I've owned my 04XJR for almost a year and generally love it.

I have the following problem that I'd love thoughts on.

- left headlight goes on and off after brief warm-up time (1-5 minutes) and eventually stays off. If I restart the car, it lights up and eventually goes out again and stays off. Doesn't sem like it's a bulb problem
-when this problem popped up, another started happening. My homelink will fire on its own, opening and closing my garage door. You can see the little light on the button flickering. this is intermittent - wonder if it is related to the headlight.

Any suggestions on what to look for?

Thanks.

 

Probably need a new D1S bulb (they usually last 50-70K miles) with integrated igniter could also be the ballast.

 

Thanks for the response. Sounds like getting at the ballast is a big labor job (remove bumper, etc.).

Given that the car is 7+ years old, if one ballast and/or igniter is bad, should I be telling the mechanic to replace the other one while he is in there? Would this be a good preventative step to take?

 

I would try replacing the bulbs first, they can be found on Amazon for about $40 each, Xenarc is the OEM. Replace them in pairs. The igniters are built into the bulb base so those will be going too. You will have to drop the bumper either way to get to the rear of the headlight housing and it is quite easy, about a 15 minute job. Seven torx on the bottom and a couple on the top.

Ballasts can be found on eBay, otherwise I believe you will have to buy the entire assembly from the dealer at around $1,000 each.

 

I have the same problem on mine and figure out it's the bulb. Try swapping the bulb left and right and see the problem switch side ir still stay at the same side before you can rule out it's either the ballast or the bulb.

 

Thanks, everyone. I'll try either swapping or replacing the bulbs first. Does anyone know of some place with detailed instructions on how to get at the bulbs? I'm a little handy, but not incredibly so. I don't want to screw up.

 

HIDBulbzRus Products

From research this site will be the legit site that to buy non fake bulb and is one of the cheapest around.

 

The only way I know is to drop the bumper. There are a few others on here who have done the same thing. Make sure you put down a blanket under the bumper for it to fall on. There are 7 torx on the underside and a couple of screws on the top side. Once those are removed, the bumper will swing out from the top and down, take care not to strain any of the harnesses. The headlamp assemblies are held in from the front by a couple of screws. Carefully disconnect the wireharness and lift the assembly out. Make sure your hands are clean and pop ope the rear cover to the main bulb. You will then see the igniter base, held in by a wire lever. Very carefully disconnect the small wire and remove the bulb/igniter assembly and inspect. DO NOT TOUCH THE GLASS! Reverse to put everything back together. You can test the new bulbs first if you like, after putting the headlamp assembly back into the car, fire it up.

Hope that helps.

 

Oh and the D1S part number you need is 66144. Sometimes Autozone has them too.

 

If needed I can upload a youtube video for how to change the bulb sometimes next week when my bulb get here without dropping the bumper. Let me know.

 

Casper - if you have a video you can upload, that would be great. I ordered replacement bulbs in Amazon and they are arriving today. If I don't have to drop the bumper, that would be great.

I sent a note to my local mechanic, explaining my problem. They responded back saying "another car had the same problem - needed a new headlamp assembly for $1400 plus 2 hours of labor," so $1700 ballpark. I think I'm looking for a new mechanic.

 

If/when my bulbs need replacing, I'd take the chance and order these. For $25 shipping included, not much to lose.
http://www.amazon.com/Kensun-Xenon-4...106328&sr=1-21

 

Thanks for the suggestion, however 2 very important points. First, those are the wrong bulbs, our HID bulbs are D1S. Second point, I would highly advise getting any cheap aftermarket HID bulbs. These are high voltage & high pressure, if for some reason they failed such as exploding, chance are the entire assembly would need to be replaced, potentially costing a few thousand for new ones. For a few bucks more, why not have the peace of mind of having OEM bulbs that will last about 50-80K miles???

 

I've change out the bulb already and was in a hurry because rain is approaching within minutes before I even start. But if needed I can redo the process just to clarify it if needed.

However I can type out the procedure here in layman's term. This will be for the passenger side since the driver's side is less than involving.

The top cover panel need to be out and I'm assuming you know how to do it by take out the 6 plastic fastener by turning it couple times by hand. About a 30 second to a minute's job if you're wondering.

Then the bulb cover behind the headlight. The one with the metal rod tab thingy. pull it towards the car and you'll see the top will be pry open by itself. The metal rod thingy don't be surprise or give up if it doesn't want to bulge especially if it has never been open before. Just need to pull upward forward in force. Once that is done and you'll notice the 2 grounding bolt with wire behind the cover is blocking it from opening up. The cover needs to be push rearward towards the grounding bolt and pull upwards which need some force too because at the bottom there is a tab kinda click it down. A flashlight will help here to see the bottom cover lip if it clears the main housing lip or not before pulling it up. once that cover is broke free then angle the cover a bit sideway and snake it out from the compartment there.The biggest problem here will be the big bundle of wire behind the cover that prevent the back cover movement so you can unbolt the grounding wire and you can push the big bundle of wire downwards after that. If you do that don't forget to bolt the grounding wire back or else the bulb will just flash in the middle round part and won't fire up. Also when bolting the wire back do not overtighten like regular force or else those bolt will just snap(I broke both of mine). Just finger tighten it and use wrench snug it down lightly and that's it, and I mean really really lightly snug it down.

Then you'll see the bulb base with the square ignitor block on it held by a finned type frame and a wire locking tab behind it. Use your finger and feel the bottom of the square block thing and you'll feel the connector at the bottom. Now the important safety part, Leave you remote key out of your pocket and leave it somewhere that nothing will accidentally push the light button or else Einstein hairstyle is the result of it with burned bacon smell.

The wire connector you can use your finger and unplug it by pulling downwards by rocking it left and right because again, if it never being pull apart it'll be stiff in there. Use the other hand to support the headlight projector base while you are doing this to prevent damage to the mounting point. Another way is to release the rear bulb locking tab and slide the headlight bulb out and use a small flathead screwdriver to pry it apart.

Installation is the reverse and when putting it back be very careful when sliding the bulb back in. Do not damage or crack the brown color insulator on the return wire that is coming out from in front of the bulb or the bulb is useless and do not touch the glass part as well.

Once the replacement bulb is put it back into the housing nicely and lock down using the wire locking tab then use your finger fish the connector part back in. Then everything else is the reverse order and you're set. Before putting the cover back look at the bottom part of the cover and understand the locking tab and you'll figure out how to snap it back, the cover also have the alignment tab at the side and line those up and click away.

The driver side is only involving the rear cover and that's it and have almost extra half of space to work then the passenger side and it'll only take about 1/3 of the time than passenger side.

Let me know if these mumbling words help or not and if not then I can make the short video for you.

Goodluck.

 

I went to autozone.com and looked up the HID replacement bulbs for our cars. They list D2S. That's where I got D2S from. My bad for assuming AZ would have it right.

So in the case of D1S, I'd most likely chance these:
Extras

Lifetime warranty. I'd chance it.

 

Yes, unfortunately several sites incorrectly list the D2S. If you look at the lower part of the headlight lens you will actually see it stamped D1S.

Anyhow you are free to use whatever brand you wish. I was just recommending for the minimal difference in price, why not go with the best and have some peace of mind, at $.001 per mile or $1.00 per thousand miles...well, I rest my case

 

For a legit real replacement I would get from this site and that's where I bought mine from. I got the Phillips version and I can attest to the legitimacy of the product since I've got it and compared from lot's of picture post from various forums. Go read up some various story of people buying on the cheap side for the fake one look allike and there's a reason I didn't just paid cheap money to get fake one. It took me long enough research to finally bought the real deal after months of research and it pays off.

 

Thanks for the link Casper. They probably are "legit" at those prices. As I have mentioned before, you can get the OEM Osram Xenarc from Amazon (not a third party seller) with free 2nd day shipping if you have a Prime account, for about $40 each or almost half the price of the site you mentioned.

 

thanks for the input on this. Duly taken under advisement.

 

The risk of Einstein hair and bacon smell has me a bit worried. I bought 2 bulbs from Amazon. My problem is on the driver's side, so maybe I will give that a try.

Or I'll try to take the bumper off and do some proper troubleshooting. I really have no idea what I'm doing, so I just have to hope I don't get myself into an odd situation (get the bumper off, can't put it back on, or open lamp housing and can't put the pieces back).