Headlight problems

welcome!

you need an expert electrical diagnostician. maybe look around at aftermarket shops and etc.

is it possible that rodents are chewing on your car's wiring?

 

Could you post a picture of the headlight output on a dark road? First thing I can think of is that the headlight could maybe be aimed improperly? Next, if you need a bulb replacement I'd look to get it done elsewhere, the bulbs aren't very difficult to change. Especially not $300 worth of difficulty.

 

Just got a letter from Toyota about a “Warranty Enhancement Program” for our 2010. This was put in place because customers have indicated that halogen low beam headlamp bulb lifetime is shorter than expected.

Says they will replace bulbs and wiring harness until Oct. 2019 regardless of mileage. This may be for just 2010s though.

 

The warranty enhancement program applies to 2011 also, since I received said document in the mail yesterday. And I just, at the beginning of last month, noticed that my drivers-side low beam was out. So I hunted down the appropriate Philips bulbs and replaced them myself. Went with the Philips H11 X-treme Vision, which made the usual claim of some sort of improvement over what you have now. In this case, a whopping 100% improvement in beam performance. And their not those goofy blue tint bulbs you see all over the place. Looking closely at the bulb, I did notice a narrow blue tint strip around the top of the bulb just below the blackout cap. The packaging says 3400K light color and 55 watt. I would say they definitely light up the road much better, but the bulbs that came out of there had over 150K and 6 years of filament dust brown-out. I wonder about the wiring harness replacement, some sort of current-limiting arrangement to extend bulb life. That might also reduce illumination. I don't know, I think 150K for a headlight bulb is pretty good. So I don't think I will participate. These replacements were only $65, which is well within the range or normal maintenance costs.

 

Have you checked the 12v battery?

 

I'd be amazed if you got 150k out of the oem bulbs.

Expect to get about 6 to 18 months out of the new bulbs. All of the newer xtreme/plus/platinum, etc bulbs are designed to burn hotter and brighter. Combine that with the 14+ volts the Prius supplies and you get shorter bulb life.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

The replacement headlight wiring harness simply acts as a resistor to drop the voltage, as has already been explained in detail in Priuschat.

 

All cars have a running voltage of high to mid-14v's. They are only 12.5v when the alternator isn't running.

 

The voltage that matters to the headlight bulbs is the voltage at the headlight bulbs. The EEs designing the wiring harnesses have tricks up their sleeves to get that down closer to the nominal 12.8 the bulbs are designed for. Except when they don't....

-Chap

 

300$ for headlight bulbs? What a ripoff. You got hosed. Find a good hid retrofit shop near you and for less than what the stealership charged your car can have amazing night vision. I installed one myself for under 100$.

 

Just got a Warranty Enhancement Program announcement for 2010-2011 Prius.
It is to replace the halogen bulbs and wire harness. Or if you have receipts you can get a refund of your expenses.
Looks like a nice no cost deal for us owners. I replaced my headlights last year and now one is out again, so the timing is good for me.
I called my dealer and there appears to be a national shortage of the new version of this harness. I called headquarters and the operators are unaware of a shortage. I quickly checked online and couldn't find any harnesses new version or old. Amazon has the old ones but they are out of stock.

 

You are lucky that the improperly mounted bulbs didn't melt the surrounding plastic in the headlight housing. That would have required in replacing the whole headlight assemblies.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

i had no idea you could mount headlight bulbs in more than one location. what would be the purpose of those other locations?

 

what did the second dealer say about the radio?

 

Improperly mounted in the correct locations.

It's easy to only engage one of the 3 tabs in the bulb base, resulting in an off-angle bulb, especially on the passenger side due to tight conditions behind the headlight housing.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I did exactly this on the passenger side of my 2010. It was easy to see something was off when I stood in front of the car with the headlights on. The driver's side was "brighter" because it was installed correctly. Once I removed and replaced the passenger side I realized my mistake.

 

Yes, always check with lights on after removing and replacing bulbs. It's very obvious when something isn't mounted properly.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

i can't believe a dealer couldn't figure that out.