Headlights are intermittent

[seblake]

A couple of years ago, I put in non-OEM headlight bulbs. I bought them a couple of times from AutoZone...and they installed them, too! No complaints, until... It seemed that one of the bulbs could not come out. Infiniti dealer said the socket had melted due to the non-OEM bulbs. They had to replace the sockets. Uhhh...OK. The D**N dealer just clipped the wires and connected new (or used?) sockets - WITH DUCT TAPE! I could have done better than that.

For the last couple of months, my headlights have been quite intermittent. The LEFT seems to work correctly. The RIGHT low beam was off and the high beam worked. Then the high beam would go out...and then come on...usually dependent on starting the car. I switched out the RIGHT bulb (no pun intended) with a new one and it behaved the same way. The other day, I was explaining the behavior to a Pep Boys store clerk. An older gentleman suggested I check the fuses. I saw two 15amp fuses (not blown) and two solenoids. I could replace all four, but not sure it would be worth the money. Besides, a fuse and a solenoid correlate to one side, not high or low. Checked the EL section of the maintenance manual and could not differentiate between RIGHT and LEFT hand... I would upload the EL Section, but can't figure out how...

I would appreciate any thoughts/suggestions...or even the actual repair I need to do!

Thank you!

< Steve >

[D13_R50]

Do you have Daytime Running Lights (DRLs)? If so, it's probably the DRL module that's on it's way out. It's a plastic box behind the battery bolted to the sheet metal. (yours would be black in color, I think) Your possible options are to:
- Open up the module and re-solder any connections that look iffy
- Go to the wrecker/junkyard and pull the whole module, or
- Fork out a few hundred for a new module

PS: I don't know anyone who uses OEM halogen bulbs from the dealer. And I think you replaced 2 relays, not solenoids.