I was drivng on the highway at night and all of a sudden my headlights turned off and wouldn't go back on. I got all the warning lights on (TCS, brake, battery, abs) and they would flash for few seconds then stay steady after wihch they would flash again.The instrument panel would go dim at times. I pulled of the road to check and the fog lights also didn't work. All other lights work however including the tail lights. Car seems to run fine. Anyone have an idea whats wrong? I checked the fuses and all seem fine. The alternator and the battery are only a year old btw.

 

what are the chances that your headlights and fog lights went out at the same time, sounds like an electrical problem could also be the switches. (good luck with that man).

 

yeah sounds like there is a short to me. Any way I see it, it doesn't sound like fun to diagnose or to fix.

 

Shouldn't a short kill a fuse? would pulling all of the fuses and putting them back in one at a time help to isolate the problem? no idea, just a thought. tracing electrical sux

 

I looked into the fuse/relay box in the engine bay on passenger side. I am not sure if they are relays or fuses. I switched the working tailight fuse/relay with the headlight fuses but nothing different happened. The tailights work with any of those blue colored fuses/relays. Can anyone give more info on whether those are relays or fuses.

 

Alternator? I know allot of people on here say that when their alt dies all the warning lights come on.

 

I doubt its the alternator since i started the car many times since the lights went out and the car starts without any hesitation every time.

I forgot to mention that after the lights went out, the high beams would still work, but after 10 min of working the high beams died immediatly.

 

diagnose the alternator first i was just talking to a friend of mines who had a 2000 honda prelude who said when his alternator started to go ar problems.

 

I would also say alternator. WHen I had my blazer it did the same thing and my dad owns a shop and it was an alternator. Fixed it the next day and everything was working fine.

 

The Haynes manuals have pretty decent electrical diagrams. If you don't have the book, it is well worth the $20.

 

If the alternator is faulty then the car would jus die not only the electrical system. plus if it is the alternator the lights should turn on when the car is off, but the light switch is on

 

Update: Those who said it was the alternator , you were right. Yesterday I checked the voltage and it was putting out anywhere between 16 to 18 volts which is abnormaly high. So this high voltage burned both my headlight bulbs. I had the alternator replaced yesterday and the problem is gone.