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When I first got my Prius I had a drivers side headlight issue and it turned out to be the HID leveler controller... about 5 months later the passenger side went out and they replaced it.... have had no problems since but it was hard to catch them out and go show the dealer....

As I have posted on PriusChat, I have just over 60k miles in a 2006, with the driver side headlight going out intermittently, for the last few thousand miles. As with others, it comes back when turned off and on. I went to the dealer yesterday for oil change, and mentioned it. The service advisor said, "If it goes off and comes back on, it's the headlamp that needs to be replaced. We'll check it out for $45." I passed on that. When I paid my bill, the clerk gave me a paper, from the advisor I guess. It is a TSB #T-SB-0030-08 Rev1 April 11, 2008. Titled "HID Headlight System - Diagnostic Tips". In part it says:

Introduction

The following bulletin is a supplement to the Repair Manual and provides diagnostics tips for troubleshooting "Low Beam Does Not Turn On (One Side)". (It DOES NOT mention goes out and comes back on!)

Parts Information

(lists bulb numbers for 2004-2005 and for 2006-2008)

Warranty Information

(says "Not Applicable to Warranty")

Repair Procedure

(says to 1. perform SST or DVOM check across connector, 2. check connector fit, 3. Switch HID bulb between left and right side.
If the condition follows the HID bulb, replace the HID bulb.
If the condition does not follow the bulb, replace the HID ECU.

(Then a note says "In most cases, when replacing the HID bulb, the HID ECU does NOT need to be replaced."

To me, this document does not explain what's going on, or the precise fix. Or does this really only apply to headlamps that don't work at all, which is technically what it says. But the timing of this TSB would seem to be to address the complaints in the last year.

Does anyone know more or have ideas?

Oh, last night, after driving for about 30 minutes without the light going out, I parked at a store for 30 minutes. When I started the car, turned on headlights and drove away, I had driven for less than a minute in a well lighted area when a pedestrian flagged me down and said my headlight was out. Of course cycling power turned it on. (So much for the overheating theory?) Makes me wonder, has anyone been stopped by police for a headlight out, only to flick the power and say, "Which headlight is out? I don't see it!"

Hey Silverwolf, how many miles on your car when it was fixed? Under warranty? Thanks!

I was lucky it happened at 15K and 24K so both were covered... but I had a note put in the file incase it happened again... it has not.

Hey, Silverwolf,

It sounds like you had 2 issues occurring at the same time. Replacing the HID leveler won't fix the problem of the bulbs winking out (that is a bulb or ballast/ECU problem) unless they weren't actually out at all & were just tipped so low that they weren't illuminat'g the roadway ahead of you & therefore you assumed they were out.

I own (as you can see) a 2005 Prius with the HID's [which uses D2R bulbs instead of the troublesome D4R bulbs (from 2006 to present)] so that "winking out" issue hasn't been a problem for me, but I did have to have my leveler sensor replaced (under warranty) because my HID's were tipped so low that I couldn't see any farther out than 20 ft. ahead of me (anything beyond that was just pitch black). The defective leveler sensor affected both sides & when the dealer installed the replacement countermeasure leveler sensor (with the "G" suffix in the part number), everything was as good as new (they re-checked the calibration of the headlight aim/tilt once the new part was installed too).

In look'g back at your post you do say HID leveler "Controler", which to me means the individual tilt motors which tip the HID assembly up or down based on the signal received from the leveler sensor attached to the rear axle. Now if you hadn't used the word "leveler" in the middle & just said "HID Controler", I might interpret that to mean the ECU or ballast (which is covered under warranty, while the bulbs are not---the leveler sensor is also covered under warranty).

Also Silverwolf, did they have to replace the headlights too! Did they claim that the controllers were damaging the headlights? I also see from your earlier post that your car was fairly new. Thanks!

Ten pages and 143 posts about this one subject? And it sounds as if Toyota is still scratching it's head!
Too many gadgets for a pair of front headlights??

Yes, and there are over 22 pages of posts on this problem on priuschat.com. The following link will take you to a post where I list the links to the threads that I have found on this issue. (It's a shame there are so many different threads on this!) Unfortunately, there is no common answer to the cause or fix for the problem. And no common cost for a fix, with people paying from nothing to over $1000 to get it corrected. Also, this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtDPAVdLAaI) shows a similar problem on a Chrysler 300.

The TSB I referred to earlier doesn't help much, since it seems to cover headlights that are totally off, and does not mention being able to turn the light back on by switching off on on.

Whoops, I forgot to put the promised link to the priuschat thread:

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-techn ... t-off.html

I have a 2007 and have just had both headlights replaced. I hope that fixes the problems. The dealer here in Alexandria VA has seen this problem and was familiar when I called them. They claim its a blub issue. I got mine replaced under warranty and am saving the work order in case I have more problems. I expect them to cover any additional repair as a warranty fix.

Were the outages on your headlights intermittent, or did they go out and stay out? If it was intermittent, the problem is with the controller and not the lamps.

Thanks that's good to know. My problem was intermittent so I guess this will happen again.

Yup, changing bulbs will not solve the problem. The problem is with the controllers. I suggest that you report the problem to Toyota at (800) 331-4331 and ask that they replace them under warranty. You should also report the problem here http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/. If enough people report the problem as a safety issue, maybe Toyota will issue a recall to fix the problem.

Hi,

I just bought a 2004 Prius with the headlight issue. How do you know if you have the HID lights versus the standard Halogen? Can you replace a HID bulb with a Halogen bulb?

Thanks,
Dave