Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but basically this is the exact skinny of what I’m trying to figure out.
A while ago a trailer hitch backed in to my car, and when it pulled out the left side bright lights no longer worked, even though the wiring seems to be unbroken. No, I just want this car to pass inspection so that I can drive it legally again, and this is the solution I’m about to implement unless someone says that it won’t work or it is a bad idea to do for the car.
I was wondering if I could just daisychain the right high beam into the left one, I. E., I want to cut the wires that connect sometime before the adapter that plugs into the right side highbeam lights, and just splice a wire around that goes towards the left side, cut that connector off and attach it to my new daisychained wires. I get that it might get a little hot if I use it excessively, but will it work for the short term, just to get it legalized and ready to be roadworthy again?
Once again, I’m sorry if this is a weird or stupid question at all, but any advice of as if this would work or not is very much appreciated because I am technically going to have to cut my existing wiring harness and who knows what I might do on accident or something.
Edit/. 2013 Toyota Prius
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Have you checked the fuses??
Have you checked for power and ground to the plug??
And maybe give us the year make and model and engine size might help us also…
It’s a 2013 Prius, it actually doesn’t have fuses for the high beams so I assume they just run right off the relay or something.
I don’t have a multimeter, sorry, that’s kinda why I want to just Hail Mary the thing.
Edit
1.8 liter engine, sorry about that.
Do you have full coverage insurance ( with collision ) ? If so I would use it . A Prius is a electronic device that one wrong move could be costly.
Did you replace the bulb?
There are 3 high beam headlamp fuses in the engine compartment fuse box.
Look for fuses labeled H-LP LH HI, and H-LP RH HI.
Hover over the fuses towards the center on both rows, as said 3 high beam fuses… 25/37/38
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First, have you checked that the point where you’ll connect the wire to the left headlight doesn’t already have 12 volts applied? If it does (so that the issue is somewhere past that point), your wiring change will do nothing.
Second, you need to clarify what you mean by “daisychained”. For this to work, you’d need a parallel connection, not a series connection.
Third, you’ll double the current on the wiring that supplies the right headlight. You’ll need to be sure that wire gauge allows that amount of current.
I don’t think this is a great idea. I vote for a proper diagnosis and a proper fix.
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Connecting them in parallel may result in over loading the circuit and blowing the fuse. Why do an incorrect repair on a good quality 10 year old vehicle?
Such a things seems easy to fix. Did the light bulb break and short out? Were the high beams turned on? That would blow the fuse for that side.
Check for proper ground. Check for continuity to the relay and / or fuse. Measure the resistance to ground on the bulb circuit for both sides to verify that the measured values are close to each other.
A basic multimeter can be had for ~$20.
You really need that or at least some kind of test light, and the knowledge of how to use such tools.
“Hail Mary” is a waste of your time and ours, IMHO.
Maybe you know someone with a multimeter and they could come over with the meter and help you. Another possibility is that your local public library might have tools for loan. One of the branches in my county has a variety of tools available. All you need is a library card to check them out.
Most Autoparts stores have a free loan-a-tool program. you put the cost of the tool on your credit card, when you return it, they credit the money back on your card.
As I understand it, you want to run a new wire from thepoint supplying power to the working headlight to the point that should be supplying power to the non-working headlight. But only powered up for a few seconds, enough to pass a required car-safety test.
hmmm … I think it would work, presuming the problem is that power somehow isn’t making it to the non-working headlight as a result of the accident. You are right that the wire supplying power to the working headlight will now be drawing twice as much current, so will get hot, might melt or cause a car fire if the circuit is on long enough. How long is long enough? Don’t know, so you’d definitely be incurring some risk of the car catching on fire.
I’d advise against this idea. Headlight problems caused by minor accidents happen frequently, and repair shops know how to effect the needed repairs and keep the car’s electrical system safe. This repair shouldn’t be overly expensive.
Good ideas above btw to try replacing bulbs and fuses first. You may get lucky. Worse case, you’ll have extra bulbs and fuses. Be sure when replacing a fuse to replace it with the exact same current rating.
I presume you haven’t had basic electrical circuit training. I’d advise getting that first, before buying a meter and starting with the probing. I expect there’s online tutorials and utube vdos available for free. It’s not that complicated, but learning to swim isn’t that complicated either. You certainly wouldn’t jump in the deep end of the pool until after you learned at least how to doggie paddle.