Since we were soooo correct with the battery call, here is another for you.

 

Low Beams/Driving Lights stopped working

 

Was driving last night all was fine. Pulled into a Dunkin Donuts to grab coffee. Get in the car, turn it on, and the headlights stopped working. Both Low Beams and Driving lights not working. High beams, turn signals, and side signals/parking lights are working. Rear lights as well. A few mins before this, I believe the light could of been dimmed. Also, one of the driving lights, the small 197 bulb was out for a bit that I was going to change.

 

the fuses seem fine.

 

So what can it be?

 

2004 Mazda 6. All stock bulbs and stuff. Replaced battery a month or two ago.

 

Also.... today, just exited the car and had the door open. The interior lights were dimming sporadically.

The Japanese love using relays in their circuits. My guess would be that you burned-up a relay. Usually the circuit has juice through it and all the relay does is provide a ground leg. Good luck.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

The Japanese love using relays in their circuits. My guess would be that you burned-up a relay. Usually the circuit has juice through it and all the relay does is provide a ground leg. Good luck.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

 

Japanese designed, built in Detroit by Ford Union employees. =)

 

where do i find the relay? =P

Hopefully an underhood fuse box..... should have relays in it also....

 

+1

 

I agree with the Relay idea...

Relay location may be in the owners manual.

Try the headlamps themselves. I had a similar problem on a Chevy. For some reason, Both low beams blew. All I had was Highs'. Changed the lamps, and all was fine.

Just pulled hte relay and it seemed clean, same with all of the fuses. I only saw one main relay for the headlights, didnt see seperate high beam, low beam ones.... switched relays with fan ones, and same thing.

 

so what else? Would check the bulbs, but its rainy and a pain in the butt to take them out. =)

Are the fuses under the hood or in the cabin? If under the hood, pull them and check for corrosion.

 

Do you have a 12V test light to check if you have juice at the bulbs?

I do have a volt meter. Only issue, to change bulbs... depending on which, I have to pull the bumper. =) Yes. it is true. It isnt that bad... but without a garage... tough.

Could it be the battery? I was googling and it came up for someone else. i just replaced the battery a month or two ago, and tonight as I was going home, after opening hte car door, the interior dome light was dimming intermitently, for the first time.

 

figure clean all the terminals on the battery as well. argh. lol.

My bet would be the headlite switch. If you don't get ot figured out Max, call me on Friday morning and I'll check at work.

maks,

 

would a wiring diagram help out???

 

let me know and i can send one to you.

Yes - it could also be the battery, again, or directly related to the battery (corrosion at the terminals, bad cable, etc).

maks....does your car have daytime running lights or no......i am looking up the wiring diagram for you...pm or email me and i'll get them to you....make sure you have checked both fuse boxes...the one in eng compartment and the one behind the left kick panel.....also check ground and power wires coming off of the battery...sometimes the old battery's acid will damage the connections/plugs..make sure all is clean...from there all you have left is grounds the headlight switch and finally a auto light control module.....make sure to check for bad sockets alos check with a test light for power and ground at the socket......

thanks. It may be the corrossion on the battery plug? will check in the am. =)

 

I have the service manual for the mazda's but couldnt find the wiring diagram.

 

thanks.

maks....does your car have daytime running lights or no......i am looking up the wiring diagram for you...pm or email me and i'll get them to you....make sure you have checked both fuse boxes...the one in eng compartment and the one behind the left kick panel.....also check ground and power wires coming off of the battery...sometimes the old battery's acid will damage the connections/plugs..make sure all is clean...from there all you have left is grounds the headlight switch and finally a auto light control module.....make sure to check for bad sockets alos check with a test light for power and ground at the socket......

 

 

but would the old acid damage the plug enough to have the car start fine but the headlights stoped working?

 

btw, no daytime running lights.

but would the old acid damage the plug enough to have the car start fine but the headlights stoped working?

 

Unlikely. Starting requires the greatest current flow.

 

Perhaps you're just the victim of coincidence and your bulbs just happened to burn out simultaneously...

keep in mind, this is 3 bulbs at once.

 

both the low beams, and the driving/parking lights. one of the parking lights was out already.

check the body ground..

I have to lean towards the headlight switch also. first thing to do is check the bulbs though. If it is easier, check the parking lights first and see if the bulbs are bad, then move on to he headlight bulbs. Start simple solutions first, bulbs, fuses, relays and switches. The common denominator for parking lights and headlights is that they are both on at the same time (even though they do not share the same fuses). So if the bulbs and fuses are good, it may be the switch.

You might want to check the blinker fluid.

Check the foo foo valves

he dome light was dimming with the door open, which leads me too believe their is a bad ground.

I am leaning towards that as well. Where is the ground typically located? have to try to find hte wiring diagram. hehe.

 

aww, such fun.

According to my info you do not have to remove the bumper to replace headlamp bulbs.

 

It is counter productive to guess at all these other possibilities and not check the bulbs.

 

In my 45 years repairing cars there have been countless times my customers claimed both lights went out at the same time.

Usually they did not notice the first to go.

 

Get at the rear of the headlight assembly. There is a round cover that unscrews. The bulb is then held in with a metal spring clip. Check the bulbs. Do not check for power to the bulbs with a voltmeter. Use a 12 volt test light. Power is supplied through fuses for each lamp. One fuse for left high, right high, left low and right low. Circuit is completed to ground by the light control module.

 

If you have DRL (Daytime Running Lights) the problem is not the ground connection. There is only one ground for all the lights through the light control module.

 

If you like I would be happy to look at it for you.

NJJim is correct! K.I.S.S., if the bulb is not working, check the bulb first. I had a '98 626 and did not have to remove the bumper to change a bulb? I just put HIDs in my son's 2010 Legacy and we did have to remove the bumper to do the bulbs. Is this progress? I even did a "how-to" for the Subaru forums http://abella.net/?page_id=130

 

Japanese parts, assembled in US!

I don't care where its assembled or built, its all JUNK. To quote Chris Rock.... "They got metal on the space shuttle that can go around the moon and withstand temperatures up to 20,000 degrees. You mean to tell me you don't think they can make an El Dorado where the fcuking bumper don't fall off?"

It is fixed. =) Turns out 3 bulbs can burn out together within a few mins of each other. =)

 

thank you NJJim for helping me out with it.

you probably still have a problem. You may have a bad ground or something along that line, wait a little bit and if it happens again you will know for sure. I had a constant problem of bulbs burning out on my 3 series BMW it ended having a bad ground in the left headlight area.

these lasted 4.5 years. =)