Hi Folks,

I did the autolamps install and everything was going smoothly until i removed a working hid retrofit to secure the ignitor.

Now, the pass. light won't come on. no low beam, no high beam. nada.

Went and reinstalled the H1 bulb and occaisionally, I can get it to come back on. It seems sensitive to how the light assembly is installed.

No brute force was applied, so I am puzzled to say the least.

Could it be the plug that the light connects to?

Yes, I checked the fuses. I even put the 25 amp. fuses into the car so that ain't it...

help!

-travis
'95 C4

 

Make sure the connection on the head light bucket is good. When taking the headlight in and out the connector could have moved and doesn't allow good contact.

 

I like Gregs thoughts.

Make sure all the connections slide together smoothly when reinstalling the headlight into the bucket.

 

Travis
Greg's suggestion is most likely correct. It is not uncommon that the "floating" side of the headlamp connector (mounted in the fender) misaligns w/the connector on the headlight assembly resulting in no lights. It is also easy to break the connector by forcing it when it's not aligned. The headlights should reinstall w/o much force if properly aligned.

 

Well, after a worrisome night of troubleshooting, I got the low beam (HID) to come back to life. Couldn't actually work on it since we had a party to go to last night...

Just as Greg suggested, a little finesse is required to get the darn light to re-ignite.

I did swap the ignitors and bulbs from the working light and to my relief the whole set is now working . Both sides. Yeah!

Only thing not working right now is the pass. high beam, but I'm not too concerned about it since it's not used much. I even put a brand spanking now H1 bulb in to no avail. Must be those contacts on that silly plug in the fender...

Kudos to John W. Without his instructions, I definitely would not have been able to swap back and forth so easily.

thanks guys,

-travis

 

Make that all lights are now working. A gentle little push on the headlight seated all the pins now. High and low beams all working now.

whew! Now, I just have to wait for night time!

-travis

 

[quote]Originally posted by Travis:
<strong>Kudos to John W. Without his instructions, I definitely would not have been able to swap back and forth so easily.
-travis</strong><hr></blockquote>

Thanks Travis.

I'm pleased that it is all working for you now.
That connector can be a real pain. One of the installs I did here needed the plug to actually be removed from its bracket, else it would not seat fully. I guess some cars have a little allignment issue ofthis bracketry...

Cheers,
John.

 

Hi John, how was New York?

I think the issue with the plug is that it isn't located firmly in the bracket, it can move side to side, presumably for 'tolerances' in these hand made cars. You get in there placing igniters etc, move the plug, headlight no longer mates, maybe bracket gets bent. Perhaps a good tip would be to mark the position of the plug on the bracket before working inside the wing?

I was playing with my spare headlights the other day, looking for inspiration. I have purchased a couple of miniature 12v solenoids to investigate flipping the lo beam cutoffs out the way, but happened to spot yet another design failure in these **####%% headlights. The high beam plastic bulb mount is bad enough, but the retaining clip doesn't hold the bulb in place properly either! Result is the bulb is not centred in the reflector, crappy beam! Checked my live pair, sure enough one side the bulb had a distinct lean to it!

Dear, oh dear !! Should we try for a headlamp recall?

Cheers, Maurice

 

Hi maurice,

it was good thanks (see the other post).

While your at it, pulling the lights apart, don't forget about the crappy low beam casting that distorts with heat, so the spring retainer no longer fits properly !!

I agree with what you are saying about the conectors. In the case I had though, the connector was held too far back, rather than being too high or low. I forget the exact details now, but who ever plugged the light in previously must have come to the same conclusion, as the connector was sitting in front of the bracket, to ensure it plugged in fully.

So much for german 'quality' engineering eh


Cheers,
John.