Hi All,

Started the car yesterday evening to run an errand and noticed both low beams are out. Had to use missus' car. Came back and did the normal checks:
1. Both 15amp fuses for the left and right low beams are ok as tested with multimeter.
2. Battery is at 12.5V with engine off and 14.4 with engine on.
3. I can hear the low beam relay clicking as it is being turned on/off.
4. The high beams part are OK as well as the individual high beams.
5. The fillaments don't look damaged and there are no charring on the inside surface.

I've bought another set just in case and will take the bulbs out to check. Also, I don't know if this is related but on Friday evening on the way home, I noticed that both the battery and engine lights flashed momentarily.

By the way, Repco here is having a sale of Narva blue power bulbs at $44.90 for a set of H4 with parkers. In fact their whole range is for sale.

Probably the relay burnt out. See if there is an identical relay you can swap in and see if the problem travels with the relay.

Probably the relay burnt out. See if there is an identical relay you can swap in and see if the problem travels with the relay.

Cheers for that. I did notice the clicking is louder when switching on the parkers compared with the low beams. How do you remove the relays? I tried a gentle tug but it won't budge.

Also, which pins are the switching ones and which ones are the low beam ones when looked from the front of the car?

Cheers,
Vlad

Cheers for that. I did notice the clicking is louder when switching on the parkers compared with the low beams. How do you remove the relays? I tried a gentle tug but it won't budge.

Also, which pins are the switching ones and which ones are the low beam ones when looked from the front of the car?

Cheers,
Vlad

They need a solid pull. But have a look at the sides for locking tabs that need pushing in.
Little diagram on the case (IIRC) that tells you which pins do what.

Thanks MadMax and Mike for the PM.

Decided to take it to Agostinos on Main North Rd on way home for a quick check. It turns out that both bulbs were dead. $20 later, they checked the electricals and installed the new bulbs. No issues were found with the relays and alternator. Will have to keep an eye out for future issues. On a side note, since the flickering of the battery and engine lights, the drivers door lock knob was hard to toggle to the lock position 2 out of 5 times. I asked them to check that as well and they said they could not find anything wrong with it and sure enough, it now locks and unlocks with ease. Are these two related in anyway? Like does the door lock and low beam share a common loom/electrical connection or is the fact that they removed the fuse box to fit the passenger side bulbs may have inadvertently fixed a loose connection?


BTW, they do remove the battery and fuse box to replace the passenger lights as well.

Thanks MadMax and Mike for the PM.

Decided to take it to Agostinos on Main North Rd on way home for a quick check. It turns out that both bulbs were dead. $20 later, they checked the electricals and installed the new bulbs. No issues were found with the relays and alternator. Will have to keep an eye out for future issues. On a side note, since the flickering of the battery and engine lights, the drivers door lock knob was hard to toggle to the lock position 2 out of 5 times. I asked them to check that as well and they said they could not find anything wrong with it and sure enough, it now locks and unlocks with ease. Are these two related in anyway? Like does the door lock and low beam share a common loom/electrical connection or is the fact that they removed the fuse box to fit the passenger side bulbs may have inadvertently fixed a loose connection?


BTW, they do remove the battery and fuse box to replace the passenger lights as well.


I give your regulator 6 months. Fluctuations will cause interesting behaviour from the BEM, which controls locks. The BEM also has control over the headlights with the delay feature. This is activated with the high beam switch so yes. It is all linked at the BEM

I give your regulator 6 months.

The whole alternator/regulator was replaced under warranty in middle of 2009 just before 4 years of use. Is it common for them to let go within 4 years?

The whole alternator/regulator was replaced under warranty in middle of 2009 just before 4 years of use. Is it common for them to let go within 4 years?

It is common after 2002 models to give lots of intermediate issues that are not normally detectable.

Well, last night on the way home, with the headlights on and 20 minutes into the trip, the display of my 7" unit went out but the radio was still playing. Switched it off but the power button remained lit. Switched it on again and 2 minutes later, the screen went out again. I switched it off again (power button remained lit), got home and turned the car off and removed the key (power button still remained lit). I then started the car again and turned the unit on and then turned everything off before the screen shut off. This time the unit turned off properly.

This morning, I drove to an auto electrician and the unit did not misbehave (although without the headlights). Had the car idling at the auto electrical shop for 30 minutes with headlights on, the entertainment unit on, harzard flashers on and monitored with multimeter. Voltage remained between 13.7 (when the fan kicked in) and 13.9 for the whole time and the display did not go out.

I am going to hookup a mutimeter to monitor it further as I drive.

OK, definitely alternator issue. Hooked up a multimeter to my car and monitored it on the way home:

1. Initial measurement was at 14.2V after starting the car and with the low beams on and my ICE on.
2. This reading gradually reduced down to 13.8.
3. 18 minutes into trip, reading was down to 13.7, battery and engine warning lights flickered and the display of the ICE promptly went out.
4. I then turned the ICE off (power button remained lit).
5. Further along, the battery, engine and some other (orange coloured) warning lights flickered, the low beams flared and the display of the ICE lit up, all for a brief, say 50 or so ms. At this time, the multimeter timed out. DOH and I did not see what the reading was.

My guess is the display of the ICE went out due to undercharge and the headlights flared and the display lit momentarily due to overcharge.

13.7v is not low enough to cause problems. It must be spiking quick enough not to show up on the multimeter, but enough to cause problems. Could be a bad connection to the alternator.

Had the alternator reconditioned. Worn brush.