To my embarrassment I got docked in a concours after uber detailing my car for a failed headlamp. Honestly I didn't notice it but it's the driver's side (USA) outer HID lens focused one that's out. If I read the owner's manual I should run to the dealer as these are not serviceable? WTF?

After reading on here I see that some claim to have replaced this bulb after removing the air cleaner box for access and not by removing the bumper facia. So I thought I'd try that. Assembled and from the top with the horizontal panel off I can't really tell how the back opens up but it look like it rotates CC to come off? This is the HID style.

The bulb can be had for about $45 but I don't even know if that's the issue?

So ... what should I be careful with when checking this system as there is a ballast involved? Residual voltage? Probably disconnecting the battery is a good idea.

With the bulb out what should look for just an open circuit in the bulb?

I thought I'd try that first because if it's that simple then I might go for a simple replacement. Anything more then perhaps not.

 

It's not the fuse or relay unfortunately so from what I can read I might as well try a new bulb and after that it's the ballast or the wiring harness which seems unlikely.

 

On my 2004 S-type it was the wiring harness----the power wire coming from the fuse box, passenger side, just after the harness enters the wheel well. Of course I found it after changing the bulb.(none HID on my car)

 

The passenger-side HID bulb on my '05 STR failed about a year ago, and I was advised to change them both to ensure uniform brightness. Got bulbs from eBay for 50% of dealer price, took one look at the driver side, went to my indie and started my stopwatch.

Whole job done in under 10 minutes. Passenger side bulb changed, and new bulb was definitely much brighter than driver side. On driver side, air box removed for access, access cap removed, bulb changed and everything put back in place. Bumper cover was not removed, and I don't think the battery was disconnected.

 

I ordered a bulb from Amazon and it will be here today. It's the phillips version and it was $40 including overnight shipping.

I will be removing the airbox and hope that this fixes it as changing the amp looks like a bumper off and complete headlamp removal affair.

Interesting that the passenger side was so easy on your car. I see mention of moving the fuse box out of the way but I don't know how that U shaped plastic wiring channel comes apart of disconnects and I'm concerned about it breaking on a 10 year old car.

I think removing the fuse for the LH side lamp will be enough of a safety precaution though disconnecting the batter is almost as easy.

Do you know how that's done?

Thanks.

 

Honest answer is "No". I didn't see any sign of a fuse being removed, either. I was amazed at the speed of these guys. Other than not touching the glass with the naked hand, I wasn't aware of any other special precautions. Maybe they were cutting corners?

I recently got my indie to fit small 6-watt DRL LED lights in the fog lamp area, so that I can drive during daytime without using my VERY EXPENSIVE 2x55-watt HID headlights. The LED's come on automatically with the ignition via the F12 fuse, and my indie had the fuse box out of its cradle in no time.

 

That's the part I need to figure out for the next bad bulb. Sure once you know it goes faster but oh .... that learning curve can be time consuming and expensive if you goof.

The bulb got here an hour ago so tomorrow am I'll see if that's the issue. I've had the airbox completely out of the car for the last set of repairs so that's no mystery and the intake piece are all greased with Dow 111 so it should be OK.

 

Exactly my feeling, and I have a history of always getting it wrong first time around, sometimes with expensive consequences.

So, as long as my indie will instal parts I buy from eBay, and for their immediate attention and a labour bill of $20, and for a job that may be needed once every 5 years, I don't hesitate.

 

>So, as long as my indie will instal parts I buy from eBay

Right, but please try to be kind to your lndie. They are in business and, you hope, everyone wants to support someone who can work on a car like ours. Give them a chance to source the parts, the price might not be too much higher, and they'll get a little more to help pay their bills and stay in business.

We'd miss them if they are all gone.
==================================================
Jaguar: Grace, Pace, and Space - Sir William Lyons
2015 JCNA National Slalom Champion Class M
Current: '08 Jaguar S-Type 4.2 "Satin Edition" (250.06 whp / 259.67 torque)
Past: '05 X-Type 3.0/auto Jaguar Racing Green

 

Don't worry, pab, I'm in business too, I do understand.

My indie's lot contains a sprinkling of Jags and Rolls belonging to people who have yet to pay their bills. I am one of the good guys and he knows it. Oil, battery, coolant, wiper blades, filters, servicing and major work all go his way.

A few years back I owned a Saab 9000, and the indie would not instal parts unless he supplied them. My Jag indie says "absolutely we will instal them, but no warranty of any kind". Less profit but no risk. Works for us both.

 

ten minutes?

OK so I got air cleaner out in 30 minutes and mine is nicely prepped for that.

I know exactly what and where to remove.

The back of the lamp housing came off easily.

Then the ignitor twisted off but a very short wiring lead lust fell out of it's socket on the side of the ignitor to the point that I didn't even notice it existed till I looked very closely. Would an extra 3" or wire to make this foolproof and easy been that hard for them to do?

Then the bulb with those tabs looked very tough at first but a single finger to release on each side one at a time is not bad. Add 15 minutes to figure that out once. You can't get your hand inside the housing to grab both at once anyway.

So then I carefully extracted the old bulb noting a bright electrical marker's orientation so I could seat the new bulb correctly.

But then I spent an hour trying to seat that bulb and I could not.

So then I thought I would at least test the old and new bulbs with the car's circuitry. Not so easy as there's a ground flange that very hard to put an alligator clip onto. Add another 45 minutes trying to get an attachment point and eventually I did.


So I turn it on. It works but guess what? It's F***ing blue!
Nothing on the box or the Amazon listing that says these are blue.

So now I need a new bulb and the car is all apart!

Plus I still haven't figured out how to seat that bulb. Yes there are two orienting cut out holes in the flange but when you look down that deep housing with everything reversed because of the mirror it's not so easy and I haven't been able so far to feel my way through it.

So if anyone knows this I'd like to know if this is possible:

Can a set of std halogen lamp housings be substituted?

Because I really wish I didn't have these as they are very difficult to deal with. Hella made a hell of a bad design here what with the too short wiring leads that may fall off during the install (they just fell off upon removal - bad) and a bulb socket that's quite hellish to deal with ...

Very disappointing once again.

Well I gave it another try and I was able seat the bulb (I think ???) twice but when you try to pull those spring retainers back into place the bulb inevitably knocks loose again. So OK I now know why they have you remove the headlamp assemblies to change the bulbs. This is extremely fussy and trying to do it upside down and reversed because of the mirror is nightmarish.

 

You poor bas***d. Now I know I did the right thing. I have to say that I was a bit startled (i.e. alarmed) at the speed of removal of the airbox by my indie, more like 1 minute. Wrecker's yard technique, but apparently no harm done.

I hope someone like Brutal or Datsports can help out with some advice. Here's a pic of the box for my bulb - nowhere does it say what the color is. I don't want to add insult to injury, but do think about changing them both, just to ensure uniform brightness.

 

No offense but there's just no way they did this 10 min. I'm finally done and I did get the bulb seated by using a piece of plastic tube to keep the bulb seated while I struggled to flip those tire tabs back in place looking at everything upside down and backwards in a mirror. I just don't do that very well. But ... once I got the bulb seated and locked I tried about fifteen times to get the igniter onto the back of the bulb, yet another socket designed in hades, it just bumped the bulb back out on the 15th try . So it's all buttoned up again WO any bulb or ignitor and the car started up fine. The car is fine at night but it won't pass inspection so this really sucks.

But just so it's truly Jaguar experience now I have a check engine light too.

I'll reset the intake track and PVC connector and then reset the codes and see if that does it.

About 5 hours and no results.

 

It is way easier to remove the bumper and lights in my experience , as some but not all will just fight you , it is real easy to remove the bumper don't be afraid to have a go ! All you need is a t30 bit for the under tray , a ratchet, extension, 10mm socket .
10bolts to remove from bumper ,and 5 bolts on each head light assembly , very strait forward .
if you have head light washers then just grab hold of the plastic cover and pull it out farwards and unclip the side clips of the T swivel to remove the covers!
Here is a link to show you were the bolts are


It can be done with the lights in place but not easy as you have found , there are also generic bulbs out there that can make the job even harder , the absolute accurate bulb is a must . Compair them closely to confirm , one other thing I normally do also is use a thin flat bas#%*d file and file or cuting disk on a grinder on the four black twist lock retainer clip/tabs on the igniters back edge to give them more of a ramp to them , as thay often are too square edged and strike on one or two of the tabs Wilst trying to turn them to lock them in . With The extra angle on the back side of the clips all four line up and pull in much easier , I've had some that just would not ever no mater what clip all four at once and that's with the head light out and much pressure applied , and the reangling the tabs worked a treat ! I took my bumper off the other day in 15 mins it's no stess at all , you can leave the foglight wiring attached , just put a blanket or some carpet down to lean the painted surface of the bumper skin on in front of the car , I wouldn't be down grading to old tech lights if I were you , you have the best there is! And best is not always easy , just take a breath get your head around it !
Many before you have its not impossible or difficult to follow instructions , but you have chosen what you thort would be the easy route instead and are paying the penalty for shortcut ting an extra 30-40 mins to remove and refit the bumper , buy the way the blue light you see once sent through the liquid quarts lense will be white as white is called xenon , extra white ! Thay are the best but I'm not convinced you have the correct part no# bulb because the bulb should be easerly fitted and cliped in . Not so much though with the lights still in the car , good luck take your time don't touch the glass part of the bulb with your fingers !!!

 

Thanks for the note on the blue tip, the old one doesn't have it. But had I been successful yesterday I was just doing to live with however it looked anyway.

I'll have to take another look at those four tabs. Good tips!

I need a week off from this now before I pull the air cleaner stuff off again to have another look.

Yes it's the identical part brand and number. The old bulb is equally difficult to fit into that ignitor's socket. It's just a crap design IMHO.

You're absolutely correct about this being a lot easier with the lamps out of the car though it sounds like you're not quite doing that?

Could you elaborate? I think I'd prefer to be sitting down at bench, WO the use of a mirror, preferably air conditioned while trying to fit these fussy components in place



Here's the bottom line for me.

I do have to get this bulb in shortly to pass an inspection.
If the only way I can makes this happen is to take the bumper cover off I will probably do that even though that is very difficult for me to accomplish because of where I live, homeowner association restrictions.

I have never had quite this much difficulty just changing GD light bulbs!

So if I cannot come up with a substitute lighting solution and that's the only way to do this then the car ultimately get's sold.

That's why I'd prefer to find a solution that makes this simpler in the future instead of taking the bumper cover off. Taking that cover off and putting it on properly looks like at least an hour and a half job which runs the risk of finish damage. It looks to me like you'd need a second pair of qualified hands to do it properly, something I don't have. It also has to go up on jack stands in my paver driveway and I always hate doing that. Those are just the restrictions I have to live with.

While what I did yesterday was a disaster an hour and a half just to get to the bulb replacement is unacceptable to me as well.

I think I need a different car. There are a host of issues which make this car a PITA to keep compared with any others I've had and I have owned multiple Maserati's (3), an Infiniti, a Lancia, 280Z, Hondas, three Fords, a 99 Suburban as well as a Lamborghini. This one is the worst to service.

Now some of that is due to it's being more modern but as I mentioned early too much is crammed into the front of this car so I'll be looking more closely at that in the future.

Maybe I'll ask for demonstrations of changing of the headlamps, oil change and tranny fluid exchange before signing on the dotted line? LOL

Those are all an extra PITA for this car. And no more belly pans!

 

Yep I remove them compleatly but it should not be necessary to . But as some have made me struggle I choose to just un clip the plug and remove the light assembly for ease !
Your already nealy fully removed by this stage any way . You don't realy need the car on stands if you drive the car on to some 4" blocks of wood would be enuff to undo the front belly pan , P.s your mistake was selling the Nissan ! BULLET PROOF those 280,s

 

I lied. Went back and checked, EACH bulb was 10 minutes. Still pretty fast.

Found this write-up on the www which says 'don't take off bumper cover'. Unfortunately refers to a Honda, but great pics and good description.

DIY: HID Bulb Change w/o Bumper Removal !!! 3G Garage #G-004 - AcuraZine Community

I can definitely understand why Jag recommends using a Dealer or professional to replace HID bulbs, but when I see the estimated dealer cost, holy sh*t.

 

A guy that fast could make a very nice living just doing that alone.

Now that I see all the issues involved with these bulbs and ignitors perhaps he has build purchased some specialized installation tools that are fool proof?

Orientation and alignment are a huge issue with these. Even out of the car the bulb to ignitor fit is a PITA.

 

So I had a look at photos of other cars and changing these bulbs. I found several of them that don't have the very, very deep 3" diameter plastic tunnel tube but have the bulb with attachment tabs and screw off back very close to the end instead.

That would make all of this OH so much easier. So why did Jag bury these so deep?

Heat?

 

Hope you had success eventually...

Just to wrap this up, and since you suffered so much, I went back to my indie and asked more questions about changing the HID bulb on the driver's side of my STR.

He confirmed that the bumper cover was not removed, and that the job was done by removing the air box. No special tools, but he did say that small hands were essential.

I do know of someone who may have small hands, but he's busy at this moment.