Headlight problem

Change the relay! when I tested mine it showed an obscenely high amounts of resistance between 2.4 to 25.0+ ohms.

Hopefully this works out for you.

Take a look at toyotapartszone.com for affordable parts. I found this website has great parts diagrams with exploded views of the entire vehicle.

Good luck

 

Now thats an issue I haven't heard of yet.. but makes sense..

Let us know if you see a relation..... all that a bad relay with resistance would do is give the ballast too low voltage, or at least during an amperage draw possibly making it fail.
I don't know if that would make high output from the ballast poor or not.

Putting in a fresh bulb may work because it takes less voltage to keep it running.

Maybe low voltage makes the others die prematurely causing the material inside to harden.

Only speculation.......
If someone replaces the relay and a bulb that wouldn't work all of a sudden works.. that would be encouraging as the new relay make make a "new" bulb last the lifetime its supposed to last???

Keep us updated!

 

Great Information !
How lucky i am find this forum

 

I noticed the same problem on my 2006 Prius that I have had for about a year and a half. I first noticed it a few weeks ago, and then last week I received a letter from a lawyer (The Garden City Group, Inc.) regarding a Class action lawsuit against Toyota for this very same problem "Collado, et al. v. Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc." Have any of you received this same thing?

 

Yes, I and many others (probably all w/06-09 Prius owners w/HIDs) received the HID class action lawsuit papers. There are a couple other thread on that.

Unfortunately, my passenger side HID started become intermittent w/me being ~2 months and ~800 miles past the 5 years/50K miles warranty as stated in the paperwork. I've ordered http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Xenon-Headlight-Bulb-Pack/dp/B00480J4J6 since Toyota is unwilling to cover this since I'm past the above warranty.

If you're within the warranty period, take it in to have the work done ASAP.

 

I've never banked on Toyota saving me for much of anything.

Its no big deal to just fix it yourself.

 

I have a 2007 Prius with 42k on it. The left headlight started failing about 1 1/2 years ago, I just keep turning off and on to keep it going. It got to the point of every few minutes it would go out.
I just replaced both headlamps on Tuesday and got to use the car this evening, first time since replacing the bulbs. In a three mile drive home, both lights failed, off/on both lit, right went out,off/on both lit, left went out and then right, off/on and both worked, pulled in drive both out.
I turned the lights off/on and both came back then the left went out, off/on both lit, turned off then on right failed to lite, off/on both failed to come on, off/on right lit, no left.
I guess I have a daylight only car now...What can be done about this?

 

Do you have HIDs? If so, you're covered by http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...t-class-action-update-settlement-reached.html.

Whether you do or not, are you touching the bulbs w/your fingers?

 

This is John from Girard Gibbs LLP, one of the law firms for the plaintiffs in the Toyota Prius HID Headlights Class Action Settlement.

A BRIEF REMINDER:

The deadline for mailing claims is May 30, 2011.

Everyone will be considered for reimbursement who paid to repair an HID bulb or electronic control unit (ECU) on their 2006-2009 Toyota Prius and who submits a timely, valid claim:

(1) For repairs within 5 years & 50,000 miles of the car’s original sale or lease date, the reimbursement will be in full. This includes repairs after 5 years or 50,000 miles, if you can show the problem began within that time frame.

(2) For repairs after 5 years & 50,000 miles, YOU SHOULD STILL SUBMIT A CLAIM if you want to be reimbursed. These claims will be paid on a case-by-case basis, based on factors listed on the Toyota Class Action Claim Form.

Keep in mind that this is just a brief reminder -- not a complete list of the details of the settlement. Please visit GirardGibbs.com/Prius.asp and read the Toyota Class Action Notice for more information about deadlines and eligibility requirements. The settlement requires final court approval (a hearing is scheduled for August 1, 2011), before it will go into full effect.

 

I have filed the forms for the class action. I had documented problems at 40,000 miles, but the bulb was not replaced until a year later at 54,000 miles followed by the other a month later. That was in February, 2010 and this past week we discovered that the first bulb replaced (less than 15 months ago) is going out intermittently again. Since we are part of the class action, we were told that we will have to pay to have this bulb replaced. The warranty on a new bulb is one year. The service manager agreed that this should not be happening so soon, but we will still have to pay. It doesn't seem right!

 

Add my name to the headlight crowd.

I have a 2007 Prius and am experiencing intermittent headlight outages. Like others in this forum, sometimes it was the right side, sometimes the left, and once in awhile both. If I turn off the lights and then turn them back on, they both work. The problem started in the summer of 2010 (just over 40000 miles) and would happen on a rare occasion. As time passed, the problem worsened. In December, I had my car at the dealership to have some recalls done and inquired about the headlight issue. They insisted that the problem was with the bulbs. I ordered some HIDs online and using and instructional video from youtube, changed out the bulbs. That worked fine for about a week and a half, and then, the problems started again. Eventually, the right side completely stopped working. The dealership replaced the ECU but they could not duplicate the problem on the left side. They told me that until it completely quits working, there is nothing they can do.

I, too, have filed a claim with The Garden City Group. However, the class action lawsuit is not settled and the proposed settlement is limited. Prius owners who had work done after 5 years/50000 miles may not get reimbursed. I spoke to a Representative at The Garden City Group and they are in the customer information gathering phase. A hearing is schedule for August 1, 2011.

I encourage everyone here to file a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (nhtsa) if it hasn't already been done. As of last night, there were 626 complaints for the 2007 Prius'. The class action law suit is a step in the right direction but Toyota still needs to do a recall. It's a safety hazard especially for those individuals driving at night or early morning.

 

I have the HID bulb out issue as well, I'm out of the extended warranty period though.

At first my driver's side bulb would go out and turning the lights off and on would keep them going. That "fix" worked for a while until the driver's side just wouldn't stay on. I replaced both bulbs with a cheap set of D4R's from ebay. After a few months this set started going out and I returned to turning them off for a bit and turning them back on. Again, that "fix" eventually didn't work and the bulb just wouldn't fire up. So I got a new ballast from ebay and a set of Maxlux 5k D4R's from Amazon and it fired right up. I installed all that just yesterday so I have my fingers crossed but it appears to have fixed my issue. It seems that a bad ballast/ecu was killing my bulbs.

BTW, the ballast says it's estimated to last 2000 hours.

 

does it really warranty a safety complaint w/NHTSA? headlights aren't guaranteed for a lifetime

While I suppose it's ok to file a safety complaint w/NHTSA in this case since having headlights go out is a safety issue, but I don't think there was ever any guarantee that any headlights will last forever. Do halogens last 5 years/50K miles? Are they warranted that long on any car? If they fail prior to 5 years/50K miles, should that be a safety issue and warrant a safety complaint w/NHTSA? At one point is the failure of halogens (or any headlight type) "acceptable" and a safety complaint not warranted?

I myself am not too thrilled about the apparently not so long life of the D4R bulbs (my passenger side one started winking out out ~2 months and 800 past the 5 years/50K miles, driver's side one is still ok, so far) but I knew full well that going into this that HID bulbs and parts aren't that cheap.

I had an 02 Maxima (came w/standard HIDs across all trim levels). A pair of HID assemblies (bulbs, ballast, reflectors, etc.) cost $1356 (see my post at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...eshooting/34987-400-headlight.html#post454234). My 04 350Z's HIDs are still working ok, fortunately, but it only has <53K miles on it, which is about 1K more than my 06 Prius.

I was semi-pleasantly surprised that Philips D4R bulbs (same as the OEM bulbs) were only ~$50 + tax at Amazon. I expected to pay a lot more.

 

Our 2006 Prius is having the same issue, not sure what we are going to do. But for sure we aren't going to a "Stealership" for a fix.

 

Count me in as well.

It started a few months ago: the right site light goes dark from time to time.

It sounds like a real problem and Toyota should just address it, rather then wait for a class action suit, which does nobody but the law firms involved any good.

 

There already is a proposed settlement which includes a warranty extension (Toyota Prius HID Headlight Class Action Settlement - Consumer Class Action Attorneys - Girard Gibbs LLP).

See above.

Have you ever had another car w/headlights warranted (from the manufacturer) for the life of the car or even 5 years/50K miles?

 

Add me to the list. I bought a 2007 Prius and was pleased to find out it was touring edition (didn't know when I bought it) and that it had HID headlights. This started happening to me where the lights will go off 30 seconds into a drive and I have to turn them off and back on to see again. Then they start to flicker. I went back to the used car dealership I bought it from hoping they would fix it for free since it has only been a month. Their Toyota mechanic said he thinks it is the light system circuit board in the steering column heating up and the connections becoming loose. They are ordering the board from a Toyota dealer, I hope this fixes it and they pick up the tab I'll post with results.

Btw my car is 2007, 71000 miles (so no extended warranty for me). It's stupid that so many people have had this problem and Toyota isn't fixing it for free. My family has happily owned Toyotas for 12 years (me included w/ 2 camrys) Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

Since you have 71K miles, you're outside the 5 years/50K miles that the class action lawsuit settlement allows for.

Why is it stupid? Have you ever had headlights on any car warranted for 5 years/50K miles, let alone 71K miles?

 

I've never had a warranted car before, so no, I have never had headlights on a warranted car before.. before this I had 2 Toyota Camrys, a 95 and a 98. I owned the 95 for 3 years and never had a problem with a headlights. I don't remember my parents replacing anything major besides a halogen bulb before the car was handed down to me. I also had the 98 for 8 years and never even replaced a halogen bulb much less something more major.

If the problem is, but the bulb, I thought HID bulbs were supposed to last longer than halogen bulbs. If it is something about a control board or a computer, it seems like there is a manufacturing defect in the Prius that I never saw in a Camry. Toyota should stand behind their products.

Don't get me wrong though, I love my Prius and Toyota is the best. I wouldn't drive anything else.

 

I just bought an 07. Tonight was the first time I have driven it at night. 10 mile commute and the headlights went out three time. Once as I was following a cop. Arrggh.