Running lights/low beams both out

[neushan 0]

So my 'check engine' light came on and I took my 2011 fortwo to the dealership. Turns out is was a throttle cable and under warranty. I do a happy dance because in Calgary, the dealerships charge $220/hr labour. I drive directly from the dealership to meet my hubby for a movie and when I leave, that's when I notice that my lowbeams aren't working. High beams, signals, tail lights all good.

I call the dealership and they check with the techs and say that the work they did was nowhere near the lights or wiring for the lights. Did some googling of this issue and the chances that both fuses blew at the same time seems remote. I replaced the bulbs just a few months ago, so I'm not thinking that's the issue.

Any suggestions before I bend over and open my wallet to the dealership?

[Leadwing 565]

You "could" buy a spare bulb and test each side, one at a time with the new one. If it lights, then you solution is easy, just get another bulb. If it doesn't solve the problem, then you issue goes a little deeper than my thoughts. If you can't return the bulb, at least you will have a spare.

Good Luck

[MikeT 744]

$220/hour? Do they have lawyers doing the work?

[jwight 117]

You can use the high beam bulbs to do the test - they are H7s also; I'd look for common fuses anyway - it would be a real coincidence if all those bulbs picked the same time to fail.

[brd 35]

Well maybe its just me and/ or the poor condition of roads in the GTA but I go through 1-4 headlamps a year [high beams & low beams]. Last year I had to also replace a couple of the rear light bulbs.

There has been a couple of times through the years when I ended up with both low beams out. The first time I took it to the stealership thinking it was an electrical problem as both lights were out, so I thought the work would be covered under warranty. No such luck. I paid ~$200 for two bulbs to be replaced AND one of the H7 bulbs was not mounted properly so I had a real hard time replacing it a year or two later. That's amazing when you are paying a MB mechanic $125 an hour not to mount replacement bulbs properly.

Since then I have kept a stock of cheap H7 bulbs readily available. They are about $1-2 apiece delivered from Chinese vendors through eBay.com versus $15+HST for a generic H7 bulb at CanTire.

For the high beams I now use H7 led's which shouldn't be a susceptible to physical damage [resulting from hitting pot holes and other bits of rough road]. They cost $2-3 each delivered from Chinese vendors through eBay.com. Unfortunately though described as high / low beam led bulbs, they don't work as low beams; that is they are very dim as compared to a regular H7 bulb. I guess that they don't get enough amperage or something.

Edited August 16, 2015 by brd