I bought my Prius in 2006, it's the loaded model with HID. I imported it from the US into Canada and had them wire the headlamps for DRL (had it done at Granville Toyota). 6 months later the RH headlamp began to turn off intermittently. When you turn the car on, both lights turn on. Drive for a bit - bam it goes out. The dealer tried many things to fix it but eventually gave up and replaced the entire lamp assembly and computer that controls it. Note that this was over the process of 8 months before they finally gave up. 1 year later the same thing happened with the LH headlamp. Again they tried everything they could think of including removing the DRL but still that lamp would turn off intermittently. Eventually they replaced the entire lamp and assembly. Now the same thing is happening again with the RH headlamp... Dealer has no clue what to do but I'm off warranty so it'll cost me a bundle to replace everything yet again. Anyone know of any known issues? Vehicle has about 25k on it and is heated-garage kept (so it's not an abuse, moisture or weather issue) I bought a 2010 that I'm about to import and don't want to have the same issues yet again!
2010 Prius does not have HID headlights. On your present 2006 this is a very well documented problem, search "headlight failure" on this site and you will see many threads documenting this.
The HID were not meant to be made to DRLs, you likely caused or contributed to the issue by converting them to such. As pointed out, the 2010 doesn't have HID, so you're not likely to have the same issue, but any time you do a modification like that you run risk of unanticipated consequences.
For the 2010 with LED or whatever the bright headlamps are called, should I have them wire the marker and fog lights as DRL? Any suggestions?
I'm just wondering what it means to have the headlamps wired for DRL. My 2006 HiHy has halogen headlights and DRL. During the day, the high beams are on at ~50% intensity. My 2001 Prius (from Hawaii - different option pkgs were available there vs. continental US) had halogen headlights and DRL. In that case, the low beams were on at regular intensity. I could not perceive much difference in light intensity with the headlight switch on or off. So I'm wondering how your HID lights behave during the daytime. I assume that they are on low beam, with the light intensity the same in the day vs. night when you turn the switch on? Considering how expensive the LED headlights are to replace, if you can remain compliant with local law without running the headlights 100% of the time, that probably would be a good idea.
The DRL's were the regular beams on all the time. FYI in the other HID Priuses I've seen up here it's done the same way - just regular low beam on all the time.
The newer 2nd gens uses a new type of ballast and Philips Hg-free xenon HID H4R bulbs - I'm thinking Philips, Koito and Denso are having teething issues with them. The previous ones use D2R bulbs and ballasts.
Why not just turn the headlights on with the switch in the daytime and just leave them on? They turn off automatically when you open the LF door anyway. As mentioned above the HID issue is well documented.
Anyone can comment on HID failure? I have replaced one original bulb and i am replacing it a fourth time while other bulb is keep working fine. May be wrong source of bulb i purchased them as originals from eBay... Any HID light expert here?
What year Prius is this installed in? It may be worth your time reading this thread..... Not all HID Bulbs are created equal | PriusChat
Cheaper hid bulbs bought in pairs or by themselves on Ebay, Amazon, parts geek etc dont last long you get what you pay for. The factory Phillip's D4R bulbs may be expensive but they last longer than the cheaper counterparts. Also like halogen bulbs using gloves and keeping them clean and not banging them around is a must while installing. In my past experience with the hid failure sometimes it's the ballasts that's causing bulb failure. As the ballats fail they give inconsistent voltage and the bulbs fail. I have used the cheap ballasts off of Ebay and they work flawlessly but they are a pain to install but I've figured out how to replace them without disassembling the headlight after installing so many of them. I've also had a lot of long life from the Sylvania D4R bulbs If your lights are flickering alot or going out and you have to cycle the switch on and off to get one or both to come back on I suggest ballast replacement Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
