2011 low beam keeps burning out

Some 2010s and 2011s had the eats_low_beams feature, which can be fixed by obtaining two $35 (once upon a time, now a bit more) wire-harness additions and having them (carefully!) spliced in.

Carefully because there is some aluminum wire in the car's wire harness, and aluminum-to-copper splices must be made in a very exacting way to avoid being fire hazards (as many who owned homes in the US in the '70s could attest).

The problem is way more pronounced with "extra bright" bulbs, which have shorter lifetimes than standard ones under the best of circumstances. At most auto parts stores, the "extra bright" ones are hanging right in front of your face at eye level, and the standard ones are down by your ankles.

If you make sure to use the standard ones, that may ameliorate the problem enough for you that you won't even bother with the wire harness mods. That's what happened to me: the previous owner of my 2010 complained about not being able to keep low beams in it; I put in standard ones and they were fine for three years.

Five times in two weeks is crazy though. What kind of bulbs have you been putting in, and have you measured the car's operating voltage with a voltmeter?

 

2011 Toyota Prius here. Never got the wiring harness fix.

Went to using H9 bulbs instead of the H11 bulbs. Here's a link for the modification needed for the H9 bulb to fit into the H11 mounting hole.

https://www.sheldonchuphotography.com/4runner-sections/h9-to-h11-low-beam-mod

After the H9 bulbs, I installed 35w AC HID in 3500K color temp into our 2011 Prius and 2010 Camry and never went back to incandescent bulbs.

The HID bulbs last over 5 years, and though they do get a little dimmer over time, they're still brighter than the OEM bulbs after many years.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

What I meant to get at in the very end of post #2 is that "5 times in 2 weeks" is really extreme even for a Prius with the eats_low_beams property.

Something extra special may be going on with this car. it would be interesting to know exactly what bulbs are being used, and exactly what voltage the car shows on a voltmeter.

 

Cheap bulbs, "brighter" bulbs and or touching the bulbs combined with running them all the time (as I do for safety) can quickly burn them out.

I like Sylvania "Basic" H11 bought at a good auto supply. A Basic bulb, as used by the factory, is rated for 270 hours while some extra bright bulbs are less than 125 hours.

Sylvania guarantees them for a year as long as they were not bought online, except for Amazon in specific cases listed below. Ebay is called out as not acceptable. Counterfeits are a big problem with many parts.

 

My aux Beam branded S1 are 3 years old never an issue usually last the life of the car as I have it once I put them on they're never touched again unless the headlight is in an accident I've been using this AUX brand for about 5 years now I keep a few sets in stock to give to others

 

Yes that would make perfect sense clean that mess up throw some LEDs in the front low beam mine are just in the low beam projectors the high beams I almost never use now because the low beams are so bright so perfectly aimed cut off is great I haven't put the high beams on and over a year and I don't care what voltage or anything because the LEDs are going to take from 8 to 24 volts no matter what day of the week it is My car can only deliver 12 as it has nothing else running to all these anciliary components. But there you go Little searching and usually you will find

 

Aux Beam S1 or S2 you gotta be kidding I just ordered set for neighbor

 

I don't know how to post all the links and funny business but my name is my email at Gmail You shoot me an email and I'll send you the link to the ones I just ordered fanless AUX Beam S1 I think there's s2s out now too as the cob LEDs keep getting better they up the number The s is there high end series