Replaced headlight, lowbeam still out

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by cogit8, Sep 12, 2010.

  1. cogit8

    cogit8 Junior Member

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    My 2006 Prius' driver side (not HID) lowbeam was out, so I bought a replacement bulb. I followed usbseawolf2000's excellent directions on changing a headlamp, but after putting the new bulb in and testing, the lowbeam still does not work. Any ideas?
     
    #1 cogit8, Sep 12, 2010
  2. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Check fuses. There are separate 10A fuses for RH & LH Hi Beam, and also for RH & LH Lo Beam (4 separate fuses, plus the main 40A fuse in the engine compartment for a total of 5 fuses) It sounds like the fuse for the driver's side Lo Beam may be blown.
     
    #2 dogfriend, Sep 13, 2010
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  3. cogit8

    cogit8 Junior Member

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    Thanks, dogfriend. It never occurred to me that they might have separate fuses for each headlight.
     
    #3 cogit8, Oct 27, 2010
  4. cthindi

    cthindi Member

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    I have the same problem. I had low beam on passenger side quit. It was old enough so I assumed the bulb was out. Problem did not get resolved even after replacing the bulb. So I checked the bulb I had taken out. It looked good. Then I thought it must be fuses. However fuses also look good. I still tried interchanging hi and low beam fuses. Still No luck.

    Any other thing I could check? It now could be the problem in cable perhaps.
    I am using car on only high beam for now.
     
    #4 cthindi, Jul 30, 2011
  5. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Do you have a multimeter to test voltage on the headlight wires?
     
    #5 F8L, Jul 31, 2011
  6. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Also, test the fuse(s) with the multimeter if you have it. They can sometimes look ok but not be ok.
     
    #6 dogfriend, Jul 31, 2011
  7. cthindi

    cthindi Member

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    I will buy a multimeter. Useful instrument to have. But fuses are good. I did not just rely on visual inspection. I swapped two fuses. Still the same lamp did not come on. So I guess the fuses are good.
     
    #7 cthindi, Jul 31, 2011
  8. cogit8

    cogit8 Junior Member

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    I posted the original thread. The fuses did not turn out to be the problem. My installation was faulty (it's difficult to get your fingers into those tight spaces). When I pulled the lamp again, I apparently got the attachment correct, which solved my problem.
     
    #8 cogit8, Aug 2, 2011
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  9. cthindi

    cthindi Member

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    Thanks. I will try with multimeter, and also try the lamp alone in the holder outside to see if that works this weekend.
    Till then I just need to use high beam. Luckily it is summer and I do not need to use headlamps much to bother other drivers.
     
    #9 cthindi, Aug 2, 2011
  10. Bootjacker

    Bootjacker New Member

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    Check dimmer switch. I've seen this on other cars when all you had was high beams.
     
    #10 Bootjacker, Aug 4, 2011
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