Headlight problem

Tiny
ARCBURN84
  • MEMBER
  • 2023 NISSAN ROGUE
  • 62,000 MILES
DRL went out and gave warning on dash. Ordered new, found out fuse is blown and blew a second when replaced. Plug going into headlight got hot, lack wire going in seem to be melted. Possible short? Anyone have a wiring diagram. It’s a job to pull front clip off of car to trace and replace light housing.
Saturday, August 16th, 2025 AT 8:09 AM

15 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 15,433 POSTS
This is the OE diagram for the system. Which fuse was blowing? Which side of the DRLs is going out? From the diagram it looks like the issue could be a bad lamp module.
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Saturday, August 16th, 2025 AT 11:25 AM
Tiny
ARCBURN84
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  • 8 POSTS
Passenger side, installed new lamp as well, black wire coming from harness is one that got hot and melted coating.
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Saturday, August 16th, 2025 AT 1:58 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 15,433 POSTS
OK, the Black wire is a ground, Did the wire get hot before you replaced the lamp? If the module shorted out it might have started pulling a lot of current and melted the ground. Does the fuse open or the wiring get hot with the replacement lamp or was that with only the original lamp?
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Saturday, August 16th, 2025 AT 6:32 PM
Tiny
ARCBURN84
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  • 8 POSTS
Yes it originally occurred on factory light, passenger side light went out, DRL warning on dash came on. Dealer wanted $2k to fix so I ordered aftermarket one. Dealer said her AWD light came on because battery needed replaced. So I replaced battery, later that night noticed both lights were now out. So started problem shooting and found both 15a fuses were open. We were stuck out without lights so I pulled a 20a from panel in cab, and put into Driver side fuse location and light came back on and has been fine since. So pulled another fuse to use for passenger side to see if that was just the original problem, and that’s when I noticed the plug from harness to light got hot so I pulled fuse and drove home. Next day I pulled front clip off car and replaced DRL with aftermarket. Got everything put back together and installed new fuse hoping that would be the fix and it instantly got hot. So again immediately pulled fuse and I could physically see the fuse open when I removed it. Now puzzled I stripped back 6” of the protective wrap on harness side noticing the black wire was smoked!
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Sunday, August 17th, 2025 AT 4:13 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 15,433 POSTS
OK, from that description I'm thinking that the wire got hot enough that it melted through somewhere in the harness and is now a dead short. The only way to figure out where would be to strip open the harness to find the bad location. The problem is that it could be shorting more than one wire. If you look at the wires can you determine which pin the burnt wire connects to? It might be possible to find where the other end of it connects to and disconnect it there and see if the short goes away.
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Sunday, August 17th, 2025 AT 6:41 AM
Tiny
ARCBURN84
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
E109 it seems
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Monday, August 18th, 2025 AT 5:15 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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OK that one goes into a splice and then out to the ground point under the headlight. It's a mess but I would open up the harness and trace it to the opposite end. That would be the only way to be sure it isn't causing other problems. Then run a new wire from the terminal on the light to a good ground and see if the light now works. If it still gets hot it could be that the replacement is defective. Not an uncommon thing with aftermarket parts. I've seen new parts that were wired wrong.
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Monday, August 18th, 2025 AT 5:36 AM
Tiny
ARCBURN84
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  • 8 POSTS
The second photo shows E109 on the drivers side, is that accurate or just the same on both
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Monday, August 18th, 2025 AT 8:18 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 15,433 POSTS
Both sides end up at the same ground point. I just grabbed the least cluttered side for you. The ground on the right side is E110 pin 6, goes from the light to a splice and across the car to the E15 and E9 ground point, basically everything on the harness goes those two points, which set next to each other, but they don't show where the actual splices are unfortunately.
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Monday, August 18th, 2025 AT 9:50 AM
Tiny
ARCBURN84
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  • 8 POSTS
Took it to a local garage to let the mechanic look at it after going through a couple things he seems to believe it’s now a problem in the main headlight unit not the daytime running light is this a possibility?
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Monday, August 18th, 2025 AT 12:02 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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It's possible, it depends on where the power is actually going. For the burnt wiring there is a large current draw somewhere, testing and searching will be the way to find it.
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Monday, August 18th, 2025 AT 1:03 PM
Tiny
ARCBURN84
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  • 8 POSTS
Garage said that when the headlight was bypassed it quit blowing fuses and quit getting hot that’s why they said it’s in the headlight. We’re getting the car back and will try to order headlight. Is there a reputable aftermarket company or do I need to spend twice as much for an oem headlight?
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Tuesday, August 19th, 2025 AT 8:00 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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I try to avoid aftermarket electronics on newer vehicles. With all the self testing and controls it's not worth the possibility of destroying some very expensive modules. Plus most seem to have quality issues. You might want to see if you can source a used one though, if you go to https://www.car-part.com/ and enter the info it will show you some yards that have the part. Most will ship them.
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Tuesday, August 19th, 2025 AT 9:09 AM
Tiny
ARCBURN84
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
So after a lot of back and forth testing ruled out the wiring and found the headlight unit to be at fault, I’ve since replaced and put all back together but I’m out of the 15a Mcase fuses, would it hurt to run a 25a or 30a until the ones ordered come in?
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Friday, August 22nd, 2025 AT 12:18 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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I wouldn't if at all possible. You really want the fuse to blow if needed, adding 10 amps extra might turn lightly melted wires into flames.
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Friday, August 22nd, 2025 AT 12:24 PM

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