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Both Headlight and Tail Light are Out

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by smarano, Oct 24, 2013.

  1. smarano

    smarano Junior Member

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    I own a 2006 Prius that has never suffered a problem with the lighting/electrical system
    over its 75,000 miles on the road until this evening. I noticed tonight that both the driver's side headlight and tail light are out. Is it normal for both to go out when only one is inoperative? Or are both controlled by same fuse? Or does this indicate a more severe problem with the electrical
    system? I DO have one year to go on my platinum extended warranty.
     
    #1 smarano, Oct 24, 2013
  2. Zedhomme

    Zedhomme Member

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    It's not normal for both to go out, but not impossible. I had two lights burn out close to each other. Maybe the tail or headlight has been out for a while and you just noticed when the other burned out.
    Tail lights, license plate light and parking lights are all on the same fuse - 10-amp, number 15 in engine compartment. So, unless all those are out, probably not fuse. Check tail light lamp. It's easy to get to and check.
    Driver's side Headlamp Low beam is on fuse 27, 15 amp for HID, 10 amp for Halogen.
    Driver's side Headlamp High beam is on fuse 29. See if high and low beam are both out.
    I know I just see a lot more lights burn out this time of year on the road, especially if there's been a lot of rain. Don't know why.
     
    #2 Zedhomme, Oct 24, 2013
  3. smarano

    smarano Junior Member

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    Thanks. Embarrassed to say I never considered that one light (tail light) could have been out and I never noticed, though car was only inspected one month ago (New Jersey) and it passed. I'll check the lamps and fuses out.
    These are halogen headlights (I THINK! It's the model without NAV system), so hopefully a lot less costly than HID if it needs replacement (fingers crossed).
     
    #3 smarano, Oct 24, 2013
  4. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    It might be a good idea to change both headlight bulbs while you are working on it. Generally what happens is when one goes, the other follow closely behind it. This is due to the life time limits based on hours of the bulbs. The tail lights are easy to do, the headlights are a different story but can be done without a trip to the dealer.
     
    #4 dorunron, Oct 24, 2013
  5. smarano

    smarano Junior Member

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    To close the loop on this, turns out this was nothing more than two coincidental failures: a headlight and tail light. For the heck of it, I called my dealer (East Coast Toyota in Rutherford, NJ) to see what they would charge for replacing the headlight bulb. Pleasantly surprised to learn it was $79. At that price, coupled with fact I was having difficulty attempting to remove the old bulb (despite reviewing YouTube videos) and didn't want to risk damaging the entire assembly, I opted for the dealer. Turns out they didn't have the part in stock as they told me over the phone, so one of their reps made a trip to another dealer, and to compensate for the extra 45 minutes of waiting time, they offered to install the bulb for free. So the total price to replace the headlight bulb was a little under $40.
    I simply replaced the tail light bulb myself.

    For the record, this is not the first time I have been pleasantly surprised by the service offered at this dealership. It's more the norm. If there's anyone living in the North Jersey area thinking about purchasing a Toyota, I heartily recommend checking out them out. And for the record I have NO affiliation whatsover with the firm (no friends, family, etc.).

    Steve in Jersey
     
    #5 smarano, Oct 25, 2013
  6. Sfcyclist

    Sfcyclist Senior Member

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    Which tail light? Brake? My friend's gen 2, both LED brake lights failed at or around the time. He actually had to replace the whole lamp assembly.
     
    #6 Sfcyclist, Oct 25, 2013
  7. Zedhomme

    Zedhomme Member

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    Glad to hear it worked out. I also have a good dealer in Manassas, VA (Also no affiliation). They have suggested some services I've turned down, but I don't think they've ever ripped me off. Some of their services though are just more expensive than I'm willing to pay when I can do it myself. This site and other research are a great way to cut costs. Did you just replace the one headlight that burned out? Was it HID or 2 Halogen at that price?
     
    #7 Zedhomme, Oct 25, 2013
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