Hi all I've done a whole bunch of searching already but haven't come accross my exact issue. Whenever I turn on my lights its in high beam mode no matter where the high beam switch is. It has the blue light on the dash indicating they're on. When the lights are off I can pull forward to flash them as well. Driving me nuts, I pulled the whole assembly apart around the steering column and sparyed some contact cleaner in there. I even disconnected the highbeam/indicator switch and tested the lights, still on highbeam. Had a look at the fuses near the pedals and all are good. Same in under the bonnet. Am I missing something important here? Does it sound like the dimmer relay? Or the switch is buggered?
when you dip to low beam do they come on? if not it's probably the switch if they both come on, I would check for stuck hi beam relay there is a couple there the same, you could swap them for testing only.
Yeah true, thats a great idea. I'll try using another relay. The low beams use the projectors on the sides yeah? Sorry for the nooby question but at this point I've never actually seen just low beam on my car before haha. The projectors appear to be on very dimly and the square head lights are on and very bright. So I would say both are on.
Somethings not right! The standard configuration is low beams on, high beams off. When you switch to high beam, the low beams should turn off. If the vehicle has been modified with HID low beams, the wiring is usually also modified, so that the low beams remain illuminated when the high beams are on. The problem will be related to, the switch, relay or wiring, including earth connections. Time to get out your multimeter.
It sounds like the illumanation fuse happened on mine, the fuse blew and the highs stay so you have lights as a safety, check the fuse.
The clearance illumi fuse? 10A one in the foot well right? I checked that and it's fine. I'll replace it with one of the spares in there and see what happens. I'll test the relays tonight. If not need to hunt down a switch. Afaik it doesn't have any after market HID lights, its a JDM TT the lights look pretty stock to me. Also can someone clarify which lights are for what? Sorry to ask such basic shit, but I haven't actually seen a 300zx with the low beams on before since mine are busted. In the picture above I'm assuming the lamp on the left is the high beam and the projector on the right is the low beam? And those should be alternating depending on low and high beam modes correct? Thanks all for your help so far, given me some good tips and got me on the right track
Update: I replaced the Clearance Illumi fuse, no effect. This is what my lights look like on: So yeah only the highbeams are on but the fog lights come on too. If the lights are off entirely I can turn on the fog lights independently of the other lights. There isn't another similar relay in the engine bay I can swap with to test the dimmer relay unfortunately. I'm starting to suspect the switch though.
Finally got a new switch in the post. And nope, not the problem. Incorrect diagnosis I guess, or this switch is stuffed as well... Anyone got any other ideas? Pictures above show whats going on.
Which switch did you change? The one that turns the lights on, or the one that operates high & low beam? JDM's have the front parking lights in the fog lights, so they will be illuminated when the parkers & low beams are on. Your pic looks like the fog lights are illuminated, perhaps the wires have been connected incorrectly? When you operate the high / low beam switch, a signal is sent to the dimmer relay which provides a connection to ground. Have you checked the operation of this relay? As someone mentioned in an earlier post. Because, if the relay is working correctly & you do not have HID's with the modified wiring, the high beam lights will turn off.
Replaced the high beam/indicator switch. The dimmer relay appears to work in some capacity, as when the lights are off entirely I can flash the high beams and you can hear the relay click. Though the relay seems to have 3 modes and there is no such audible or visible signs when I try to switch to low beam when the lights are on. Relay must be stuck. Kicking myself for not trying the relay first, but from the info I got in this thread I was under the impression it was the switch.
Also the picture above where it looks like the fog lights are on, I can actually turn on the fog lights in addition and they get brighter in that instance.
I'm a bit of an electrical noob, which ground wire and where is it I should be testing? Or just disconnect a low beam bulb and test from there? I test for for resistance on that and the chassis yeh?
FIXED! I replaced my dimmer relay today and my low beams came back to life Wasted some dosh trying the high beam switch first but in the end its working now :thumbup:
