Camry 07 - Low beam turned on when High beam is turned on?

[l10n_k1ng]

Hi,

I just realised recently that when all the lights are turned off and I dip the high beam light, the low beam light also turned on at the same time. I thought, only the high beam light would be turned on and not the low beam (unless I turn the switch for the low beam to be on as well).

Could anyone tell me whether this should be the case, or whether this is a problem and how to fix this?

fyi, my car is camry 07, I switched the low beam to HID with relay, but didn't notice this phenomenon until recently I dip the high beam..

Thanks for the help,

l10n_k1ng

[Hiro]

Hi,

I just realised recently that when all the lights are turned off and I dip the high beam light, the low beam light also turned on at the same time. I thought, only the high beam light would be turned on and not the low beam (unless I turn the switch for the low beam to be on as well).

Could anyone tell me whether this should be the case, or whether this is a problem and how to fix this?

fyi, my car is camry 07, I switched the low beam to HID with relay, but didn't notice this phenomenon until recently I dip the high beam..

Thanks for the help,

l10n_k1ng

Depending on the bulbs used, a lot of cars keep low-beam on when highs are switched. This is usually because they are a dual-filament bulb, with one filament (which is shielded or positioned off-centre to project downwards) providing low beam and both together providing high-beam

[l10n_k1ng]

My car has separate high beam bulb (camry 07).. Since the car is still under warranty, i'm wondering whether it is actually the way it is, or whether there is an issue with the flash switch / the power distributor..?

Thanks for the input.

Cheers,

l10n_k1ng

[Hiro]

My car has separate high beam bulb (camry 07).. Since the car is still under warranty, i'm wondering whether it is actually the way it is, or whether there is an issue with the flash switch / the power distributor..?

Thanks for the input.

Cheers,

l10n_k1ng

I'd be guessing (since you've put HIDs in) that there's a wiring problem/change. Generally headlights are ground-switched (as in they have power all the time but the combination switch closes a connection to ground for whichever needs to light up), so it seems that both highs and lows are getting grounded when the comb. switch is pulled to high.

Out of curiousity, what happens when you turn the lights on to low, and then push the switch to high (as if you were driving at night on a country road)? Do the lows still stay illuminated?

[l10n_k1ng]

Out of curiousity, what happens when you turn the lights on to low, and then push the switch to high (as if you were driving at night on a country road)? Do the lows still stay illuminated?

I see, I will try reversing my headlight to my original config and test it with the normal halogen bulb tonight, would it fix the problem do you think? Actually there is no wiring change, but instead the low beam light-bulb connection is now connected to a relay, then HID.

When the switch is turned to low, it's only the low beam which is on, high beam is off -> this is normal.

When I flash or turn high beam (with switch in low beam), the low beam is also on as normal, high beam is on -> this is normal.

It is only when switch is turned to off, and I flash high beam -> both low and high beam are on -> this is interesting grounded-switch issue. Do you know what would have caused both low beam and high beam ground to close while high beam are turned on?

Edited March 6, 2009 by l10n_k1ng

[Hiro]

When the switch is turned to low, it's only the low beam which is on, high beam is off -> this is normal.

When I flash or turn high beam (with switch in low beam), the low beam is also on as normal, high beam is on -> this is normal.

It is only when switch is turned to off, and I flash high beam -> both low and high beam are on -> this is interesting grounded-switch issue. Do you know what would have caused both low beam and high beam ground to close while high beam are turned on?

Everything is normal then. Pulling the combination switch to momentarily activate high beams is the same as pushing it forwards to turn the highs on permanently.

Standard headlight wiring will only have 3 connections - 12V, high beam ground, low-beam ground (if the parkers are separate). The internal wiring of the headlights should determine whether or not the lows stay on when the highs are switched.

Essentially, what you see when you pull the switch towards you is the same as if you've turned lows on and then pushed the switch away from you - it's just set up that way so you can flash highbeams easily without having to pull the switch back, and so you don't have to have lows on first.

[l10n_k1ng]

Standard headlight wiring will only have 3 connections - 12V, high beam ground, low-beam ground (if the parkers are separate). The internal wiring of the headlights should determine whether or not the lows stay on when the highs are switched.

Thanks for the feedback :) so basically, it's the internal wiring that determines whether or not the lows stay on when the highs are switched.. even though I always thougt that the low should not be on if only the high is on - since camry 07 has a separate high-beam bulb.. but anyway, thanks very much for your input! :) may be the lows are indeed supposed to be on..

[Whip Cracker]

I'd be more inclined to not just call it the "high beam bulb" but more "the bulb that turns on when you turn Highbeam on" hahaha

It seems as though the highbeam settings allow 2 x bulbs to turn on rather than just 1... if you understand where I'm coming from of course :)