Passenger side high beam not working

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by tommymommy, Dec 22, 2024.

  1. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    2006 Prius - Just got the car back from the mechanic after having the engine replaced. They got everything back together and the airbag light was on with a trouble code for the clock spring. They had to replace the clock spring and said everything was working fine after that. Now, the passenger side high beam will not activate. The bulb is fine and I’ve checked the connectors to make sure they’re seated. I checked the fuses and they are fine. It’s not activating the deflector which stays flat in the low position when I turn highbeams on. Works fine on the driver side. I’m scratching my head a bit and unsure whether this is related to the clock spring issue and it’s in the steering column or if it’s the light itself. Has anyone run into this?

    This is my daughter’s car and it sat for many months before we were able to get the engine replaced. I don’t know for sure if the high beam on the right side was working prior to it going into the shop or not.
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yeah that's the shutter that flips up and down on your HIDs for wide open high beam and then down for low beam The ones on my '07 work with the LED bulbs that I have installed I've never had the fool with them I do know what the back off you can access the wiring to all of that and have a look-see with your DVOM if you're shutter is actually being activated when you pull the high beam lever I guess it should rise. So I'm guessing default is down and low beam I've never really paid much attention to this but I did do the bulb upgrade and I maintain the car but seem to me maybe something possibly is unplugged or literally that shutter motor has gone bad wow.
     
  3. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    IF the high beam shutter works on one side then all of the wiring from that headlight back to the control switch is fine.

    I would check if the affected "HI" beam 10A fuse has power when switched on. If so then you need to check for power and ground at the 2 wire connector at the light assembly.

    Maybe check if that bulb is installed correctly. I have read of instances where the bulb was not seated (cocked) and blocked the shutter from moving.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  4. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    Thank you. The fuse is fine. Just had the engine replaced and I’m not sure if the high beam on that side was working before it went in the shop or not. The bulb is in the correct position. I’m just unsure why that lever is not activating at all. Hopefully I can check it out further this weekend when I can get it into a flat dry area since there’s some other work I have to do on the vehicle anyway. Worst case scenario, I’ll take the headlight off of my car plug it into hers and see if I have the same problem. If not then I’ll just leave it in my daughter’s car and get a new headlight for mine. Also of note, the mechanic had to replace the clock spring, now, I can’t get the doors to work on the heating system to get it to go from defrost to the feet back to the face. It wants to blow in the face and that’s about it.
     
  5. Hayslayer

    Hayslayer Junior Member

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    Replacing the engine means a LOT of work was done and heavy things moved around on the passenger side of the engine compartment. I'm not fully familiar with all the wire harness routing, but it may be worth a good inspection in that area.

    You should inquire with the mechanic on how they did the engine wiring. Sometimes the easiest thing to do is unplug the main harness from the ecm under the dash and pull the entire harness with the engine, then swap it over to the replacement engine, then install the engine in the car and run the harness back again. Others will pull a replacement engine with its own harness and just install the entire thing into the car and the original engine keeps its original harness as it journeys to the scrapyard. And other may just disconnect the wires while removing the engine, remove the engine, install the replacement and then reconnect the original wires while doing the installation.
     
  6. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    The engine, came without any wiring attached to it with the exception of the upstream oxygen sensor. The mechanic actually dropped the frame and disconnected all of the electrical connections before dropping it out from underneath the car and then reinstalled back the other direction. I told him that the high beam was not working on that side and questioned whether maybe something got bumped or crimped or whatever. He told me he didn’t go anywhere near that area. Well, he may not have purposely bumped anything, there’s just only so much room to work in that car. The same mechanic also returned the car to me having used exactly 2 gallons of Toyota long life coolant. I had provided 4 gallons. I spent the next week, and another gallon, purging the rest of the air out of the system.
     
    #6 tommymommy, Jan 9, 2025
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2025
  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    It's pretty easy to check that connector on the offending lamp and see if when you strike the high beams you have power going to the shutter that lifts up and down If you have that on and off with the lever and the blue light coming on then obviously the shutter in the housing assembly is not working and it can be played with it can be replaced You can replace the whole lamp assembly there's a lot of options I don't use my high beams that much with my LED lamps installed the s ones that I use so this wouldn't bother me too much as long as one side works good enough actually that'll probably get people's attention better than both of them coming on course it won't light up the road as if they both were on but usually I'm not doing that to light up the road I'm trying to move somebody out of the way or make somebody move at a four-way stop or what have you.
     
  8. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    OK was able to look at it after work tonight. Even though the mechanic said he didn’t touch that headlight, the bulb was in in the wrong orientation and it was not clamped closed the way it should be. Clearly it was messed with by someone who had no idea what they were doing with that light. Got it reinstalled properly and now the high beam is working. Sadly, while I was working on the car. I also noticed that the brand new ball joint on the passenger side had been overfilled with grease and the boot came off. I had to contact the owner of the shop and let him know what was going on. Now I have to take it back in and have ball joints reinstalled. Owner is not very happy with his employee. I’m hesitant to say anything about it, but the employee is pretty pissed off that he’s not making a higher rate and I do believe there’s some things he did to this car that he did not tell the owner about.
     
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