Low beam headlight issues

I think there are several threads on this site discussing your issue in depth.

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IIRC, there's a wiring issue that can cause low beams to burn out quickly by giving them too much power. I think it tends to affect the driver side bulbs more than passenger as well.


iPhone ?

 

Converting your halogen lights to the oem LED Units will be expensive:

https://priuschat.com/index.php?threads/114633/

Most people put in an aftermarket HID kit, that will be less than $200.

 

I would guess that the ballast is bad. A ballast alters the current and regulates the voltage going into the bulb. HID bulbs are very demanding to have the correct voltage to "light" the gas properly. A bad ballast and poof - there goes the bulb.

 

The OP has halogen bulbs, no ballasts.

 

Any links?

Wasn't there something about patching in a length of wire to increase resistance?

 

Headlights Burn Out | PriusChat

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Get led bulbs from amazon plus you get 2 year on some unlimited life time warranty

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Hi! >>>>>. I am having the exact same problem! I noticed below in replies that someone mentioned it is an ongoing problem, especially with the driver side. (wonder if Toyota knows about it and would fix it? Doubt it!) --- That's the side mine blows on after about 6-10 mths on. I wanted to also mention the fact that when I went to remove the bad bulb this time I noticed the location was wet on and around both bulbs, just in case that could not be normal? I can't remember noticing water the first time i had to change them, but here in Fl. we just had record levels of rainfall during the tropical storm, and wish I had made note the first time whether or not it happened during/after a lot of rain fall, because if so, it could be a seal problem allowing moisture to short the bulb out? Thing is though my factory bulbs lasted me for years! So how is that? I also used the same bulb you did, Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's, because they are the brightest halogen bulb I know of.
Anyway, I wanted to ask if you ever got to the bottom of the problem?
I too am contemplating switching to LED's or maybe even HID's? Do you know if anything else will have to be done for either of these to work properly and keep any kind of warning light or hyper-flashing from occurring? I will really appreciate any help at all here! THX!

 

They do know about it; there's a technical service bulletin. (A TSB describes an issue that is known and how to fix it, when the issue isn't considered to warrant a recall and free repair. You can make an appointment with the dealer and pay them to make the mods, or you can buy the parts and do it yourself.)

You need two of the 82114-47010 repair wire harness, plus two or more of the proper sized copper-to-aluminum crimp barrels (yes, they are different from the ordinary Cu to Cu barrels), sealant-lined heat-shrink tubing (two or more pieces), zip ties, and a copper-to-aluminum crimp tool (which, yes, is different from one for the Cu to Cu crimps). That last item is the one that may crimp your enthusiasm for doing it yourself (if you're not planning on having other reasons to make Cu-Al crimps), because it's about $150 worth of tool.

More info on the procedure ended up on this thread, admittedly maybe not the first place you'd look. (But a good thread to keep in mind, especially if you might be thinking of cheaping out on the copper-to-aluminum crimps.)

If you don't want to go through the fuss, you can maximize the life you're getting by making sure to use the "basic", bog-standard, H11 bulbs. Usually in any auto parts store, those are the ones they hope you don't notice, on the lowest level of hook down by your ankles. The ones they want to sell you are the all-singing, all-dancing, super-extra-brightness ones on the hooks up at eye level, and those already work by trading off life hours for brightness, and in a Prius that slightly overvolts the headlights to begin with (longevity falls at around the 13th to 14th power of increased voltage!) they'll drop like flies.

I'm past the one-year point on my first pair of basic H11s now, which seems about good enough for me; I may never bother installing the harness mods, even having bought the parts.

-Chap

 

>>>>>>>>>Wow that was good stuff! Thanks sooooo much for letting me know! I was about to try some expensive LED's, but I am supposing this problem will also blow/shorten the life of the LED's ? Or since they require less volts, do you think they my work? Idk? Please let me know if you think I will be wasting more money there? Thx again for the reply! XD

 

It's probably a safe bet that LEDs would not have the problem; incandescent lamps are the things with the 13th-to-14th-power inverse life/volts relationship. LEDs will have solid-state regulators built in anyway.

The challenge with LEDs will be finding any that genuinely satisfy the regulations for beam shape and photometry when stuck into a housing designed for an incandescent. I know there are a bunch on the market, but talk is cheap, and as long as they put "off road use only" somewhere in leetle tiny print on the package, they're off the hook.

I've heard Philips was selling a set that may accurately meet the HB3 specs for Europe, and in their case I would probably even believe it, but (a) I don't think they were cheap, (b) I failed to find them again on the Phillips site just now, so they might have turned out to be harder to get right than they thought, and (c) the US DOT specs are known for being a bit different from the EU ones anyway. And cheaper, no-name LEDs may fit in the hole all right, but are likely to give a light distribution that's downright lousy.

I'd say, unless you're a photometry geek with instruments and this all sounds fun to you, put in some basic H11s from the FLAPS and get back to something you enjoy doing.

-Chap

 

>>>>>>>>>>> Man it's great to have bumped into you! Thx! XD

 

My low cost "upgrade" was to go from H11 to H9. Requires an adapter harness. A Dremel tool is needed to grind off part of the tab on the bulb and also remove a plastic tab off one end of the harness.

Main benefits was a brighter bulb and hopefully a longer life. Extra insurance with adding the adapter harness since this extra wire is essentially what the TSB does. Can be switched back to the stock bulb without an issue since the stock harness is not modified.

Harness: search amazon for B00CYB90UO
Bulbs: search amazon for B003YMPN3A

 

I also did the H11 to H9 conversion, there's a link in my signature below to a thread with an excellent video on the modifications needed to do it.

The H9 bulbs lasted 14 months in the Prius, when one burned out. That's very good, considering the low price and increased light output, at approximately 50%.

I've since moved on to aftermarket HIDs (35w AC ballasts with 4300K bulbs). The HIDs last forever, if using AC ballasts, and the difference in light output is literally night and day compared to halogens. You get clean white light with 4300K bulbs that are approximately 3x brighter (2x over H9) than the stock H11 halogen bulbs.

 

I seem to recall the back of a Sylvania H11 Basic package says rated life 270 hours, and an H9 Basic says 240. Did you see something different? Both seem to say 12.8 V on the front of the package, so either one will have life reduced by (a large power of) the factor by which Prius operating voltage at the bulb exceeds that.

The extra wire in the TSB is a length of about 10 meters (wrapped up in a 1 meter tube), in a wire gauge selected so it shaves about half a volt off at the bulb. Do you think this adapter harness is anywhere in that ballpark?

-Chap

 

I upgraded to OPT 7 Bolt AC series, 55W HIDs and love them!

 

I have these led lights on the 2010 and 2011 prius' no ballast, no adapter and no fan. Plug and play. Small hands help with install. Exact size in the link is what I used.

 

I'm sure it's only a matter of time until there are affordable LED H11 replacements with US DOT approval for the shape and distribution of the beam. Like most of the currently-available ones, though, Nighteye seems awfully silent on the subject, for all I can find, anyway.

-Chap