Hey everyone, I'm having trouble with my xenons.
They were going a little crazy for a while, driver side would work, but passenger wouldn't, then a week later both would work, and then the passenger side would work but the driver wouldn't. Sometimes I could turn them on and off 10-30 times and the other would come on, other times it would just stay off.
Now I have neither working. I was fiddling around with the connections and was able to get the one to come on briefly until I would let go of the wires, and now I can't get either one to come on. I tool the connectors off where they come from the hood into the housing, and I have noticed that one prong on of the connectors seems to be burnt.
So I am really at a loss where to go with this. If it was the connector I would figure that it would just be the one light, but both xenons aren't working right now. I tried switching the control modules but got no change, and when I had the one working I switched bulbs and the problem didn't follow the buld, so I am sure they are both still ok.
Any help would be great.

Thanks,

Tim

 

How old are your bulbs? When you say "control modules" are you referring to the ballast? When you turn on your lights, do you hear that high pitch "weeeeeeee" sound that the ballasts make? Or is that sound not present? If they aren't making that sound, can you verify that the ballasts are getting voltage from the electrical system?

 

The bulbs seem to be in good condition, as I said they were working intermitently, and by wiggling the electrical connector I was able to one of them to come on temporarily.

Yea I'm refering to the balast I guess. It is called a control unit on manuals and realoem.com (it is the little metal box that is attached to the headlight assembly).


Yes I hear the little squeel noise when I turn the lights on.

And yes I checked the 3 main sockets on the main electrical connector and they are getting power (or atleast 2 of them are). I was looking for a decent wiring diagram to see which ones should have power and when. I have the Bentley manual, but I'm not a fan of their wiring diagrams.

 

My guess would be the bulbs. If you can hear the squeal sound, the ballasts are firing up fine. If you have a friend or a local member who wouldn't mind swapping bulbs with you, you can see if thats the issue. Also, when your bullbs light up, are they lighting up white/bluish or more of an orangey tint?