Dipped Beam Bulb Fault

dave23

Had dipped beam bulb fault come on a few times recently and the drivers side headlight goes out but if I turn the light switch off then on again the light comes back on then stays on until it happens again a couple of weeks later. The lights are HID's on a 2011  Ford Focus Titanium X, any ideas or do I just need to replace the HID bulb? At the moment though I am not driving at at a time when I need the headlights on.

unforeseen

Had dipped beam bulb fault come on a few times recently and the drivers side headlight goes out but if I turn the light switch off then on again the light comes back on then stays on until it happens again a couple of weeks later. 

&

At the moment though I am not driving at at a time when I need the headlights on.

Sort of contradict each other

HansOndabush

Sounds likely a bulb change would fix it but could be a dry solder joint or corroded connector.

AdrianC

As well as the bulb, it could be the ballast.

Be careful poking around - there's a lot of voltage between the ballast and bulb. About 25kV to initially fire the arc...

chrisw

I had a HID bulb on my Volvo doing similar to yours until it eventually failed completely. Changing the bulb fixed it.

Try to ensure you get a genuine replacement, there are a lot of fake bulbs around. My bulb cost around £50 but only took a couple of minutes to change as the headlight pops out. Volvo wanted £250 to replace it.

dave23

It first occurred in December and then again a few weeks later and probably 4 times in total but now since the clocks have changed I am not driving home needing headlights so reluctant to change the bulb now and find the problem re occurs in the autumn. Is the ballast something I can get replaced at my next service?