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Low beam issue -- not bulb, not fuse, any suggestions?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by anniika, Jan 4, 2020.

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  1. anniika

    anniika Junior Member

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    Was driving in dense fog and rain last night and nearly drove into a ditch about 1/4 mile from my house -- felt like I was trying to see the road with a candle. Thought I might need emergency cataract surgery, but, fortunately (?), turned out just my driver's side low beam is out. High beams both fine, passenger low beam fine. Changed left headlight this morning (regular halogen), and saw no change (low beam out, high beam fine). Got the bright idea to check the low beam fuse, swapped it out with a working spare, and still nothing. Any thoughts or suggestions for my next steps would be greatly appreciated!
     
  2. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    It’s probably rare occurrence, but take the working bulb from the right and try it in the left. (Rules out a faulty new bulb, I know very very very unlikely).

    Next is to verify power is getting to the plug, or trace wiring to inspect for damage.
     
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  3. anniika

    anniika Junior Member

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    Thanks for your response, jzchen. Very helpful. I just wanted to circle back. After reading this thread low beam no power | PriusChat I tested current at the fuse and the bulb connector. To my surprise, everything checked out OK. Went for some family advice and was asked if I was positive I had put in the NEW bulb -- to which I responded with great indignation ... but then decided to check the OLD bulb -- filaments intact, no scoring or grease ... Oops. Did another bulb replacement (this time actually replacing the bulb) and all is well. Much faster the second time!
     
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  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That might end up being my favorite story all week.
     
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  5. cthindi

    cthindi Member

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    And then replacing head light bulbs on Prius is a job for nimble fingered artists. Having to do that twice, I am sure that is a mistake you would not repeat ever again.
     
  6. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Glad you found a fix. If there is a next time you have to change headlights, you may consider upgrading with LED. I was feeling exactly like you have described when I was driving my son's car with regular Halogen bulb head lights. I don't do much night time drives, but after getting use to seeing the road with high power quad LED head lights on my car, I couldn't believe how dim those halogen bulbs were. I immediately suggested my son to switch his head lights (both high and low) with LED bulbs. Probably the best $80 he spent on his car so far.
     
  7. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    This has been an advice I see around here. They may be bright but blinding to oncoming traffic. The quad LEDs most likely means you are driving in rural areas without much oncoming traffic, which I’m glad because you may be blinding them. I see blinding light from oncoming traffic here. Maybe 1 out of 6, or 1 out of 10 times will I actually flash them as a heads up. Definitely not while moving, as two blinded drivers would be a travesty.....
     
  8. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Well, I trust TOYOTA has designed PRIME's OEM quad LED head light the way not to blind the oncoming traffic, at least with low beam. Yeah, with the lame response of automatic high-beam on PRIME, I was sometimes getting flashed by oncoming car. Thus I no longer use the automatic high-beam on my car.
     
  9. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    What you suggested was to replace the halogen bulb with LEDs, no? That is not safe. Obviously Toyota can engineer a safe system. I worry about the person you recommended and who paid $80 to do this. Most likely not an OEM LED solution....

    You’d think, a large company like Philips would be able to get a halogen to LED replacement bulb just right to work properly:

    https://www.google.com/shopping/product/14135494957153075285?q=philips+ultinon+led+h7&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS665US665&hl=en-US&biw=1024&bih=659&tbs=vw:l,mr:1,cat:2551,pdtr0:3309055%7C3309057,ss:44&prmd=svin&sxsrf=ACYBGNREHb4_6RYCw8EBSb46L2IGVK008g:1579271022057&prds=epd:6935288120583039372,paur:ClkAsKraX1y1H3rs6p9oktovcXYu53H8xdt0N6NPhuGrfAM9ugYbVICY2kwPJODEyJjK6oDDNe77-wsXZCqSJGKoB60xUdxWs8iBJErH68hKl2FQVzRdiLyPjhIZAFPVH73NNqDdhhLroiD0BrH54gOOKg2iLQ,cdl:1,prmr:1,cs:1

    On the lower portion of the box shows ECE R37 with and “X” and a little road with an “X”, meaning “Not for use on public roads”. They would not put that on their boxes if they didn’t have to, it would decrease their sales....
     
    #9 jzchen, Jan 17, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2020
  10. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    EDIT: I did more search and reading on this issue and found that although widely marketed and very popularly used, the LED bulb (and also HID kit) conversion of halogen headlight may not be legal in most if not all states. I could not find definitive statutory information on this, and the information, most of them just opinions, on internet is somewhat contradictory depending on site and who is writing. As such, I recant my earlier suggestion for such conversion. It is probably best approached as do it at your own risk mod.
     
    #10 Salamander_King, Jan 17, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2020