the acceleration I need.

Any ideas what might be causing this?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I'm not going to lie, I've never heard of that happening before.
The only thing I could think of is if there is a short in a wire somewhere that is preventing something else from working correctly.

If you turn the headlights on at idle, does the motor stumble in a big way?

[thesoaper]

I'm not going to lie, I've never heard of that happening before.
The only thing I could think of is if there is a short in a wire somewhere that is preventing something else from working correctly.

If you turn the headlights on at idle, does the motor stumble in a big way?

Just tried that. Couldn't hear/feel anything happening while sitting at idle.

But yeah, I figure it has to do something with wiring/shorting or something.

[Razi]

Very strange.
I'd trace all the headlight wiring and see if it looks chewed up anywhere.
I'm not sure if a bad ground could cause this, but I'd check up and clean all the electrical grounds.

[audtatious]

See if you have a lot of current draw when you turn on the headlights.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

See if you have a lot of current draw when you turn on the headlights.

That's kinda what I was thinking with the "turn them on at idle". In that case, it should put tremendous load on the alternator and cause the engine to stumble, or slip the belt.

[ImStricken06]

list your mods to us please. hid headlights? aftermarket foglights? tampering with fuses? etc

im sure between a russian hippo, smurf, and a cookie eating bunny- we can figure this out lol

[SteveTheTech]

If I had to guess at one thing I would say check Ground E15 near the battery.


Reasoning for that is, it is a common site for collision repair and an easy ground to compromise. If the ground is there but loose/dirty/or painted over it may have enough contact to power the circuit within the transmission that is causing the car to go into fail safe when the headlights are off but when they are on it does not have enough contact to complete the circuit. In some cars you may notice the headlights were dim or something weird like that.

I am assuming the battery is connected properly and is in top working order.

Is the check engine light or AT check light on?