I have a 2006 Prius whose driver side low beam has gone out (low beam on passenger side & high beam on both sides work). I've been read the forums looking at how to replace the bulb and what type of bulb I needed and once i called the dealership to start getting prices got confused so hopefully someone can lend a hand. 1) Does this issue sound like possibly just the fuse (i've kind of ruled out the relay as its only one side) and should be checking that first or can these single bulbs light up under the different use cases (Low vs high beam)? 2) From my research I *thought* i needed HID bulbs as post #3 06 pruis headlight failure. How to fix? | PriusChat says if you have fog lights then you have HID bulbs (i do have fog lights). When the dealership looked up my car he informed me that i just needed the halogen bulb as their system was not letting him select the HID bulbs. Could this be true? 3) When i asked him if there was a way to double check which bulb it was he told me to look for the ballast and that its just in the engine bay. From the repair manuals i have it appears that the ballast (also known as the headlamp light control computer??) is encased in the head light assembly and wont be visible on its own. Is there a good way of telling which bulbs are needed before i go removing the current bulb? Thanks in advance.
Enter your VIN at Toyota's website here: Vehicle Specification - Vehicle Information Lookup. This will show you which package you have. Then look here: to see what options that package contains: (Thanks to @Tideland Prius) 2G Prius (2004-2009) Standard and Optional Equipment (Some Countries) (scroll down to Canada section if the car was delivered to a Canadian dealer). If you bought the Prius used, some owners replaced the HID headlights with halogen, due to the cost of bulbs.
If you can get to the back of the headlight, the HIDs have a large plastic cap over the back of the bulb, Halogen has the wires and the back of the lamp socket. pic of Halogen:
Thanks, the lookup doesnt really help as it only give me the fact its a 2006 Prius which was apparently first used "January 01, 0001"... i guess because it was a Canadian car (also cant get dealer service records this way...). Looking at the Standard and optional Equipment for a 2006 in Canada i dont see HID listed as a option on any of the packages (Mines a "package C" from the listed options i have), although it doesn't seem to be listed for any model year in Canada. I think i might have to go digging in the car but its looking more like its just the halogen.
Don't you have a manual? At the last pages one can see the bulbs, fuses, tire pressure, fluid volumes... With your VIN you can do a search here: TOYOTA PRIUSNHW20L-AHEEBW - ELECTRICAL - HEADLAMP | Japan Parts EU In "Electrical" "Headlamp" you can find the original part number and a symbolic pic of the bulb. And google should find more, searching after the part number.
Try this: Look at the bottom of the page for the Owner's site (where you can get service records, at least for the US). Thanks @MickyMatter , that is a VERY helpful site!
This page has a drawing of both headlamps: TOYOTA PRIUS NHW20L-AHEEBA / ELECTRICAL / HEADLAMP (Again, thanks to @MickyMatter )
As you said, according to this post: Installed OEM HID's on Canadian Non-HID Prius HIDs were not offered in Canada (In the US fog lights are always installed with HID.) So, sorry for all the extra information, the simple answer was: No HID in Canada, only Halogen headlamps. In the US that looks like Toyota part number: 90084-98033 Or a standard 9003 bulb. YMMV.
Ah perfect missed that thread while looking I must have been too specific in my search as originally didnt even think that HID wouldn't have been a option in Canada. I'll go buy the regular halogen (i'm honestly surprised they've lasted the 12 years) and if its wrong i'll figure it out once i'm in there. Thanks again Thanks for the link. I also just double check the manual (had last night but you miss things at night), and at least in mine it makes no mention of bulbs of any sort.
Canadian spec cars never got HIDs as an option. If you have nav, it's a package C. Could be as simple as a bulb replacement. The headlights are a dual filament bulb so if the low is out but the high works, it's probably just the low beam filament that broke. Did you try a simple headlight bulb replacement?
It's not in chapter 9 "Specifications" but in chapter 8.3 "Do it yourself maintenance" There should be a list of all the lamps at page 305 ±x But I see, it shows both types of headlights and won't help you much this time.
By the way if you did have HID headlights the ballast is in the bottom of the headlight assembly. The headlight assembly has to be removed to replace it. Being in the bottom of the headlight assembly it doesn't like water and shorts out.
Yup just did a simple headlight replacement and everything is fine now. Was just double checking first before ordering a new HID bulb online as locally it would have been over $100/bulb vs the $70 online. Thankfully in my case they were just halogen and got replace for <$30 for two and 20 minutes of work. Thanks all.
