I have debris in the headlamp of my 2007 XK. The dealer told me that it couldn’t be removed.
Is there indeed no way to remove the debris?

 

 

Ditto, it can be gotten out. Depending on what it is though, it'll be an indication of worse things happening inside. The ozone from the HID lamps eats the wiring insulation. Three bolts, one wiring connection and one washer hose is all that keeps them in the chassis. Once out, remove the lamps and big access covers and shake the snot out of it.

 

My experience agrees on all points. The debris inside is probably from someone turning a replacement bulb to far and breaking the brittle plastic retainers. Don't ask me how I know this to be a fact. :-(

Ditto on the wiring inside, especailly when replacing the cornering lamp and clear marker lamps. Be prepared to cover the wiring with electrical tape or similar as the insulation will fall off at the slightest touch or bump.

Cheers,

Dave.

 

Thank you all so much. I suspect my car sustained front end damage at some point as I purchased it used. The debris looks like small ends of wires.
I will take advantage of your advise and give it a go.
Thanks!!

 

Small ends of wires is most likely the insulation flaking off. I was just in my left side one yesterday as a wire broke. I suspect I'll end up rewiring it at some point as all of the little black HID control wires are cracked and a lot of the marker bulbs have the insulation flaking off. Electrical tape is coming off as well.

 

I'm keeping the dead moth in mine for good luck. If a moth can save Queen Victoria, surely it'll save a wretch like me.

 

I am attempting to fix an issue with my headlight and need to get a few spiders out that wouldn't come loose with shaking. 20 mins in the oven at 230 degrees did the trick.


This video offers a helpful tutorial:

 

I kept getting some error codes on the headlight levelers so I popped out both headlights opened them up and found the entire wiring harness to be flaking off leaving bare wires everywhere. Good reason for a short! Does anyone know if there are individual replacement wiring harnesses available for purchase or must I manually redo it? Also are there any hints on getting these headlights apart without having to remove the front lens? I could almost get all of the wiring out through the main plug with the exception of the level motor control which is a bear to get to. Hard to believe they would make something so guaranteed to fail. Slightest movement of any of the wires causes them to just fall off in a pile. Wow, what an unexpected job!

 

I wonder if the wiring flaking happens in all HID headlights or Jag had chosen the worse insulation around

 

Just changed parking bulbs on mine and all the wires I could see are in perfect condition. Mine is a 2006 but has only done 53000km and is garaged every night.

 

Well the lamps are Hella and I'm sure Jaguar didn't choose/specify the wiring

 

I just read about similar complaints in BMW forum
Hella said that it is complying BMW spec ... including wires...

 

Pretty much all wiring insulation now is soybean based material instead of plastic/vinyl stuff. Environmental folks initiated it as it makes good feed for mice and such.

 

The set of headlights that I am currently working on came from a 2008 model and are falling apart from tip to toe. The pictures above are also from a different 2008 donor car and are in slightly better shape although still cracking and falling apart. Anyone know any available wiring harnesses to use in this case?