A headlight or tail light is out

Drive in today

General guidance for this symptom. A warning light that is flashing or an overheating engine: stop driving and call.

Likely causes

• A burned-out halogen bulb

  Halogen filaments last a few years, and the two headlights were installed on the same day, so when one goes the other is close behind. We replace bulbs in the common sizes, and many drivers replace both so the beams match in color and brightness.

  Headlight and tail light bulbs
• A tail, brake or signal bulb

  Smaller bulbs, same story. A fast-blinking turn signal is the car telling you a bulb on that side is dead. Brake lights are the ones other drivers care about most on I-580 at dusk. We check all of them at every full-service oil change.

  Headlight and tail light bulbs
• A blown fuse or a bad relay

  Both low beams out at once, or a lamp that is dead while its bulb filament looks fine, is usually a fuse or relay. We can check the obvious fuse and tell you what we find; chasing why it blew is a repair shop's job.

  Multi-point maintenance check
• A corroded socket or connector

  Road salt from winter trips to Tahoe and the magnesium chloride NDOT uses on I-80 get into tail light sockets. Green crust on the contacts means the bulb is fine and the socket is not. Cleaning or replacing a socket is a repair shop's work; we point it out.

  Multi-point maintenance check
• An LED or HID module

  Many 2015 and newer cars use sealed LED headlamps or HID units with a ballast. There is no bulb to swap. When one of those fails, it is a dealer or repair-shop part, and we tell you that rather than open the lamp.

  Multi-point maintenance check

A dead headlight is one of the few car problems with a built-in deadline: the first time you drive after dark, and the first officer who notices. Nevada law requires two working headlamps and working tail, brake and signal lamps, and the Nevada DMV lists lighting among the equipment a vehicle must have in working order. On the practical side, the Mount Rose Highway at night with one beam is a bad place to find out. The fix is usually a bulb and a few minutes in the bay. This page covers how to tell a bulb from the other causes and what we can and cannot do.

A quick check in your driveway

1. At dusk, turn on the headlights and walk around the car. Note which lamp is out: low beam, high beam, tail, brake, signal or license plate.
2. Have someone press the brake and work the turn signals while you watch.
3. If the dead lamp is a headlight, flip to high beam. If high works and low does not, it is the low beam bulb or its fuse.
4. If both lamps on one circuit are dead, think fuse before bulb.
5. Write down which one and drive in. We have the bulb sizes for most cars on the road here.

What we replace, and what we send on

We replace halogen headlight bulbs, tail, brake, turn signal, side marker and license plate bulbs at Mae Anne Avenue, Longley Lane, College Parkway and US 395. We handle the bulb with gloves, since skin oil shortens a halogen's life, seat it square, and check the beam before you go. Bulbs are part of the lighting check on every full-service oil change, so the usual time people find out is when we tell them.

We do not do wiring, sockets, relays, ballasts, LED modules or headlamp assemblies, and on some cars reaching the bulb means removing the bumper or the inner fender, which is also beyond a bay visit. When that is the case we say so up front, so you are not waiting on something we are not going to do.

Bulb types, briefly

Most cars from the last twenty years use an H11, 9005, 9006, H7 or similar halogen in the headlamp, and a 7443, 3157 or 1157 style in the tail lamp. The manual lists them and so does the lamp housing. A higher-wattage bulb than the manual calls for melts sockets and is not something we install. A brighter bulb within the correct rating is fine, and a pair of fresh bulbs is usually the biggest improvement a halogen car can get. Our headlight bulbs guide goes through the codes.

Why it matters more here

• December sunset in Reno is before 4:40 pm, so most commutes home run on headlights from November to February
• Deer on US-395 south of Washoe Valley and on the Mount Rose Highway are a real hazard that a full set of beams helps with
• Snow at the airport averages about 21 inches a year (NOAA 1991-2020), and a dead low beam in falling snow is a short sight line
• A dead brake light is the one other drivers cannot warn you about