Xenon Headlight Problem

[Pedrödelabongo]

First time of driving the car at night since it was repaired after a front end bump.
Right hand side headlight unit is new, left hand not.
Seems the left hand unit is trying to 'fire up' at times, to the point of actually going out and coming on again!
Also, new headlight is adjusted very low - good job the motorways were lit up!

Ballast on the way out on the left?
Any adjustment to be had on the right?

 

[Dani_B19]

The right should auto adjust itself. Have you plugged into vcds for any fault codes?

 

[Pedrödelabongo]

No, only found out a couple of nights ago.

 

[Stifler]

Change only bulbs first it was same with me. But go with some well know brand.

 

[Darren92]

Xenon headlights can be manually adjusted via the adjustment screws, you will need a headlight beam setter

the auto-levelling is only to compensate the beam when there is weight in the car, the lights should be set up with no weight and on level ground.

sounds like either a ballast or bulb issue on the left.

 

[Pedrödelabongo]

Just bought a pair of new burners (bulbs) so will fit them this week and report back.

 

[Dani_B19]

You'll know if the auto adjustment is working if you park in front of a wall and turn them on, you'll see them come on and go up and down and side to side.

 

[Darren92]

Yes but the beam has to be set correctly when static. Same as adjusting halogen headlamps for MOT, Xenon headlamps also need checked.

 

[Dani_B19]

Really, I'll have to check that then, haven't had to touch the lights in the a4 as they are perfect, on my old s3 if you manually adjusted the headlights, they just use to revert back to normal.

 

[Darren92]

Yes, they still need aligned correctly as a base figure with a headlight setter.

 

[Wozski]

Sorry to hijack this thread but what bulbs are a good replacement? Looking at Phillips blue tint ones? Philips Blue Vision H1 448 Bulbs... Are these any good?

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

 

[mattmanwrx]

Really, I'll have to check that then, haven't had to touch the lights in the a4 as they are perfect, on my old s3 if you manually adjusted the headlights, they just use to revert back to normal.

With vcds you need to put the car into "headlight learning mode". The module in vcds is xenon adjustment I think. You need to tell the car hat you're adjusting the headlight, then save the new position. Then when you start the car and the headlights auto adjust, they'll adjust to the weight as stated above, but along the lines of the adjustment you manually made.

 

[Pedrödelabongo]

Thanks lads!
It has an MOT next week - I guess it'll fail on the left one if it keeps trying to relight or go out completely!
Anyone near York with VCDS?
I have loose change.........

 

[mattmanwrx]

Thanks lads!
It has an MOT next week - I guess it'll fail on the left one if it keeps trying to relight or go out completely!
Anyone near York with VCDS?
I have loose change.........

The garage should be able to do. Any good fault scanning / car garage thing should have a headlight learn feature. The Bosch ones do anyway.

 

[R44MS K]

I have a pair of new ballasts and bulbs for sale...

 

[Pedrödelabongo]

I have a pair of new ballasts and bulbs for sale...

It passed it's MOT, then I told the guy about the problem.
He said the bulbs were fine, but probably the ballast was on it's way out.....as I suspected
I only need to passenger side ballast - drivers light is a new unit and I have a new pair of Philips bulbs.
What do you want for a ballast, R44MS?

 

[R44MS K]

It passed it's MOT, then I told the guy about the problem.
He said the bulbs were fine, but probably the ballast was on it's way out.....as I suspected
I only need to passenger side ballast - drivers light is a new unit and I have a new pair of Philips bulbs.
What do you want for a ballast, R44MS?

£50 Posted sir!

 

[Pedrödelabongo]

After reading the following from a US Audi forum, I'll change the bulbs first (as I have a spare pair) and report back.
Just awaiting some LED sidelights from Trups then I can do the lot at the same time.

Your HID xenon headlamps are part of a family of artificial light sources that generate light by sending an electrical discharge through an ionizedgas, i.e. a plasma. Gas-discharge lamps offer long life and high light efficiency, but are more complicated to manufacture, and they require electronics to provide the correct current flow through the gas. The HID xenon headlamp bulbs eventually fail; the flickering that you've observed can be an indication that the bulbs are nearing the end of their useful lifespan.

However, unlike conventional incandescent headlamps (i.e., the baseline A4 headlamps), the xenon units require a regulated high-voltage source to power the plasma-generating electrical arc in the headlamp bulb. These high-voltage "ballast" units can also fail and one of the failure modes is to produce a "flickering" in the light output.

So, either you've got an HID bulb about to fail or you've got an HID "ballast" (high-voltage source) about to fail. One method of troubleshooting the problem is to try swapping the headlamp bulbs from side-to-side on the car. If the "flickering" follows the headlamp bulb from side-to-side of the car, the bulb is the likely culprit. If the "flickering" stays on the same side of the car, the high-voltage "ballast" is probably the problem source.