High beams won't come on

Try locating the headlight relay and note the part number. Now see if another relay has that same part number. Swap relay positions and see if that makes the high beams operate. If it does then the relay is probably defective and needs to be replaced.

Also, it could be that the multifunction switch has gone belly-up.
CSA

Have no idea what the third brake light has to do with the headlight question. This is a vehicle with a rebuilt title so using anything but original equipment replacements is just asking for more problems.

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What?? This doesn’t make sense. If the 3rd brake light dies replace it with an LED and don’t worry about it since high beams are only used once in a while? :thinking:

I’m afraid that @cr810j is interested in fixing the high beam headlights. :wink:

A light bulb is a pretty simple device. It has two inputs, and if 12 volts and ground are connected to them, it will light up if it is good. So that’s what you have to measure, does it have 12 volts and ground to the two inputs when the headlights are turned on. Some headlight bulbs have three inputs, 1 for the low beam filament, 1 for the high beam, and one for ground. But once you figure out which is which, the test is the same.

@VOLVO_V70 How do you know this? :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

@cr810j What the…
Are you withholding important information? Was this a rebuilt vehicle? :grimacing:
CSA

From a topic about 12 days ago:

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If its a reconstructed car, buy a multi meter from Harbor Freight for $10. I’ve got a feeling it might get some use in the future. Accuracy is really not that important at this stage, you just need a yes/no answer. But yeah, start at the bulb with a meter to check if its good. Use the meter to check if you have voltage at the socket for the bulb. Check/substitute the relay. Then its on to the circuit breaker and then maybe the switch.

You can’t inspect the light bulb by looking at it. My car brake light bulb went out and it looks good, it can be the same case for his high beam.

Many cars have separate fuses for the high beams. Check the fuse box.

They have circuit breakers for the headlights that reset again if they blow. Its possible to have a bad one but usually lights will flash on and off as the breaker resets and not be off all the time.

Often one can inspect the bulb by looking at it, but I agree that sometimes it’s not conclusive. I have had bulbs with filaments that partially detach and become intermittent.

However, my comment was based on your Post Script admonition that is not good advice for somebody asking how to fix their high beam headlights.

Your advice on the request for help on how to fix high beam headlights… don’t worry about it? Am I reading your remarks correctly? That’s what I’m questioning.
CSA

So, @cr810j, I heard it through the grape vine that this vehicle has a rebuilt title. Is this correct?

Depending on the location of damage on the vehicle, the extent of the damage, the quality of repairs and the expertise of the “repair technicians,” all bets could be off.

Rather than thinking of this vehicle as a 2014 Civic LX, one might have to think of it as a “homemade” car, like one somebody would fabricate in their garage, a one-off experimental vehicle.

Perhaps you are not aware, but there’s a reason why rebuilt cars are given “rebuilt titles” and the car’s value is drastically reduced. It could be that you just discovered one. :wink:

Standard advice pertaining to a 2014 Civic LX, or even to any factory built car, could be null and void.
CSA

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My 2010 Honda (Insight) has a separate 10A fuse for each high beam bulb.

i “think” you pull the stalk back to flash the hi beams but push it forward to make the hi beams stay on? my 15 civic is that way. you twist the control on the stalk to turn on the headlights. pull the stalk and/or push the stalk next. you are saying doing either results in no hi beam function? my car has DRL so the lights are always on. you start car, lights are on. is your DRL function working?

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Excuse my ambiguous words, I mean sometimes people go for OEM parts, which are usually expensive than aftermarket products but less performance. In this case, I want to advice him that he doesn’t have to buy the expensive ones as long as the new ones fit but forgot to ask how often he used the high beam.

Ended up being a loose/broken connector. Going to have to replace that. Thanks guys!

Congratulations on a job well done.
In my state, a car without working high beams will not pass annual inspections. They’re there for a reason, and can save you from things like a deer or moose strike on backwoods roads. I’m glad you didn’t take the advice to ignore it.

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not this OP’s issue, but I have had a number of people come to me with this complaint, and the issue was simply to turn the headlights on.

They were driving with the daytime running lights on, and saw the ‘head;lights’ were on, then the selector for the brights wouldn’t do anything- because the headlights weren’t actually selected to be on. I see this quite often on the highway at night. Folks driving with no tail lights or dash lights, but ‘headlights’ on. Shows ya how often they check their dash for speed or gauge issues…

This usually happened with folks that were driving a new to them car, as what they are used to driving had automatic headlights.
The looks on their faces when I explained the difference between DRL and Auto headlights was worth the hassle. :wink:

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I don’t dispute some folks don’t pay much attention but the little icons telling you the lights are on or off in cars today leave a lot to be desired. With electronic dash its even worse since the dash lights appear on all the time. I remember I had a rental Impala in the hills of California and it got very foggy. I had to pull off and physically check the tail lights to see if they were on or not. No way to tell from the light switch or the dash indicators. Those little light bulb icons just don’t do it and try to figure out which is the fog lights and which is the head lights. I don’t see why they can’t have tail light indicators too or something a little more illustrative or heaven forbid “WORDS” like lights on.

Same in MO.