No headlamps? (1 Viewer)

[ridgerunner]

Tonight on my way back home from a friend's place my lights were acting strange- they were dimmer than usual it seemed and the brights indicator on the dash wasn't working.

Back in town I turned the truck off and the lights, then restarted it- now there are no front headlamps at all, and one of the parking lights is out (driver's side front.)

Checked the fuses- all okay, and the relay under the hood is switching back and forth when the switch is on. Any suggestions? I'll take a look at it tomorrow when I have more light.

Edit: 94 regular cab, 22RE....

Thanks!
Brian

 

[Hilux]

some dip wired a fuse between the battery and the under hood box of a truck I had once and I kept blowing headlights...

ate'em like candy! Just before they'd blow they'd get real bright, crystal clear like a LED and then blow...

 

[ridgerunner]

some dip wired a fuse between the battery and the under hood box of a truck I had once and I kept blowing headlights...

ate'em like candy! Just before they'd blow they'd get real bright, crystal clear like a LED and then blow...

The brights were pretty bright at a time... The only thing that gives me pause about something that is maybe battery acid eaten wiring is that the brights indicator wasn't working. Fuses are all good. Don't know if the bulbs are bad or not.

 

[Hilux]

Back in town I turned the truck off and the lights, then restarted it- now there are no front headlamps at all, and one of the parking lights is out (driver's side front.)

THAT, is reminiscent of a ground problem I once had...

 

[ridgerunner]

This is kinda embarrassing, but...

Checked out all the electronics, fuses with a voltmeter- I was getting power to the headlamps and the ground was good, but I couldn't figure out if the switch was bad because turning on the brights wasn't giving any different reading.

I replaced both headlamps and they both work fine- the brights indicator light functions as well. The voltage regulator is functioning fine. While putting power to the old headlamps I only got one high beam out of the four available lamps.

To have the head lamps simultaneously go out seems weird, but at least it is fixed (for now?).

 

[cranky steve]

The headlight circuit on Toys is pretty bad. I bet you had the perfect storm of issues at the same time.
Filament broken in one of the headlights shorted out
Your Headlight switch contacts are old and bifurcated (Corroded from years of arcing), and don't make as good of contact as they once did.

I have an 85, and have replaced the switch a couple of times after I could no longer clean the contacts up enough for the headlights to work reliably. I got tired of doing that every few years, and bought a kit from Roger Browns 4crawler offroad that uses relays under the hood for the headlights. Works great, no more switch issues, because relays are low current, and headlights are not.
Toyota 4Runner and Pickup: Brighter Head Lights