Hi... I have a 2005 UK spec X Type estate.

The drivers side low beam, HID light has stopped working.

I have checked the fuses (29 & 30) and both are ok with 12v going to one side of the fuse box. I assume the relay is okay as the passenger side lamp is working and the same relay seems to control both?

I have swapped lamp/ballast(s) over from one side to the other and both lamps(with ballast) work on the passenger side. Also neither lamp/ballast works on the drivers side.

I want to check voltage going to the back of the ballast but do not know why there are three wires (Green, Black and White) going into the ballast?

Can anybody help?

Cheers in anticipation.

Dave

 

Dave, first off, welcome to Jag Forums. I think you will find that there is a lot of good information here and lots of friendly people that will bend over backwards for you. But, we do ask 1 thing though, stop by the new member section and introduce yourself. There you will figure out who the movers and shakers are around here. So, get yourself a cup of joe, do some more reading, and you will learn a lot about your car.

As for your issue. Based on what you are describing, your problem sounds like it is in the connector to the headlight housing. What you will most likely need to do is to remove the front bumper cover off of the car so you can pull the headlight assembly out. From there, remove the main connector from the headlight assembly and look at the posts on the headlight assembly and the matching recesses on the plug. I bet you will find that some of the posts will have rust on them. Clean up the posts as best as you can and that will more than likely make the headlight work. I would also recommend using a multimeter on the plug attached to the car (not the headlight assembly) and verify that you have 12 VDC at that point. THis will confirm that your problem is isolated to the headlight assembly.

You do not want to measure the output of the ballast inside the headlight assembly. You can expose yourself to 23,000 volts. Yes, 23,000. YOur multimeter can not handle that kind of voltage and best case will damage the multimeter. Besides, you already know the ballast and bulb are good. So, you are down to a 12 VDC wire problem.

If you have 12 VDC at the plug going into the headlight assembly, then you can hand over hand the wiring inside of the headlight assembly and see if you can spot the broken wire there. If you don't have 12 VDC at the plug, then i would first try swapping fuses 29 and 30 and seeing if the problem moves. I have seen fuses blow in such a way that you can not see them fail. You can also do a resistance check of the fuses to make sure that they are less than 2 ohms resistance. THen that would only leave the wiring between the fuse box and the headlight. At that point, you would be best served by running a new wire between the two points.

 

Thanks for the welcome and indeed the prompt reply.

I'll have a look tomorrow and let you know how I get on. I'd already swapped fuses so I expect the problem does indeed lie in the loom.

Thanks again...

Dave