AnES350 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I just bought a pre-owned 2008 ES350 with 31,000 miles. It got dark on my way home and I realized my fog lights were on but my low beams won't work. High beams work fine. Assuming it was a fuse, I pulled over and spent about an hour in the dark trying to find a bad fuse. I used a test light on the fuses under the hold and found several in a row that were not running any current. This leads me to ask, Could this be a relay problem? There is no owners manual with the car so I was never able to identify for sure which fuse works the headlights. Any direction on how to identify the headlight fuse I assume would probably be the first logical step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990LS400 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 The owners manual section of the PDF containing fuse information is to big (> 2 mb) to upload to this forum but you can view it in the "Vehicle Resources" section - without registering - at https://secure.drivers.lexus.com Since your car is well within its basic warranty, you might as well drive it to the nearest Lexus dealer and let it be their problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnES350 Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Thanks. It's the headlight fuses that aren't getting any power. The others weren't because I hadn't switch them on. But when the headlights are switched on, nothing. I figure it might be easier to replace the relay myself and see if that does the trick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Why would you want to do that? Its under warranty...let them worry about it and drive around in their loaner until its done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnES350 Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Why would you want to do that? Its under warranty...let them worry about it and drive around in their loaner until its done... It's all about time which is a precious commodity to me. I work 60+ hours a week and have three kids. It makes more sense time wise to drive 5 minutes to the autoparts store and 5 back to swap out a relay = 20 minutes total. Than to take 30 minutes to drive to the dealership. Monkey around with them and get a loaner for 30 minutes. Drive 30 minutes home then 30 minutes back to get my car when it's fixed = 2 hours. I undertand it's a gamble as that the relay might not fix the problem but that's a huge time savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjt65 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I hear you on the time --- 2 kids , sick mom going thru hell last 8 months, now have AAU BBALL with daughter next 6 weekends w/Tournaments, so happy i could wash and than Danase Wet glaze and clean tires today!!! G luck w fuse if it fails bring her in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990LS400 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Good luck with replacing the relay but in the (too!) many years I've been on Lexus forums I can't remember any threads about a failed relay preventing low beam headlights on a Lexus from working. I could give you a list of other issues that could cause the problem but you wouldn't want to just start replacing those parts either. If the repair manuals for your ES are like the ones I have for my LS, there is an extremely detailed diagnostic procedure / decision table in them for pinpointing the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Yeah I would be shocked if the issue is the relay. Call the dealer, they may come out to your work, pick up the car and drop off the loaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pj8708 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Our dealer will always come and pick up your car, leave the loaner and do the reverse, all at no charge any where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnES350 Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 Yeah, It's not the relay. I took it into the dealer. So far not good. Despite my best efforts including checking with the dealer that serviced it, it appears to have been in a wreck. Soooo..............?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Thats why I would always have a car I was going to buy looked at by a dealer or other mechanic I trusted before I bought it... What is the dealer saying, was the car repaired improperly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cduluk Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Wait... you bought it, and the very same night when you turned the headlights ON, they didn't work? So whoever sold you the car sold it with the headlights NOT working? I'm pretty sure this is illegal... If it was working after you bought it, then stopped working several days later, i'd say you might be out of luck- but if someone sold you a car without working headlights, then i'd go back to that dealer and demand they look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW03ES Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 In MD that would definitely be illegal. It never would have passed an MD state inspection, which it has to do before its resold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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