Auto Headlights Stopped Working

[BKAvalon]

97 Avalon, 110k miles. Out of the blue, the headlights quit turning themselves off after you get out of the car. You can manually turn them on and off, however.

We have one other electrical symptom, but we had this before the headlight issue, so it may not be related. Turn the key sometimes and get nothing. The 6 month old battery was determined to be faulty and got it replaced at no cost. The problem persisted and became regular until our very experienced independent Toyota mechanic diagnosed a starter problem and replaced it. No problem for several months. It has happened again, maybe 2 or 4 times over the last 4 months.

Anybody else have this? Any solutions? Thanks.

[eldiaoble]

Something very similar but not exactly the same.

I dont have the automatic headlights, but the manual ones.

Just recently I cant turn off my headlights anymore. When I tried it just stayed on even though the intstrument panel is turned off.

I dont know what to do

[chuckoff]

BKavalon: The headlights not turning off automatiacilly is probably the computer. Not cheap to fix so, you can just do it the old fasioned way and turn em off by hand. The mechanic that replaced your starter really only needed to replace the contacts in the starter solenoid, a common issue. The reason it is happening again could be a cheap remanufactured replacement was used, or there may be a bad connection causing a loss of voltage.
eldiaoble: sounds like you need a new headlight switch.
Happy motoring.

[GOT BOOST]

Originally Posted by BKAvalon

97 Avalon, 110k miles. Out of the blue, the headlights quit turning themselves off after you get out of the car. You can manually turn them on and off, however.

We have one other electrical symptom, but we had this before the headlight issue, so it may not be related. Turn the key sometimes and get nothing. The 6 month old battery was determined to be faulty and got it replaced at no cost. The problem persisted and became regular until our very experienced independent Toyota mechanic diagnosed a starter problem and replaced it. No problem for several months. It has happened again, maybe 2 or 4 times over the last 4 months.

Anybody else have this? Any solutions? Thanks.

I can not remember the name of it right now so I will call it the "thing" LOL. I think it is called the door switch.

Attached to your car is a little black thing. It will let you know when the doors are open or not. With the auto headlights, if this thing gets stuck or frozen, it will not send the signal that your doors are open and keep the auto headlights on. You can verify this by wiggling the thing to make the interior lights, and also the door lights come on. Also when you open the door, are your window switches still illuminated? By wiggling the thing, you can then activate the system telling the car the door is open and it will shut off the headlights.

My car does this when it is usually -25 and colder.

Hope this helps.

[BKAvalon]

Originally Posted by GOT BOOST

I can not remember the name of it right now so I will call it the "thing" LOL. I think it is called the door switch.

Attached to your car is a little black thing. It will let you know when the doors are open or not. With the auto headlights, if this thing gets stuck or frozen, it will not send the signal that your doors are open and keep the auto headlights on. You can verify this by wiggling the thing to make the interior lights, and also the door lights come on. Also when you open the door, are your window switches still illuminated? By wiggling the thing, you can then activate the system telling the car the door is open and it will shut off the headlights.

My car does this when it is usually -25 and colder.

Hope this helps.

You got it! Thanks. On the door pillar is a rubber piece covering a plunger. When I wiggle the plunger, the interior dome light, the lights on the door, the instrument panel "door open" indicator, and the headlights shutting off automatically all work.

I have not done anything with it yet - do I just unbolt it (one bolt under the rubber), disconnect it and put in the replacement?

Would insert a picture if I knew how....

[BKAvalon]

[BKAvalon]

This link shows the part - the door jamb switch (under chassis electrical in Toyota parts catalogs).

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/rafr...1375174k938827

Thanks again for the help.