Nissan Qashqai: Removing headlight relays

Alun

I just noticed the passenger side dipped headlight on my '09 Qashqai wasn't working, so assumed bulb was gone and replaced it, but no dice. Checking further, the old bulb was actually perfectly OK, and so was the relevant fuse.

If I measure the voltage across the bulb holder contacts when the lights are on it indicates 0.25V, so I thought it may be burnt out relay contacts, so went looking for the relays, but assuming they're where I think they are, i.e. in the main engine compartment fuse box ... small black plastic cubes, 4 in all, I can't for the life of me get any of them out. I've tried pulling them out with pliers but can't budge them, is there some special tool required, to release some catches deep down in the housing or something?

So any ideas, or is there maybe another fuse or something else I should look at?

Row

Have you checked for a good 12volts on fuse 45 and fuse 46 (15amp) in the engine bay fusebox.
Are you sure these relays can be removed..some of the newer relays are soldered in positon...:rolleyes:

Alun

The fuses I looked at are named F5 (lo beam rh) and F6 (lo beam rh) are those the ones? I checked and I'm getting 12V both between the two fuse terminals and between live and chassis, but only 0.25V at the bulb terminal itself (again between the two terminals and between live and chassis).

Here's a photo showing what I think might be the relays, although I've just discovered 2 relays (blue this time) in the passenger compartment fuse box as well.



But the fact that I'm getting 12V at the fuse suggests there's something wrong between fuse box and the light itself, assuming the fuses are on the light side and not the relay side. I tried to get the connector at the back of the light cluster off but that's not budging either, or else I need much smaller hands

Row

Going by this diagram the fuses are on the lamp side of the relay...so my guess its the wiring from the fuse box to the lamp or as you said the fusebox itself thats at fault.

Alun

Thanks for that. I see there's only one relay for both sides of both low and high beams, so it can't be a relay fault. I can only assume it's a wiring fault between the fusebox and the lamp fitting, although that's an odd thing to be happening on such a new car.

I'm wondering now whether to take it to my Nissan dealer or an auto electrician .....

Row

You could meter out the wiring between the fusebox plug connector and lamp itself...it is unusual that the wiring would be the problem but to confirm its best check it out.
Most auto electricions will charge around €50-70 per hour...I'd say nissan will just swap out the fusebox to confirm its the problem.
Best of luck with it....at least you've checked the obvious stuff like fuses etc..;)

Alun

Thanks, yes, I've managed to find a copy of the technical manual online and have located the correct connector and terminal in the fuse box where the power supposedly leaves the fusebox, so I'll have a look at that tomorrow. The 'fuse box' though appears to not be just a fuse box but an Intelligent Power Distribution Module, which sounds expensive

Row

Niceone...if the wiring is o.k then it has to be the fusebox..not sure on price but the same unit in peugoet/citroen works out around €250-300..:(

Alun

Well, I assume the relay itself must be working as the other low beam headlight works fine, so all it can be, assuming the wiring is intact and I find it hard to believe that's at fault, is something silly like a dry solder contact on the back of the circuit board somewhere. I'll have a bash at fixing that myself first I think

gctest50

Do they have a "dim-dip" device somewhere along loom ?

Might be a separate resistance for each

Or something to slightly reduce the brightness of one headlight ( can't remember which side sometimes has this ) - may look vaguely like attached pic

Alun

gctest50 wrote: »

Do they have a "dim-dip" device somewhere along loom ?

Might be a separate resistance for each

Or something to slightly reduce the brightness of one headlight ( can't remember which side sometimes has this ) - may look vaguely like attached pic

Nothing like that that I can see, either in the wiring loom or on the circuit diagram.

Row

Alun wrote: »

is something silly like a dry solder contact on the back of the circuit board somewhere. I'll have a bash at fixing that myself first I think

If you can take it apart easily then its worth a try...see if you can see anything from the base (on the board) of the connector pins back to the base of fuse 45/46...let us know how you get on...;)

Alun

It's raining out today, so I don't know if I'll get a chance, but I'll certainly report back. My fear is that these things aren't usually designed to be taken apart, so we'll have to see, but if not then I'd be fairly confident of being able to get hold of a second-hand one from a breakers if indeed the problem lies with the fuse box / IPDS.

Alun

Well, that was a mystery ... measured continuity on wiring from IPDM to lamps, OK. Measured voltage at connector on IPDM, OK. Put connector back on, light works I took a good look at the connector pin and the socket, and can't see any signs of corrosion or arcing anywhere, so colour me puzzled.

The only thing that did happen was that when I took the connector off the IPDM I could hear a loud beeping noise coming from somewhere deep behind the engine compartment, not from the cabin, so maybe doing that caused some kind of reset, but then looking at the wiring diagram, there's nothing clever between the relay and the lamp, so that's unlikely unless the wiring diagram isn't entirely accurate and there are separate relays for each light rather than one for both low beams and one for both high beams.

Anyway, the important thing is it's working now, let's hope it stays that way.

Row

Sounds like you had a bad connection and by unplugging/repluging in the lamp connector & fusebox connector it reseated correctly..:)

The electrical drawing came from the Nissan Qashqai service manual which i have on my pc....:)

If i can compress it then i maybe able to email it to you.
Pm me your email address if your interested..;)

Alun

Row wrote: »

Sounds like you had a bad connection and by unplugging/repluging in the lamp connector & fusebox connector it reseated correctly..:)

Yes, that's all I can assume, although the connector was well seated, and not loose in any way, and all the connections looked fine. Anyway, it's solved now, thanks for all the help / suggestions

The electrical drawing came from the Nissan Qashqai service manual which i have on my pc....

If i can compress it then i maybe able to email it to you.
Pm me your email address if your interested..

I managed to download a copy of the service manual myself although it's a 2007 version, is yours any newer? If so, I'd be interested, certainly.

Row

Alun wrote: »

I managed to download a copy of the service manual myself although it's a 2007 version, is yours any newer? If so, I'd be interested, certainly.

Mine is based on the (J10) April 2007 so i'm guessing its the same as yours.

Alun

Row wrote: »

Mine is based on the (J10) April 2007 so i'm guessing its the same as yours.

Yes, that's the same one. Thanks for the kind offer anyway.

crnidk

Hello,

I have almost exactly the same issue with the right headlight QQ 2011... The only difference from what Alun had is that on IPDM, on the out connector, I think 24 is the pin number, the voltage when I turn my lights on is 0V, and by the spec it should be 12V.

I have checked the fuse and it is OK, and considering the wiring scheme, the relay goes before the fuse, so I guess that one should be ok too... puzzled

Here's the link to wiring and IPDM from the service manual (pngs and pdf is there)

dropbox.com/sh/6pje3mxlbkcod2m/AABABsHN-fMORQfabtQ6Qekaa?dl=0

(sorry it's not a full link, but the board rules prevent me from adding one )

Does anyone have any idea?

Thanks in advance