My passenger side low beam head lamp went out last winter. There are 3 bolts you need to remove to remove the lens, unscrew the lid, untwist the lamp and replace - while lying on the pavement in 15 degree F weather of New England. Lots of fun. (I wept like a little girl as I replaced this one.)

Last week, the drivers side went out, but at 85 degrees F, the weather was fine for this replacement. As I removed this lamp out of the "pigtail" receptacle, I noticed it had been slightly melted - a condition I should have taken more seriously , I suppose.

Anyway, I inserted a Sylvania H11Silverstar low-beam, 12.8V , 55W halogen (same as the one working fine on the passenger side.) Two of these lamps have now burned out - 1 lasted 3-4 days, the last one less than an hour.

So, if anyone has some ideas, that would be great. Thank you very much!

 

Time for LED's (cooler and less power)? Do you have HID's or halogens?

 

Seems he has halogens judging by post # 1.
Upgrading to the infinitely better bi-xenons/HIDs (standard on higher level XFs, optional on others) is doable without great expense, the easiest way is to get a used pair off Fleabay. I seem to recall that some modification of the pins in the lighting plug may be required, but I could be wrong and they could be simple plug & play.

 

A friend mentioned my voltage regulator may be fried, sending out too much voltage for the lamp.

thanks for the suggestions!

 

uhm NO.
But you obviously have poor connection within the connector causing heat and melting. Replace it. And I no longer use any silvania silver star, Or other higher output auto store crap. They suck and go out quickly. 1 of my Jaguars years ago I swapped them in and kept the 7 year old oem bulbs in the glove box. Within 6-8 months I had replaced them twice. Put the old oems back and they lasted another 4 years till the car was totaled. I do like LEDs like from carlightingdistrict.com but they are BRIGHT $125 for headlights. plug n play with a module for the leds

 

I changed the connector after 1 blew out. The passenger side has the exact same connector and lamp - no issues, going on 8 months.

Dropping my car at my local British vehicle expert this am. thank you for the ideas.

 

Fixed. THe Jaguar specialist I found told me there was a gasket missing somewhere causing it to flicker and go out.

Weird thing is they were out for a moment yesterday, but seem to work through a 2 hr ride in the dark!

Only a Jaguar could exhibit such bizarre qualities.