December 1, 20205 yr so anyone care to take odds on the chance this is a simultaneous bulb outage? research is leading me to believe it may be.. the nitty gritty... Other half went out and started his car this morning to let it warm up a little before heading to work.. 2006 LL Bean Outback.. has DRLs that come on automatically when engine is started. He said both lights were working when he started the car... comes back in the house to finish getting ready.. goes to leave, and no headlights... no DRLs, no low beam when turning switch on....all other lights are fine.. markers, tails, etc.. fogs work, high beams work.. just no low/drl. He ended up taking my car to work since it is dark when he leaves, and dark when he gets home. LOL fuses all check ok, relays seem to be fine (swapped with others to check) He is going to pick up some new low beam bulbs after work tonight for me to put in tomorrow in the daylight.. so... bets are now open...
December 2, 20205 yr Author so i have been reading.. often enough that it almost precludes anything else.. i think i will keep my older Subie, LOL, it doesnt have those problems
December 2, 20205 yr Bulbs are a wear item. And the bulb is just about the only common denominator between the headlight switch and DRL module. If it's not a bulb, you have a wiring gremlin.
December 2, 20205 yr 13 hours ago, heartless said: so i have been reading.. often enough that it almost precludes anything else.. i think i will keep my older Subie, LOL, it doesnt have those problems 20 years of XT6 - I haven't replaced any bulbs...maybe I'm forgetting one. 10 years of EJ/EZ - replaced countless bulbs in 2002+ daily drivers. 2002 OBW needed both bulbs about yearly, was keeping them in glove box, and then went 5 years without needing bulbs. The only changes I can think of were the state smoothing out the local roads (we have some nasty roads), or a new OEM alternator (the old one wasn't bad at all, worked perfectly fine), or it was just random.
December 2, 20205 yr 43 minutes ago, idosubaru said: 20 years of XT6 - I haven't replaced any bulbs...maybe I'm forgetting one. That is the advantage to those awful 6054 sealed beams (My XT6, Celica, 4Runner, and Econoline all use the same ones), they almost never burn out.
December 2, 20205 yr 5 minutes ago, Numbchux said: That is the advantage to those awful 6054 sealed beams (My XT6, Celica, 4Runner, and Econoline all use the same ones), they almost never burn out. no kidding, 4 runner too?! yeah they're not pristine for visibility. do you know why they last so long? lower temps and "controlled" conditions being sealed in glass?
December 2, 20205 yr Author And the answer was..... . . . Both bulbs blown. yeah, the older ones are so much easier on headlights.. heck even my 2002 Fox is easier on headlights, LOL Only 4 yrs between them, but I think in 3+ yrs of ownership i have replaced one headlight bulb... in that same time frame, he has probably done 3 or 4 bulb changes.. usually one at a time, tho... this is the first time we have seen both go at once
December 2, 20205 yr Author 5 hours ago, Numbchux said: Bulbs are a wear item. And the bulb is just about the only common denominator between the headlight switch and DRL module. If it's not a bulb, you have a wiring gremlin. i understand that, but every 5-6 months? seriously? LOL He has replaced headlight bulbs on this car more frequently than any other vehicle i have ever seen.. bar none. and from what I have seen in searching about this, it is VERY common on the 3rd gen and up to go thru headlight bulbs pretty heavily. This suggests to me that there is a fundamental issue with the lighting design/wiring in general on these... not a good thing - especially when they make it ever harder to actually change one out..
December 2, 20205 yr Yea, when I worked at the dealership, I know they extended the warranty on the '10-'14 low beams. I don't really understand, that. Had low beams burn out in all of our '00-'04s. I only replace with LEDs, though. Never again.
December 4, 20205 yr I leave the stock low beams in 00-04 . I replace the high beams with LED. Being very rural only use low beams IF there is other traffic.
December 5, 20205 yr Author On 12/4/2020 at 8:27 AM, montana tom said: I leave the stock low beams in 00-04 . I replace the high beams with LED. Being very rural only use low beams IF there is other traffic. My 02 Foz has a single bulb, dual filament headlight... not possible to do that.. his 06 maybe.. but that would be up to him.. and the high beams are not the problem.. it is the low beams/DRLs
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