90 LS400 Hi Beam Failure

Oct 24, 2006 3 Replies

Last night while driving home from the airport, I switched on the hi-beams - which came on for a second and then BOTH went dark. The lo-beams continues to work okay. There doesn't seem to be a fuse for the hi-beams - just a fuse for each individual lamp. The dash indicator functions normally. Any hints? Is there a relay that may have failed?



Thanks


Rather than speculate, my recommendation would be to do some checking. Assuming that the car is not equipped with high intensity discharge lights, you can use a 12 volt test light or volt meter (volt meter is preferred) to see if there is 12 volts coming to each headlamp socket when the high beams are turned on. If so, then change both bulbs. If you do not have 12 volts at the sockets, then work your way backwards to the headlamp relays, power source, and combination switch on the steering column.

Well the filaments were REALLY burned through. I DID purchase the bulbs off eBay ... super bright 9004s, but the low wattage ones (65W/45W). They lasted no more than 3500 miles (assume only ~50% usage). They were absolutely wonderful when they DID work. They LOOK very high quality.

Any speculation what made them pop when switching to the HI-Beams ... (The next morning, one of the low beams was also burned out - it DID last on the way home from the previous night however ... strange, to me anyway). I am back to the original bulbs that I replaced; they are fine ... at least so far.

If you purchased the bulbs on eBay, then they were probably shipped to you through the mail or a package service and were handled roughly. Rough handling probably does not help their longevity, or perhaps the bulbs were cheap?

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