Headlight Issue

[itpesaf]

Hey guys,

Having a problem with my headlights and hoping someone here may be able to help...

Basically my right hand headlight has stopped working. It started gradually, so when I would start it up it wouldn't turn on but after a few taps it would turn on, but now it doesn't turn on anymore. This occasionally happens with my left hand headlight but that one still works.

I took everything apart today to have a look, it's a normal halogen bulb so I replaced it with another and it still wouldn't turn on, so I then looked at the fuse box behind the battery - and found that the RH low beam fuse was blown. I replaced this one with the 15a fuse which is used for fog lights (don't know why there's a fuse for fog lights when the care doesn't have any) and reconnected everything but the headlight still didn't turn on... I'm really confused - don't know what else to try :S I would really appreciate any help.

Thanks

[sonicii]

Did you have a good look at the lamp fitting when you replaced the lamp? if there was a bad connection, it might be burnt or damaged. If the compliance workshop did a poor job of replacing the factory HIDs, that might be the cause.

Are you sure you don't have fog lights?.. they are intergrated into the same section of the headlamps as the high beam.

[R6n350GT]

try using the left hand ballast on the right hand and see if its the ballalst

[sonicii]

If it uses a normal halogen lamp, it won't have a ballast, at least not wired in circuit.

[itpesaf]

How do i turn on the fog lights on the car??? I always thought there were only low and high beams along with the parkers??

As for the headlight how do i know the wiring has been burnt? Amd if it has how can i fix it? Is it an easy job or do i have to take it to a auto electrician?

Cheers

[itpesaf]

What if I splice into the parker light and just connect the two wires to the halogen from parker?? has anyone ever done this? im desperate to fix this quickly and cheaply lol..

[daisu]

If you back it off the parker circuit, you will overload it and blow the fuse for that circuit, you will lose your tail light illumination.

If they were working intermittently before failing it is likely a loose connection or the relay. In the fuse box behind the battery you will find some relays, get a friend to turn on the parkers and then the headlights, you should be able to hear and feel the relay "click" as it operates. If if doesn't "click" try swapping some of the relays from a different circuit, see if anything changes.

Burnt/damaged wires, just look at them visually, and feel them. If they look physically damaged or burnt then there could be a problem.

It is likely that during compliance that extra wires were connected. On my car they left the HID ballasts connected but attached extra wires and crimp connectors to supply power to the halogen bulb. Check that the connectors haven't come loose or exposed any wiring that could cause a loose connection or short circuits.

Regarding fog lights, check your indicator stalk, there should be an extra rotary switch on the stalk to turn on your fog lights. As said by sonicii the standard fog light is part of the high beam lamp. It uses a dual filament bulb, but during compliance this is often replaced with a single filament bulb. Often, the wires inside the fog light switch are disconnected. On my car the fog light switch was still connected (you can tell because the dash lights would go dim like they do when you turn parkers on), but the relay in the fuse box had been removed, I had to buy a new one to replace it.

[itpesaf]

Hey buddy, thanks for the info.

I opened the fuse box behind the battery and i turned the stalk through the options and I heard clicking for the parkers, the high beams and also the low beam headlights (of which only one is currently working). Checked all the connections going into the fuse box and seemed fine..

The clicking was loud with the fuse box cover off but even with everything put back into place I can hear clicking when I turn on the lights. Does this mean it probably isn't the relay? should I just swap the relays to see if I can get the light working or will I run the risk of stuffing something up if I do that?

sooooo confused :S

[(Locky)]

yeah out of interest have foglight swtich on satlk, but it only turns on the parkers...

What is ment to light up as its not like there are cfacilities for fog lights???

[sonicii]

The fog lights are intergrated into the same H4 halogen lamp as the high beam. low beam fillament is the fog lights, they are not in a separate housing.

Low beam lamp is the top section of the headlight and was HID from factory, but should be swapped out with a halogen lamp during compliance.

[(Locky)]

mine still has the HID low beam, makes sense why there is a H4 for high beam when they are usually used as a both hi/low setup (if they use the low filament for fog) dont know if mine is still hooked up though, shall have to check

[itpesaf]

Ok so I managed to fix the problem, here's what I did in order -

I first tried changing the actual halogen bulb, but still wasn't working

I then checked the fuses, the headlight low beam fuse (right hand side) was blown so I was relieved and changed it, but still didn't work

I then switched the relays around, nothing..

Then tonight I removed the headlight and checked all the wiring, it all seemed ok but then i noticed as I followed the red power wire, that it had been cut and there was a wire leading to the left hand side of the vehicle. I followed the wire and it led to the left hand headlight :S So i disconnected this wire and reconnected the red power wire to the original power wire (which was cut and just dangling around) and lo and behold the headlight works! infact neither headlight now flickers and they seem brighter than before lol...

So I reckon when the car was being complied, when installing the halogens they burnt the right hand headlight fuse and instead of bothering to check the fuse box they just did a botch job and spliced off the left hand headlight to power the right hand headlight...

[sonicii]

That is so dodgy.. nice find.

They probably are brighter, as you now have separate circuits to power each headlight, instead of one circut powering both.