kxlara

Hello all,

I'm brand new to the group and just 'acquired' a 2004 ES330 from my mom as she can no longer drive. It needed valve cover gaskets, so I changed those out and I can't see how that would have anything to do with this problem, but I thought that I'd mention it.

The issue is that the low beams and the fog lights don't work. The green lights come on the dash as if they are working, but they don't turn on. the DRL's work, the tail lights and side markers come on, but no headlights or fogs.

I checked the fuses and all looked good, but I need some guidance on other items that I might want to check.

Any help would be appreciated!

HydroDog

The DRL’s run off the high beams. Since you just got the car, who knows they might didn’t work before you got it.

Pull the fog light bulbs and check to see if they are burned out and the same with the headlight bulbs.

kxlara

Pulled one headlight and one fog light - both look fine. I would find it odd that all 4 lights would be out. Possibly a relay?

Thanks for any/all input.

Arsenii

Hello,

Did those ever work since you acquired the car?

Here is a Fuse Diagram for your car, those have a separate fuse for each Headlight, and the Fog Light Relay is powered from the Driver (Left) Headlight Fuse, which would explain why those won't come on either. Get a Test Light, connect one end to Ground, then use the other to probe each exposed Terminal on Top of the Fuse - if the light will come on for Both terminals, the fuse is intact and the problem is downstream from the fuse, if only One terminal will light up the bulb, the fuse is blown, if the Bulb won't turn on for Any of the terminals, the fuse is not getting powered, then you will need to check the Headlight Relay.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

kxlara

Thank you. I'll give this a shot. They did work when my mom had the car, but it sat for quite some time, so I'm not sure when they last worked.

kxlara

Thanks again for the help. I tested both sides of all of the fuses and they all test good.

Again, all green lights on the dash indicating the lights are on.

Any other ideas?

Thanks all!

Arsenii

But are they actually Powered? The question wasn't about Fuses themselves, not directly, the question is whether Each fuse has Power coming and leaving, hence the reason behind a Test Light. Below is a video on how to use a Test Light to check fuses and wiring.


The light on the Instrument Cluster is powered directly by one of the Headlight Fuses, which means that at least one of the fuses is Functional and Powered. In that case, check if you do have both Power and Ground on the Headlight Pigtail separately using a Test Light, if Power is missing, you will have to check the section of wiring from the Headlight to the Fuse Box, if Ground is missing .. well that will be trickier, as each headlight has its own Ground as well, chances of both going bad are minimal.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

kxlara

thanks and apologies for not being clear. Power through the fuses, need to check down at the light connector itself. Hopefully not going through all the grounds too 😊

thanks again for the feedback.