2003 Ford Escape Headlights not working (Electrical?)

2003 Ford Escape, asking for a friend.

The left headlamp went out, so she went up to O’Reilly to get a replacement bulb. They put it in and it worked for three seconds, then went out again. And after they put it in, now the RIGHT headlamp only works on Brights, but not on lowbeams. (It’s one bulb for both lowbeam and brights.)

Is there something electrical to check?

The problem might be with the GEM. (generic electronic module)

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Tester

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Is there anything we could do to test or diagnose before buying a ~150 dollar part? It would cause other things to be not working correctly too, right?

It’s also remotely possible you have a bad multifunction switch but Tester is a mechanic while I’m not so trust his advice. A Ford shop should be able to test the GEM.

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I assume you have a two filament bulb for the headlights. Check the voltage on the connections to the bulbs. If you have three wires going to the bulb one wire is common ground to both filaments.

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