Headlight Issue

[Piper]

Hi all,

I've a wee problem that I've been unable to sort so am now looking for some advice. For a number of weeks my drivers side headlight has been super dull and the main beam won't work. When the problem first started, it seemed temporary as occasionally when I switched the headlights on, if I switched to full beam the light would work properly and continue to to do so even when the main beam was off. Now though it refuses to work and when the headlights are on, it's less bright that the little side light. I've changed the bulb, hunted for and repaired a couple of small wires on the loom/s behind the light that were corroded but sadly still no solution and the light remains dull.

Before I take it to an auto electrician (anyone recommended around the Glasgow area?) I thought it worth a post to see if anyone else has experienced a similar problem and found a cure. Any pointers greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ryan

 

[froggy Steve]

I am no expert but it sounds like a dodgy earth somewhere? I am sure someone will be along to tell you though - I changed mine for HID lamps & wow, what a difference! I have noticed though there are now LED replacements available (great fan of LED).

 

[clivehorridge]

I am no expert but it sounds like a dodgy earth somewhere? I am sure someone will be along to tell you though - I changed mine for HID lamps & wow, what a difference! I have noticed though there are now LED replacements available (great fan of LED).

I'm no expert either, but I would suspect a bad earth too. It's worth checking all the earths, remove and wire-brush clean and re-connect using a grease to reduce the potential for future corrosion.

I'm sure someone will comment on the greasing advice, maybe there's a special grease for electrical connections, I use regular bearing grease and I've had no problems. Speak as you find, that's my motto

 

[jbecks]

yep bad earth , if that don't solve it, also check all the plastic connectors for the wiring.

 

[Piper]

Thanks for the replies.

Earlier today one of the things I did was remove two bolts one the inside of the driver side wing, and made sure the connections were clean before reconnecting them. One of these is on the negative cable from the battery and the other has wires going to it but I couldn't tell where from. It did look to be an earth though but I'm not sure. After cleaning these it made no difference. However, I got into the car about an hour ago and when I turned on the headlights the light was super dull as before, so I flicked main beam on to see. This time, the main beam worked fine and when I switched back to normal headlights, the light reacted normally as was at the expected level, not super dull as before. It's the inconsistency that's doing my head in! Any further earth point I should check?


I did a search online and found owners of Toyota Tacomas in the US who have had the same problems and all (that I saw anyway) have been traced to a faulty fuse and cured by changing it. It sounds very weird to me how a fuse could cause a problem like this but I will check tomorrow. Problem is, I can't find the fuse box diagram - could anyone point me to one online?

Thanks,
R

 

[Chris]

Have you pulled off the plastic connector from the back of the lamp? I would. What happens is that as the connector ages, resistance increases and the block starts to turn to carbon. The effect is that the light gets very dim. I have done quite a few splice jobs where I put iin a new connector for exactly this problem. So many actually that I have a kit in my box with a socket made up ready with bullet connectors on so that I can do a change over pretty quickly. I have done Hiluxes, Colorado, Corollas and the odd Nissan too. It seems to be something with Jap cars. The wires are very thin and if you stick uprated bulbs in, it makes it worse.

Fuse box diagram is printed inside the lid of the fuse box.

 

[Piper]

So, problem solved - well as far as I can see at this point. I was thinking that I'd replace the connector at the back of the lamp as per Chris' suggestion but before going ahead and ordering a new connector I decided to check the fuses as had been suggested on an US Toyota site. I couldn't see how it could be a blown fuse given that when the light wasn't working properly it was still on albeit barely, and still (once a week at best) showed glimmers of working as normal. I thought it was worth a quick check though and just now opened the fuse box under the bonnet. The cover states that there are two 10A fuses for the headlights one marked RH and the other LH. When I pulled the RH fuse it was indeed blown so I stuck in a new one and believe it or not, the headlight is working perfectly. I'm far from being skilled in electronics but I just can't understand how this can be. I'm not complaining though. Just for reference, here's a link to the US site that had the solution - http://www.yotatech.com/f2/headlight-dim-one-side-3rd-gen-47484/

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Oh as for the inside fuse box diagram - my car is missing the fuse box cover so I don't have that diagram either. Would anyone be so kind as to take a picture of theirs and email it to me? I'll need to track down a new cover too.

Thanks again,
R

 

[Ecoman]

Hi all,



Before I take it to an auto electrician (anyone recommended around the Glasgow area?) I thought it worth a post to see if anyone else has experienced a similar problem and found a cure. Any pointers greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ryan

Hi Ryan, Glad you got the issue sorted and it was an easy fix.

Just for the record. If you ever need a good auto sparky you won't go far wrong getting in contact with Premier Auto Electrics in Paisley. I had them sort out the wife's car after a drain hole under the scuttle panel blocked and gallons of water seeped into the car, over a period of a few months, and soaked the electrics. They sorted loads of issues out at the same time and saved us a small fortune as the dealership wanted to replace loads of control modules at several hundred pounds a pop. It all boiled down to corroded connections and bad earths. As we had waited for so long (it was over xmas and Hogmanay) they even recharged her AC for free.

http://www.premierautoelectrics.co.uk/

 

[Piper]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll certainly keep them in mind for any future electrical issues.

Cheers
R