bheng

Hello ladies and gents!
Haven't been on the forum for quite some time... And I hate to have the reason for coming back because of a problem with the car =(

So I have a headlight issue that seems a bit odd to me and I couldn't really find the answer by searching. I have the quad bix from fishcake. Bought about a year ago after I got into an accident (wasnt my fault). Had them installed by my mechanic and it was working beautifully until now. The passenger headlight is out.

I have done the following to try to pinpoint the issue:
Check fuse (not the issue since turn signal and city light still works)
New bulb
An old but working ballast from my previous headlight set up.

Nothing seems to power this on. Any other ideas that I may have not tried are welcome. I brought the car to an independent shop to see if he could diagnose the problem (maybe something needs to be done with STAR)

Anyways, I am all out of ideas so maybe the forums maybe able to help

Hope everyone here is doing well!

Glyn M Ruck

Likely ignitor failure. Benz sells a repair kit.

Glyn M Ruck

Here from the Wiki.

https://mbworld.org/wiki/index.php/F...acement-1-.pdf

bheng

Thanks for the quick reply Glym M Ruck! Quick newbie question: Is the ignitor the same thing as the ballast? When speaking with the indy owner, he said the issue might be the ignitor but he also threw the term out as ignitor/ballast?

Also should I forward the document you linked me or do you think he has it (hes the only Mercedes specific indy in town and competes with the local stealership in terms of repairs.

I hope this works!

Rudeney

In these aftermarket kits, the igniter is built-in to the ballast. Are you getting bulb errors? If so then the ballast is not getting power. If not, then the ballast is working but the bulb is not. It may be a wiring problem between the ballast and bulb. I'd check that with an ohm meter - though NOT with the ballast hooked up as it is DEADLY HIGH voltage!

Glyn M Ruck

Sorry ~ I did not realise this was aftermarket. If it's getting power from the SAM then it's likely that the ignitor has failed in the aftermarket ballast.

bheng

Thanks for the advice guys!

I emailed the manufacturer and he gave me a trouble shooting guide which I forwarded to the indy. But before this I had a discussion with the indy and specifically stated that I thought it might be a programming issue, perhaps setting xenon to present would rectify the issue.

But he went and checked all the wires. All the electronics powered up correctly so he went and set rear SAM to xenon present (that's what it said on the paperwork)

So everything is working and I am back on the road!

What I am surprised about is that for 2 years, the aftermarket kit worked without issue, didn't need to set the xenon= present. And the other thing that threw me off was that the driver side worked just fine. My car has a mind of its own

Glyn M Ruck

Pleased it's sorted. Something changed slightly causing the SAM to shut it down without Xenon = present.