Headlight problem

All us (bad english) out of warranty guys should be aware that one of some dealers scams is to charge "diagnostic" service time for things like this. Thus when we go in and ask them to solve a problem, or they have to get a reading from Toyota on an issue such as this (that can take days) we won't get our car back until the diag service is paid.

So beware and ask your service writer, who is on a commission.........mike

 

yes, because the tech is expected to do this all for you for free out of the goodness of his heart. while he could be making money doing something else.

 

If only one side is bad (goes on/off), you can swap the bulbs and see if the problem can be isolated. Chances are, it is the bad OEM bulb. It is definitely not any loose connections somewhere, since the light goes back on, at least for a few minutes, after re-start. Anyway, HID bulbs can be accessed through the back of the HID light fixture. Wind shield washer fluid tank and fuse box may need to be moved out of way slightly to gain access if you have big hands. Auto repair place (not the dealer) can do this for you very easily. Dealer wants to remove front bumper cover to get to the bulbs. This is completely unnecessary. I have purchased HID bulbs through eBay for around $85 a pair shipped. They have worked out very nicely thus far.

 

I've also got this problem...not sure when it started, but someone pointed it out to me at around 40000.

When the lights are first turned on, there is a few seconds of full brightness, then dimming in the right light, and then after a minute or two, it goes out. As others have said, it comes back on if you turn off the lights and then back on.

Until you get it fixed, I would suggest turning on your fog lights so that others can see you more easily, and to give you at least some light if the second one does fail.

--Dan

 

Well I took my car in this last thursday for the head light problem. Even when they both work one is the normal white light the other is kind of yellow. Never the less, I lucked out in that when I arrived one of the lights was out. They took it in and first were concerned that I had added the turn signals to the outside mirrors and might have affected the hid circuit. After verifying that this did not contribute they contacted Toyota and replaced both bulbs. That did not fix it. So then they called Toyota back and were told to replace the tow circuit boards. They did this and still the lights are not working correctly. This Monday they will again contact Toyota to get some new direction. They provided me with a loaner car. I was told they had to remove the bumper to get to the bulbs. Also one of the circuit boards is very difficult to get to as well. All the new parts remain in the car as they are electrical and cannot be resold. I expect I will get it taken care of shortly. They have been very good about it. I have about 32,000 miles on my 06. I was told that if it had been out of warranty that they could not goodwill the repair due to the cost. The Service person suggested in that situation that the owner should contact Toyota and see if they would cover the cost. In one situation the service person said Toyota came through and covered the cost for an out of warranty car.

Manny

 

Well the dealer first replaced both bulbs. The problem did not go away. We had one light that was white and the other that was yellow. They then replaced the two cpu units. That was going to do it but it did not. Toyota suggested that they again replace the bulbs as the ones they put in may not have been the most current version. Anyway they again replaced the bulbs and now everything works perfectly. So does this mean that they did not need to replace the cpu? I don't know. To put in the bulbs you need to pull the front bumper off. a lot of work. The bill would have been about $2000. However I caught it while still in warranty. Had I not been in warranty I would have just purchased after market bulbs. and if necessary ballast as well.
Manny

 

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum and found it due to searching for 2006 HID problem. I had a similar situation. My HID headlights would "flicker" and then one would go out. I could get the headlight back on by simply turning the lights off and back on. This problem was rarely intermittent around 40k and started getting worse. I couldn't get in my car without having to shut off the HIDs multiple times during a very short trip (30miles) that is short for me. (2006 with 54k on it already thank GOD for 50mpg!) I finally got it to do it at the dealership and was told that it needed two new ECU modules. HID headlights don't use 12VDC to run, usually they use around 46VDC so they basically need an inverter unit and both of mine were having issues. This wasn't covered by warranty so it cost me $300 per side plus labor for a total of $1071 to fix. I find it odd that both went out at the same time, but Toyota would not cover it. I have the old units and I will take them apart to see if there is any corrosion in them. This could indicate a seal problem from moisture. I don’t mind paying the money to fix it since for two reasons. The car is paid off so the lack of a note is cool, the car saves me over 2k a year in gas, and I LOVE my car. Okay that’s three reasons. I also posted this in the thread "Another 2006 HID problem" I have also posted a complaint to NHTSA. If everyone that has the problem complains, maybe we will get our money back. (KEEP YOUR INVOICE)

 

I started a new thread on this subject before I realized that this one existed. I also have just started having problems with my right headlight. All the same symptoms. Blinks out, turning the switch on and off gets it back on.

It is irksome that Toyoya seems to have no answer as to this obviously prevalent problem in the Prius.

I have a lot of testing equipment (for aircraft) in my shop which MAY help me find an answer as to why this is happening. However, since I am covered under an extended warranty I do not want to spend a lot of my own valuable time troubleshooting this problem. Also, the cost of a defective controller and light assemblies is something that Toyota should pay for, not me.

At the same time, I do relish the thought of driving along some evening only to have some police officer pull me over for a headlight out. I will take my vehicle to the dealer but I will have a hand in the troubleshooting if they can't figure it out.

 

Hello All!

I've have browsed the forum when i had my first problem with my car. But now, i too have the same problem as stated above. I brought the car to the dealer the first time and i was told that they are not able to replicate the problem. Second time, they we're able to replicate the problem but telling me that i have to have both bulbs changed on my own pocket. So i declined the change out since i have read enough and seen a few on the road who has the same problem as i am. So instead, i reported a complain to the Office of Defects Investigation (under NHTSA).

I will advise as soon as i get a call from ODI.

 

Today I receieved the 2006 Prius Total Repair Manual i bought on Ebay a few days ago. MAN! It is loaded with info.

In regards to the intermittent headlamp problems, I don't see how there is a continuing mystery here. The wiring diagram is pretty straight forward and as far as I can see, it can't be very hard to troubleshoot.

Power comes off the batt, thru a 40 amp headlight MAIN fuse. Through the H-LP relay (controlled by the headlight switch). If you have the DRL circuits it gets a bit more complicated but without them it's a straight shot to a junction where it splits into two paths - each through a 15 AMP fuse to its own Headlight Assembly (HID). The headlight asembly has two parts to it - the lamp (controlled by the ECU) and the Shade Actuator. The power for the Lamp/ECU goes to connector 2A on the headlamp assy. The ground for the each Lamp/ECU comes from connector 1A on the lamp assembly and terminates at a ground points inside the engine compartment. Ground point EB, located on what looks like the top of the RH fender or fender sidewall for the RIGHT LAMP. Ground point EE (LEFT LAMP) is harder to see on the diagram. It looks to be located all the way to the rear of the engine compartment on the left side, just in front of the engine fire wall.

One thing - Ground EE provides the ground for BOTH the Lamp/ECU and the Shade Actuater for the Left lamp........but the RH LAMP/ECU uses Ground EB and the RH Shade Actuator uses a different ground point altogether...Ground EA (located in the same area as Ground EB but slighty behind it) Wonder why they did that??

There is only a few things that can cause this intermittent operation, as far as I can see.

1. I suspect that after time, these ground points develop corrosion. The corrosion isn't enough to stop the start-up high voltage/amperage the system uses when turning on the headlights. After they run at low power for a time, I'll bet that the ground connection starts heating up and develops high resistance to current flow. This causes the lamp to eventually wink out. I have SEEN mine do this. It just doesn't turn off.....it seems to go out reluctantly - kind of winking out gradually. Resetting the switch pulses a high voltage to the lamp and it stays on for a while. Then the process starts again.

2. I suspect that if not a grounding issue, the ECM's are faulty after a certain amount of operating time.

3. A faulty terminal end at a connector. Same thing....as operation continues, the terminal heats and develops high resistance. Resetting the lamp switch pulses a higher voltage through the terminal end and burns a clean path for the current. Then the cycle starts again.

All my opinion but I am going to check my grounds at the earliest convenience I have. I will let everyone know what I find out. If anyone needs to know other paths, give me a shout.

 

Well add me to the list of headlight headaches! My 2006 started having problems several months ago. We (me, the DH, and the dealership) thought it might have been subsequent to a wreck I had last year, but now it seems that it is not an isolated event with us. The passenger side light is the one going out, but I have had them both go out.

THe dealership replaced the computer, but that didn't fix it and stated that we need to replace the headlight at 315 bucks. My question is can you replace the bulb without replacing the ballast? And do you have to remove the front bumper??? We are trying to save a few pennies by installing the bulbs ourselves (well the DH will install it). Any help with locating the right bulbs and the ins and outs of replacing the bulb will be greatly appreciated.

K

 

Ok, I don't claim to be an expert on car electrical systems, but I do have some very skilled first hand knowledge about the subject.
Connection problems will cause failure of a light or lights, Remove the contact plug to the light, apply Dielectric Grease to all of the contacts and reattach the headlight connection.
For any of those work are familiar with Nissan's, the Maxima is prone to headlight failure. Here's the kicker, it's usually caused by a corroded bulb in one of the taillights! No kidding, happen to me. I replaced the stalk switch and a number of relays and still did not solve the problem. Only after taking the rear taillight assemblies apart did I find a corroded bulb, replacing this bulb solve the problem!
So, any water or water vapor in any of the lights?
Could be a circuit board problem, if they over heat they can cause a loss of contact.
Wouldn't be a fuse, because they normally control both lights, thus you'd lose them both.
Switch problem, could very well be since some have turned the switch on and off and the problem has gone away. But a switch will normally lose all contact points after awhile to the point of not working at all.
Headlight it's self? Normally they just blow, HID's can burn out some slowly, thus causing a dimming or yellowing. This can also be caused by a voltage drop.
No easy answer here without looking and checking a car with this problem while it is happening!
Oh, a computer check for headlight problems is more than likely not going to show anything! This has to be a hands on check with a meter at each connection point to narrow down where the problem is. (IMO)

 

The Canadian market Prius have DRL's but do *not* have HID's. I am unaware of a DRL equipped Prius that also has HID lights, unless the owner has modified one

 

I do not think that the Prius models with Non-HID lamps are having problems....only the HID lamps are intermittently going out and then can be put back on with switch off and then back on.

At least I do not remember seeing any posts about the regular lamps having problems.

 

By the way, I don't see any way of replacing those lamps without taking the lamps assemblies out. To GET THEM OUT, you must do as the manual says and remove the front bumper cover.

That is the most ASSININE thing I have EVER heard of IN MY LIFE. The only possible reason I can come up with for Toyota engineers to make owners have to do that is because they were afraid of the liability of having some do-it-yourself owner electrocuting themselves due to the high voltage used in the headlight system.

I am going to try to get some of the tools needed to be able to remove some of these "clips" that hold things together in the front end of this Prius. Removing the bumper cover doen't look supremely difficult to do....it is just that there are a lot of those little clips that hold things together. I would hate to start breaking them while attempting to get things apart.

 

Are there different (headlight) light control switches for the Prius that are sold in different countries?
For example a JDM verse American market?

Some countries require DRL's while in the states it's not a requirement. Other countries require a rear fog light that is directly connected to a front fog light circuit. These lights are controlled by the headlight switch.

For example the Volkswagen and I'll use my Eurovan as the subject.
Here in the states the headlight switch is very simple,
In the "normal" position it provides DRL, -headlights only on low beam-. In the full on position it lights all the lights, plate, parking front and rear and headlights. One version of the switch has a fog light control, if the switch is pulled out it controls the front fog lights but only when the lights are fully on.
The European switch, allows for the DRL's, parking lights without headlights, and all lights fully on. There are three versions of this type of switch. One allows for no fog lights, another allows for front fog lights, the third allows of front and rear fog lights.
There is also a switch that controls the electric adjustment of the headlights for "City Lights". This switch comes in the three versions mentioned above.
In short there are at least eight different switch's for this model of the Eurovan.
(For the record, I have replaced my stateside switch with a European one. It allows me to turn off my DRL's yet have parking lights, it also controls the front fog lights and a rear fog light that I have installed in the stock position.
I just wondering if there are different switch's for the Prius as I am not a big fan of DRL's and would want to save the HID's any un-needed use.

 

The Canadian market Prius headlight switch has Off and Auto in addition to the usual settings

 

Please consult your dealership

 

I have a 2006 prius as well. My passenger headlight goes on and off. I had a mechanic look at it the other day and he said originally he thought it was a bulb problem, but when he got it on the lift the light flickered on and off. He thought he had fixed the problem. But this morning I started with a light on and ended with it off. I am under warranty with 20,000 miles but it sounds like a chronic problem with this model and year of car. Is there anything we as consumers can do to make Toyota do the right thing and recall it. I have not taken it to the dealer yet but I am sure going to fight this one if they try and charge me 360 dollars per bulb.

 

I have a 2007 Prius that has been having the infamous headlight problem almost from the first day I bought it new. It is my commuter and and now has 45k miles. While I knew Toyota was having problems I just didn't get around to taking it in. Last week I decided to call Toyota directly. They were very aware of the problem and offered to fix it at the local dealer. The drill was I take it in, have them repair it, pay for a rental car, and then be reimbursted for the bill after faxing it to them. Toy even followed up with the dealer to ensure the parts were in stock!

This went off without a hitch, and they even called me ackknowledging receipt of my fax. The bill was $833, rental included, and they said I'd have the check in two to three weeks. The dealer said they replaced the headlights and suggested Toyota has a large batch of bad ones that will not stay lit at whatever voltage the ballast/regulator puts out. The problem went away and the new bulbs seem much brighter. I use them as daylight running lights too so am not sure if they degrade over time naturally anyway.

BTW, the reimburstment process only applies if one has a car past the warranty miles. The person with 21K should just have the care repaired at no charge. Also, don't hesitate to ask for a rental. In my case Toy said they'd only pay for it if the car was there overnight. I dropped the car off at 6pm to make this happen, and then picked it up the next night after work, although they called and said it was done at 9am that morning. Even got a Avalon rental.......mike