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Hi,
I have just noticed that by both my low beam headlights have suddenly stopped working, although my hi-beams work fine. Both the high beams work but not the low beams. The bulbs are relatively new so I dont think its the bulbs. Anyone have any ideas what the cause could be? There is a headlight relay but removing this also disables the hi beams. There are separate fuses for both headlights but these look fine. Is there a different relay for the low beams?
My daughter needs to drive to college in a couple of days and I’m hoping to get it sorted quickly.
Many thanks!
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You kind of need an volt – ohm Meter .
I would carefully unplug one lamp . Check to see if you have continuity , with the meter set to ohms , on both lamp filaments .
If that is good , set the meter to volts & switch the low beans on . See if you have around 12 – 13 volts on the low beam contacts , on the connector .
Check the connector and also check from the connector to battery ground or a good frame ground .
If no voltage , unplug the relay . Check the socket for voltage , but it should have power since the high beams work .
Set the meter to ohms . Carefully staying away from 12 VDC power / hot / positive in the relay socket . Check from the low beam connector pin to the other pins in the relay socket . If none show continuity , the low beam circuit probably does not go through the relay . Or you have a bad wire from the relay to the lamp socket .
Does this photo look like your relay ? If so , it only has 1 set of contacts , so it will not do both high & low beams .
At this point , I would think the low beams either have another relay , some where , or come directly from the switch in the interior / cabin of the car .
You really need a book on the car with a wiring diagram and an illustration showing where the electrical components are located .
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I did some more research and found a wiring diagram & some of the locations of fuse boxes , which are also , probably the location of relays .
Where did you find the high beam relay ? The low beam relay is probably the same part number . Look for that .
If you need to , privite message me or email me & I can try to send some pdf files .
God bless
WyrNormally headlights are on separate circuits, but they usually come together at the headlight switch. Since both low beams are out, I’d be looking at the headlight switch operation to make sure it’s working correctly. For that you’ll need a wiring diagram for the circuit on your vehicle and a test light to verify that the low beam signal is being sent from the switch. More info on that her.e
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-electrical-problems
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
What kind of bulbs did you put in and how recently? Because twice I had this issue in my 2000 Sienna when I installed “ultra bright bulbs” that blow in months and both times I lost both low beam bulbs at the same time.
Check the bulbs before you start tearing your van apart.
Installed cheap bulbs never had this issue again.
Thanks guys. After checking the fuses, relays and wiring, it turned out to be BOTH the low beam filaments in BOTH my headlamps blew at the same time (or at least on the same 5 mile trip). They were Sylvania SilverStar Ultras (The orangish pack). They were poth put in over a year ago, but I read on the packaging that the life was 194 hours. Dammit. Thats not even a year of driving. I wish there were decent LED replacements.
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