Driver side Low beam not working

[anewzero]

I have a 2007 Nissan Quest. Recently my driver side low beam stopped working. I purchased a new light and installed it. But it would not light up. Changing the lights in this vehicle is a more difficult task than performing a triple bypass. My fiancée and I feared we may have damaged the bulb when replacing it. I took the van to the O'Reily's where I bought the bulb and the gentleman there could not get the light back out. So I let it sit overnight. This morning I took it to my mechanic. He, too, took over ten minutes just to get the light out. Once it was out, we replaced it with another new lamp. This one also would not light. After some troubleshooting, we discovered that the high beam works but not the low beam. We checked the fuses (why are there three separate fuse boxes and why are they, too, made so that only people less than 10 years old may utilize them?) and the relays. They are all fine. The connector for the lamp is receiving power for high beam setting but not for low beam setting. The passenger side is working for both high and low beam.

If you can help, please tell me step by step troubleshooting for this past this point. For example, "next check the O2 sensor. If it's not that then check the ABS system. If not that then get a nonfat decaf latte and read a book."

And please post in layman terms if possible. I am generally uneducated in vehicle maintenance and repair.

Thanks.

[Marcellus]

My 2001 Maxima had a similar problem on one side would not light the low beam. That car had a large relay behind the passenger side headlight attached to the fender inside the engine compartment and it has a large connector going into it. The large relay controls the high/low beams on that car, maybe your van has the same design. The relay costs over $200, but I fixed it by opening it up and re-melting all the solder spots on the motherboard. It happens that the vibration of the car shakes the solders in the relay apart and you cannot see this with the naked eye. Re-melting the solder makes make a good contact once again. Follow the wires from the headlights and see if they go into a black box, this black box will be your relay.

[anewzero]

Thanks

[far raf]

Do download the factory service manual before you do any electric work, and follow the electric diagrams!