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05 base model passenger headlight issue (not bulb, not fuse)

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Aaronreed, Feb 21, 2013.

  1. Aaronreed

    Aaronreed New Member

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    2006 Prius
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    Two
    For the last 5 days my passenger headlight has been out so i switched on the brights to other drivers dismay because the brights worked it seemed, shortly after my drive home they went out too. So my drivers side is working fine, turn signals working fine.

    (FYI these are not HID Headlights they are base model regular headlights)

    Today i spent a painful 20 minutes taking out the bulb and replacing it, showed light wear but didn't seem burned out (i replaced it anyways) PS i made sure not to touch the bulb to my skin as that usually results in a burn out.

    The one thing i did notice was the wire connector that goes over the 3 prongs from the bulb itself was a little worn out and had some black around the edges.

    My thought is i'll check that next but i wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience or had any advice?

    I did a few google searches for people with a similar issue and only could find HID problems .

    Thanks in Advance.

    -Aaron

    PS if i can't figure out the solution does anyone have any recommendations for a good shop in San Diego, CA. I'm defiantly not going to the Stealership, i mean dealership.
     
    #1 Aaronreed, Feb 21, 2013
  2. eharcour

    eharcour Junior Member

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    I ran into this same problem this weekend with my '07 prius. Did you have to replace the connector? How much did it cost approximately? Thanks!
     
    #2 eharcour, Mar 17, 2013
  3. Aaronreed

    Aaronreed New Member

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    Hey Eharcour, I actually have not found a solution yet, my high beams work fine and i only drive at night on friday saturday as i'm a bartender so there is no one on the road at that time. I have refused to take it to a shop and i would never go to the dealer i can see their quote now probably around a grand to fix it lol they are such a joke. I know i can fix this unless it is a massive electric issue (i highly doubt it though). I have found some recent complaints about the same problems and they did change out the connector and or changed the bulbs. It's toyotas poor craftsmanship in the 2nd gen prius in my opinion. I am moving into a condo soon meaning i will have a garage and i will venture into another round of checks to see if i can find the problem. PS if you find out a solution please give me a heads up and if i get time to do another check soon i will let you know if i find anything.
     
    #3 Aaronreed, Mar 17, 2013
  4. John McD

    John McD Guest

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    I'm in a similar boat. My 05 halogen driver's side headlight bulb burned out. It was very difficult to remove the connector from the headlight bulb. When I finally got the connector off, I discovered why - the connector was partially melted! I don't think I could have gotten the prongs back in without bending them. I bought a new bulb and a new 9003 connector and spliced the connector to the three wires coming out of the car, but the light still didn't work. The fuse was fine. I got out the multimeter and it turns out there was no voltage difference coming from the three wires coming out of the car! So there must be some type of problem with the wiring harness. I have no idea where in the car this is located, and I don't particularly want to start taking things apart to find out.

    I'm considering splicing into the (working) passenger side headlights and using LED bulbs, but I haven't found any that look like good candidates. There's a site called philips-xenon.com, but it seem sketchy (it doesn't sell genuine Philips products, for one). I've read on modder sites about splicing in a relay which would be controlled by the switch but allow higher power going to the lights, but this requires a fairly direct connection to the battery, which is difficult on the Prius since the battery is in the trunk. Also, Toyota seems to use this weird negative ground system which I haven't quite figured out. If anybody has any other ideas or recommendations, I'm all ears.

    Anyway, my recommendation is to use a multimeter to check that there is a voltage difference between the prongs of the connector (hopefully you can do this without cutting the cable like I did).
     
    #4 John McD, Apr 3, 2013
  5. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    LE AWD-e
    I had to replace the headlight connector in a VW Jetta, so that may be a common problem. The high current pulled by the halogen lights can generate heat if the connector gets dirty and that will quickly destroy the connector.

    My 2004 Prius has never had this problem.

    JeffD
     
    #5 jdenenberg, Apr 3, 2013
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I had to replace my sockets on my 07 too. They were melted. What a pain to do that.

    What do you mean there was no voltage difference between the prongs? Measured to ground? There's 2 filament connections and a ground in the socket. Pin 3 of the socket is ground. The white/black stripe is ground. Check that terminal to ground with an ohmmeter. If thats ok turn on headlights and check socket blue wire for 12 volts (hi) or violet wire for 12 volts (low beam) to ground.

    Do not wire the headlights together as they are separately fused. One fuse for each headlight filament. 2 for high 2 for low. All found in the engine room fuse box. All 10 amp.

    Fuses called H-LP Hi and H-LP Lo.

    There's also 2 relays for headlight function. One is main headlights power and the other is call DIM which switch's between the hi/low beam filaments. Both relays are controlled by the body ECU.

    Careful "modding" anything in that circuit because if you damage the body ecu she no start.
    :eek:
     
    #6 edthefox5, Apr 3, 2013
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