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High Beams Won't Work

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by vagabonding, Aug 19, 2019.

  1. vagabonding

    vagabonding Junior Member

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    Litchfield, CT
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
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    N/A
    Hey all, hoping this is the right forum for this question. A week ago, my high beams stopped working - both at the same time, nothing remarkable happened that coincided with it. I had the bulbs switched/tested and also checked out the fuses corresponding to L/R high beams, and nothing got better. When I push the indicator by the steering wheel, I see the blue light come on, but the bulbs don't actually turn on.

    Has anyone experienced this before? Not really sure what to do next, but would love to save some $$ and not bring it to the shop, as I just dropped $700 to have my front bumper cover replaced :) :)
     
    #1 vagabonding, Aug 19, 2019
  2. Buzzhead

    Buzzhead Non-Interference w/ devel of pre-Warp civs

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    Prime Advanced
    Possibly they disconnected them when changing the cover, never reconnected, and this is the first you've used them?
     
    #2 Buzzhead, Aug 19, 2019
  3. vagabonding

    vagabonding Junior Member

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    2011 Prius
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    N/A
    Not sure what you mean - I've used my high beams frequently since I bought the car, I had new bulbs tested after they went out (to see if the issue was the bulbs), and the bulbs themselves are fine.
     
    #3 vagabonding, Aug 19, 2019
  4. Robert Holt

    Robert Holt Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    I believe Buzzhead means that when while replacing the cover they disconnected one or more of the connectors in the wiring harness that feeds electricity to your high-beam bulbs. Ok, if you have a voltmeter, you can unplug the connector of the harness to the high-beam bulb itself and test the socket with the voltmeter to see if that gets voltage when the high beam switch lever in the cabin is pushed to the “on” position. If yes you measure 12 volts, then the fault is either in that connection to the bulb or in the bulb itself. If no voltage, then there is either a break or disconnect in the circuit leading up to the high beam bulb, which you would track down by checking for voltage at each junction point in the wiring harness. It is tedious work, and as you disconnect each junction to test, you must make sure to properly reconnect it so that you do not introduce more disconnects in your wiring harness. Voltmeters can be had for 10-15$ on Amazon or WalMart, etc. Good luck!
     
    #4 Robert Holt, Aug 19, 2019
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  5. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Get tech stream to check if your stalk switch is sending power or signal.
     
    #5 Grit, Aug 19, 2019
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