Dim and Dimmer

I am this close to turning in my Gearhead membership card. It may even be stripped away.

For the first time, after successfully changing countless headlights on our vehicles over the years and, most recently, reaching the "radiator hose connection" level, I have failed. Or at least it appears that way.

The low beams went out on the driver's side of our CRV. This was a week ago but I finally got around to buying a lovely $20 replacement bulb tonight. So I change the bulb very carefully since it's halogen, then test it. Nothing on the low beams. The high beam works, though, as before. So I decide to take it out and start from the beginning.

Now if you've changed headlight bulbs before, you know the challenges. The reason I do it (and not hubby) is because I've got the small hands to reach under some metal bar and squeeze past the battery, scraping off just a top layer of skin as I do so to get to the backside of the light. This is why I did not want to have to do it twice. And then, after doing it twice, it still did not work! Grrrrrr.

So I gave myself a timeout and then went with the next logical source of the problem. The fuse box. I now know the layout of our fuse box quite well and can use the handy dandy tool for pulling fuses out and checking them. None of the ones associated with the headlights were broken.

At this point I'm stumped. I feel kind of geeked that I worked my way around a fuse box. That's a new one for me. But I feel embarrassed that I can't figure this one out. I even went off to Google land to find a solution. It seems the only other thing could be wiring. And honey, I am not touching that!

If I have to cease being a card-carrying member of the Gearhead Club, then so be it. Wires scare me. Either someone else will have to take it from here or I'll have to get used to other drivers flipping me off for not dimming my lights!