My right headlight low beam will not come on. The parking light comes on but it is dim, the high beam works (low beam still does not). Drivers side headlight and parking light work fine. I checked the bulb, checked the fuse, removed the clips for the harness along the front end and inspected the wiring, removed the fuse box trying to track the wire down underneath.
At the fuse box I checked voltage:
Fuse #3 is the Drivers side low beam (no problems)
Fuse #2 is the Passenger side low beam (problem)
Voltage across fuse #3 with lights on = 12V
Voltage across fuse #2 with lights on = 0V
Standing at drivers side front fender facing passenger side:
Voltage from right side of fuse #3 to GND (lights on) = 12V
Voltage from right side of fuse #2 to GND (lights on) = 0V however from the left side of fuse #2 I get 12V to GND (left side of fuse #3 to GND is 0)

I searched the threads to see if there are any posts on problematic areas that are prone to wear the wires and possibly cause shorts, but thus far I am coming up a little "short"...

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rich

 

Rich- do 2 things for me. First thing- do you have a test light? I prefer to use a test light in cases like this because it at least draws SOME juice and tells you different things than a DVM does which draws no juice. Do a continuity test with a bulb on the fuse. One large enough that it will at least tax the fuse a LITTLE bit. It's not that I believe this is where I think your problem is. A DVM doesn't tax a fuse at all and if you have a microscopic break (I have seen them) it will not reveal it. Thump the fuse under load, if it's ok there is no danger of burning it out. Next, check your ground wires for the right side. (this is more where I suspect the problem is) The park lamp being dim is an indication of poor ground. If the headlight is on the same ground it may be getting enough ground to light the PL but not enough to light the HL because it requires a heavier draw. When you check the ground(s) don't just check tightness, always take the ground off , clean it and reinstall with some dialectric grease and a star washer. A ground that is tight, in time may lose good contact because of corrosion or dirt. I always go over the simplest things 1st. Sometimes it saves hours by crossing things off the list first that you think it couldn't possibly be only to find out much later that is where it actually was. I have a tester that will test both ground and hot as well as introduce both ground and hot and also has a built in volt meter. It is a priceless tool in diagnostics. It would help greatly in a case like this. Good Luck!

P.S. The right side grounds should be on the right fender well and possibly in the right front area back of the headlight. I would send you a RX300 manual on file but I frankly am not computer knowledgable enough to do it.

 

Thanks Code58 - I tried swapping fuses with the left side HL fuse and got the same result - left side ok, right side still out.
I was thinking ground problem also. I tried using a voltmeter on the red lead at the lamp socket and ground it (with lights on) but got no voltage.

Thanks again for the reply,

Rich