when i turn on my headlights, the only lights that work are the high beams... when i flick back on the switch to turn on the low beams, they do not come on .... though my DRL's (daytime running lights) do still work ... anyone know what could be the problem , could it be the relay 173 ? detailed info would be appreciated .... thank you !!!!!
low beams do not work , DRL's do , high beams do work also
- Thread starter timbob3k
- Start date
tditom
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2001
- Location
- Jackson, MI
- TDI
- formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
fuse OK? lightbulbs good? I don't know anything about that relay.
compu_85
Gadget Guy
The low and high beam headlights aren't on a realy... their power comes right from the headlight switch.
I'm gunna agree with Tom... check your fuses. Your light switch could also have gone bad?
-Jason
I'm gunna agree with Tom... check your fuses. Your light switch could also have gone bad?
-Jason
Dave_D
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2003
- Location
- Gaithersburg, MD, USA
- TDI
- 2015 Passat Titanium Beige six speed manual & Jetta, 1999.5, Tornado Red
Sounds like what happened when my headlight switch died. I replaced it with a euro-switch.
okay , the relay 173 is fine, the fuses are good , its not the headlights themselves .... i also tried using a different headlight switch from my sister's beetle, and its not that either .... what should i do ... ? !! i messed around with this light thing all day today and got nowhere !!!
Dave_D
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2003
- Location
- Gaithersburg, MD, USA
- TDI
- 2015 Passat Titanium Beige six speed manual & Jetta, 1999.5, Tornado Red
If you have eliminated the relay, fuses, headlights and switch that would appear to leave only the wiring itself as the problem. Perhaps you have a bad ground or a broken wire somewhere.
compu_85
Gadget Guy
But then the DRLs wouldn't work... I wonder at what point the wireing for that joins up with the wireing for the low beams?
-Jason
-Jason
Diesel4me
Veteran Member
Are you driving with your hand brake on?
haha... no im not driving with the handbrake on .... yea its weird, the DRL's do work , but when i turn on the headlights , the only ones that work are the high beams .... and i know it is not the headlights themselves b/c i bought new ones the other day and tested .... may it be something with the hand lever that adjusts hi/low beam ? thanks fellas for replying .... and please continue to help me out !
weedeater
Top Post Dawg
The DRL relay is up under the dash with the rest of them. I would have to look at the wireing diagram again to see what else is involved in this.
compu_85
Gadget Guy
You checked the fuses? Removed them both and checked them with a multimeter?
-Jason
-Jason
compu_85
Gadget Guy
I would find out what pins on the back of the light switch send power to the low beams and see if there is power there.
-JHason
-JHason
Flametamer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2003
- Location
- Canada (Toronto)
- TDI
- Two 2004 TDI PD one w/Sirius. 2001 VT1100 Shadow. 2007 R1200S.
I agree with compu 85 check for power. Also it is not uncommon for both low beams to fail at the same time, check the filaments carefully do not touch the glass. Y ou may have 2 blown bulbs
weedeater
Top Post Dawg
If the DRLs work the bulbs are ok.
BTW: what year/model?
BTW: what year/model?
Flametamer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2003
- Location
- Canada (Toronto)
- TDI
- Two 2004 TDI PD one w/Sirius. 2001 VT1100 Shadow. 2007 R1200S.
from Weedeater "if the DRLs work the bulbs are ok". Low beam and high beam are two systems. Which system are the DRLs on low or high beam? Thanks.
BlueGolf
Active member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2002
- Location
- Ottawa, Canada
I just had the exact same thing happen 3 days ago. Fuses fine. Bulbs look fine 
Nothern_Sky
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2004
- Location
- Monterrey, NL, MEXICO
- TDI
- Jetta A3 97, Jetta A4 2001, Jetta A5 2006, Jetta A4 2010
This happen to me 2 daus ago, My ONLY suspicion is the Wiper Stalk inside wiring, is the only thing that goes in the cables besides, fuses, switch, relays and fillaments.
I had already this problem and the dealer early this year, corrected but made me sign a uncompromise work, cause they fixed it as non-OEM, but now it came back again
I had already this problem and the dealer early this year, corrected but made me sign a uncompromise work, cause they fixed it as non-OEM, but now it came back again
weedeater
Top Post Dawg
DRLs are low-beam.
Thromster
New member
I agree with the bulbs going bad you may have had some type of a power sureg when running with low beem on, however the dimer switch sounds like the culpret. don,t think it is on a relay.
TDI_G
Veteran Member
I hate it when solutions aren't posted and threads are left hanging like this one.
mxracer291
Vendor
I currently have this problem, was this ever solved??
TDI_G
Veteran Member
My problem was two bad headlight switches. I went through everything and couldn't get them to work. I had two switches and as a last ditch effort I pulled the switch out of my Golf to test it in the Beetle and voila, headlights...
TDI_G
Veteran Member
When I say I went through everything, I installed a new headlight harness in the passenger side headlight (all the wiring was shot), swapped dimmer switched, pulled the steering wheel and installed a new turn signal/high beam switch, replaced the wiper switch while it was apart, new headlight bulbs, etc. It wasn't until going through all of that before I decided to try the known good switch out of my Golf and discovered I had two bad switches.
mjydrafter
Veteran Member
I went through something similar last weekend.
I had lows and DRL's, but no high beams. I used this thread
on a flakey turn signal switch to find that the contacts in the switch to the high/low lever were being difficult.
Cleaned everything up, and got them working again.
Actually I had to do it twice as I was not thorough enough the first time, and when I put it back together I had DRL's and high beams, but no lows... Second time was much faster...
Also I tweaked the switch contacts a very little bit to give them more spring pressure.
The worst part of the job is removing the airbag (not hard, especially once you figure out how to do it, just fiddly), other than that it's pretty straight forward. Removing the lower steering column cover is kind of a pain as well.
I had lows and DRL's, but no high beams. I used this thread
on a flakey turn signal switch to find that the contacts in the switch to the high/low lever were being difficult.
Cleaned everything up, and got them working again.
Actually I had to do it twice as I was not thorough enough the first time, and when I put it back together I had DRL's and high beams, but no lows... Second time was much faster...
Also I tweaked the switch contacts a very little bit to give them more spring pressure.
The worst part of the job is removing the airbag (not hard, especially once you figure out how to do it, just fiddly), other than that it's pretty straight forward. Removing the lower steering column cover is kind of a pain as well.
mmoors
Well-known member
Had the same issue as mjydrafter, high beams would go out all of a sudden. Low beams and DRL were fine. Turns out it was the dimmer switch on the steering column, replaced it and all is good and its been 2 years. I have a 05 Jetta TDI.