Problem with Xenon Headlamp

zudecke

Hi guys,

recently my left xenon headlamp has been playing up in that sometimes it doesn't come on and i have to try a couple of times and sometimes turn the car off and back on for it to come on. the right one is fine and when the left does come on, it's fine and doesn't turn off or fade or anything.

ive been quoted about 60-150 from various garages... any one know anythjing about this?

does it sound like a dead/dying bulb or problem with the electrics?? if it's the latter, im extra !!!!ed right?

thanks,

zud

darich

I've heard of similar problems on car forums....could the ballast although I'm no expert.
Xenon headlamps can be expensive to fix so I'd assume a largeish bill rather than a small one.

good luck

newbie007_2

I would go with ballast too. Is the xenon factory fitted? Rectro fit HID are so much cheaper to replace.

zudecke

How would I be able to determine factory or after market as I bought it like this..

Cheers

Goldenyears

zudecke wrote: »

How would I be able to determine factory or after market as I bought it like this..

Cheers

Factory fit xenons should have auto levelling and washer jets. You should see auto levelling working if you switch on lights at night then ignition.

anewman

Some cars without xenons have headlight washer jets. Even the Skoda Favorit Blackline had them back in 1993

trigger_mike

Mk 2 Granadas had headlight washers back in 1982 and even older are Volvo's who had them in the 70's and well as adjustable light beams.

What kind of car and age is it?

zudecke

its a mini cooper auto 2002...

Gordon_Hose

I'd go with ballast too. There's little to go wrong with a Xenon bulb really.

vaio

I had this on my Audi, intermittent failure to start which worked if you switched off and then on again. Slowly got worse and then failed altogether.

Problem was traced to bad contact between bulb and connector which had over heated and melted/burnt.

The connector comes as part of the igniter and Audi wanted north of £500 for the set. Ended up spending £100 on ebay for one that was destined for a TVR but had the same Hella part number.

Moral of the story……don’t leave it, a clean/reseat of the connection might cure it and save you £££.

If you do have an igniter fault then they are mostly interchangeable as long as your car doesn’t have canbus comms to the lights and there is space to physically fit it in. Most aftermarket ones are smaller then OEM

Edited to add: When you are fiddling with the connector make sure the lights are turned off as there are seriously high (70-90 kV) voltages involved which you really really don’t want to put a finger on

missile

I have found these people very helpful, see here for live chat helpline > http://www.hids4u.co.uk/hid-conversion-kits/