Headlights not working

R

rpearlberg

New member
I noticed last night that both headlights stopped working. When I turn on high beams they work, but no headlights.

Suggestions?

2001 4Runner
 
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When I first bought my 4Runner, I noticed that swapping between high to low beam caused the low to not work. I took apart the combination switch and noticed corrosion on the copper electrical contacts. I lightly sanded the connections and haven't had an issue since. Try that.
 
JudeThaddeus said:
When I first bought my 4Runner, I noticed that swapping between high to low beam caused the low to not work. I took apart the combination switch and noticed corrosion on the copper electrical contacts. I lightly sanded the connections and haven't had an issue since. Try that.
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where would that switch be located?
 
rpearlberg said:
Aren't the high beams and headlights just one bulb? Kind of weird that both bulbs stopped at the exact same time...
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Yes they are one bulb, but they are different circuits within the bulb. Very often you have one bulb go bad and you don't notice it, so when the second bulb fails it appears as if they both went bad at once.

If you can check with a known good bulb, that is the easiest thing to do. Otherwise you will need a test light or a multimeter to start testing.

:director:
 
53f1b8b2ace70f53a415e7d6984c4ab8.jpg


It's the headlight switch. Remove the bottom panel, the top and bottom steering column covers, unplug the electrical connector at the bottom of the picture, and lastly the two screws in the picture.
 
3c5c0d134f0f6955aae901c40577efd3.jpg


This is the switch removed. In the above pictures, you'll see a translucent cover and the three contacts. Remove the clear cover and lightly sand the three "finger" contacts. Reassemble and test. Be careful to not take off too much from the contacts. If you do, you'll need a new switch or have to figure out a way to fix it.
 
rpearlberg said:
Aren't the high beams and headlights just one bulb? Kind of weird that both bulbs stopped at the exact same time...
Click to expand...

A coincidence for sure, but not impossible as mentioned by IBallengineer. In addition to that, manufacturing processes being what they are today, the same bulb exposed to the same conditions would fail in roughly the same time period, that's why it's a good idea replace bulbs in pairs.

Bulbs are cheap and easy to replace! Always best to start with the simplest solution before getting too far into it to save your sanity!
 
I_bRAD said:
A coincidence for sure, but not impossible as mentioned by IBallengineer. In addition to that, manufacturing processes being what they are today, the same bulb exposed to the same conditions would fail in roughly the same time period, that's why it's a good idea replace bulbs in pairs.

Bulbs are cheap and easy to replace! Always best to start with the simplest solution before getting too far into it to save your sanity!
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That is true. I replaced both of them at the same time, but is it weird that the high beams still work?

Would I be better off replacing the switch instead of trying to clean it? (if that is what's needed)
 
In my old truck when the lights were near the end of their life they would only work in high beam. This was a feature to tell you that you needed to replace them. It was the same 1 bulb style as the runner.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
Tucson4runner said:
In my old truck when the lights were near the end of their life they would only work in high beam. This was a feature to tell you that you needed to replace them. It was the same 1 bulb style as the runner.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks. I guess I'll start with replacing the bulbs and go from there.
 
rpearlberg said:
That is true. I replaced both of them at the same time, but is it weird that the high beams still work?

Would I be better off replacing the switch instead of trying to clean it? (if that is what's needed)
Click to expand...

You've already replaced the bulbs and they still don't work? Well yeah, in that case it's obviously something else! The switch sounds like a good possibility in that case, especially if others have had that experience.

Although the high beam and low beam are the same bulb, they are 2 separate filaments, on 2 separate circuits. Unless you do all your driving at night on empty back roads chances are you're going to burn out the low first since it gets used much more often.
 
I_bRAD said:
You've already replaced the bulbs and they still don't work? Well yeah, in that case it's obviously something else! The switch sounds like a good possibility in that case, especially if others have had that experience.

Although the high beam and low beam are the same bulb, they are 2 separate filaments, on 2 separate circuits. Unless you do all your driving at night on empty back roads chances are you're going to burn out the low first since it gets used much more often.
Click to expand...

Sorry, i did not replace the bulbs since this happened. I meant last time I replaced them, I did both at the same time.
 
I had a set of SilverStars that did the exact same thing. I was coming out of town and noticed the lights weren't working, tried high beams and they were fine. Found an auto parts store and broke out the meter and started troubleshooting, and found that the low beam filament was bad on both bulbs.

I had been in the mountains the night before, and I know both bulbs were working then, so they both failed within a few hours of each other at most. I guess you just have to chalk that up to a very well controlled manufacturing process. :clap2:

You can eliminate everything else by pulling out the relay and putting a jumper across the contacts. That bypasses everything but the wires between the relay and the headlight, but I'd say you're wasting your time and just need new bulbs.
 
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