Headlights went out, but have power?

[xhaust50]

Yesterday while driving my lowbeams suddenly went out. I switched to high beams, and after 1 second they went out too. Not sure what the cause is. The headlight motor still gets power because it flips open. Also, my gauges still work and the "Brights" light on the gauges still reads that the brights are on or off. I checked all the fuses and relays that have anything related to headlight on them, but they still don't work. The only relay I didn't check is the very large one under the hood, because there isn't another of the same size that I can swap out. I'm also not sure if it is headlight related.

Anyone have any ideas? Also, possibly related, before this my headlights wouldn't work unless the key was turned to the on position. This doesn't bother me, but maybe it can help diagnose the problem.

 

[Vandal]

Stupid question. Did you check to see if the bulbs were blown out? A bad voltage regulator blew mine.

 

[evane]

check the connector mine went out for some reason and i checked the connector and it was fried and looked like it started melting

 

[bboyalan]

i agree w/ Vandal. my reverse light fuse kept on blowing out all because of ONE toasted bulb. luckily, i only wasted one spare fuse before i checked =X

 

[slcorman91]

A friend of mine had this happen to him back in November of last year. Turned out to be a bad alternator. It was overcharging and fried both low and high beams in the car.

 

[xhaust50]

I think you may be right with the alternator, because my gauges seem brighter, my fuel pump seems louder, and my wipers go faster. I'll take a better look.

 

[FonZ454]

Yup, alternator. I would suggest stop driving the car ASAP before you do any more damage. Throw in a new alternator and bulbs and you should be all set.

 

[xhaust50]

Tested the alternator and it was overcharging. Problem solved. By the way, I stopped driving the car as soon as the bulbs went out.

 

[Chromones]

What else could potentially get damaged? ive been driving for a day now without headlights i could not figure out the problem, all relays and fuses were fine and after i read this thread i tested the alternator and it was pushing 18 volts at idle. I bought a brand new oem altenator 5 days ago and installed installing it i tested it and it said it was pushing 14.5 which is the correct amount right? what could have caused it to go CRAZZZYYYY? also back to my original question what else could get damaged?

 

[2GeNTSi]

My headlights suddenly went out as well and I thought it might be my alternator on its way out, but my TT is showing idle for it to be at 14.0 which is what it's always at.

However, it still might be the alternator because the hi-beam indicator was dimly lit for sometime even though I didn't have them on. Also my anti-lock light turned on (I don't have ABS) when the lights mysteriously went out. I replaced the low beams thinking that might be it but I might disconnect them to prevent them from blowing (I just spent $40 on them).