janisp

I have a 04 3I, when I turned the headlights on , I noticed something like a quick flash but the lights were working. Got on down the road about 2 miles and both dim lights quit working, the high beams and parking lights still work. Replaced the dimmer switch but it didn't make any difference. Anyone got any suggestions on what the problem is?

djs2571

dim lights? do you mean the low beams, fog lights, or interior instrument lights?
Do you have the HID lamps or normal halogens (think the 3I came with halogen only).

80boboli

i have a 2008 3I with halogen lights and they are dim as crap....i was comming home last night and i turned them off while i was driving and i didnt evene notice a difference. they both have brand new bulbs and the highs work great....what do i do?

djs2571

First off, if you're in the city, you won't see the headlight pattern anyway, since street lights add enough light to the road.

Second, make sure that the lights are actually on, i've got my suspicions about the headlight relay being the proper size for the job. If that relay is failing, it's a completely different issue.

Third, at night, find a dark wall with a level lot / driveway in front of it. pull right up to the wall and see how high the lamps are. Then pull back 30 feet or so and make sure that the top of the beam pattern is same as the original. the low beams are supposed to drop with the high beams being straight, though if the lows are straight it gets you more light and still doesn't blind other drivers.

Fourth - add fog lamps, you can get single projector lens lamps that you could even pair up on either side of the car if you really need that much light. Just make sure you can adjust them properly, since you'll get pulled over if they are obviously blinding oncoming drivers.

80boboli

I was not int he city when i turned the headlights on and off i know that due to the ambient lighting from the streetlights there is not a lot of area for the headlights to reflect off of.

Yes the headights were on. I have never even know about the headlight relay??? where is that located and how diffucult would it be to replace? Is it in the fuse box next to the battery?

djs2571

The headlight relay is built onto the PJB (passenger junction box), which is possible but quite difficult to replace.
If all else fails, you could add a switch to power the headlight fuses (F60=right, F61=left) manually, and see if it is just that your headlight relay was failed.
I recently talked someone else through bypassing their TNS relay (https://www.mazda3club.com/mazda3-mazdaspeed3-98/pjb-tns-issues-external-fix-possible-56013/), and I could talk you through a similar fix if needeed... but step # 1 is verifying that it's just the relay and not some other issue on the electrical side.