DaddySS

The headlights on my 2003 C240 are intermittent and I thought I read that either the ballasts or wiring had a problem. I have searched all over and I see lots of posts about bulbs but the lights work just fine for days and then one (usually passenger side, some times both) goes out. If I turn them on and off a few times sometimes they work, other time they will work the next time I drive the car. If it is a problem with ballasts, where's a good place to get them?

suprasv

Do you have OEM D2S HID or aftermarket HID in your Halogen headlamps?

DaddySS

They are OEM 2DS HIDs (I think)...projector, self leveling.

samaritrey

when was the last time the bulbs were replaced? remember they don't burn out like normal bulbs they start color shifting or causing other problems. i recommend you buy new bulbs and see if that fixes your issue. my bix had a similar problem and instead of replacing the ignitions or ballasts i replaced the bulbs and this fixed the problem. i would suggest you switch the bulbs but it sounds like both are causing problems.

ebay is the cheapest place to get them i would recommend the Philips d2s 85122+ make sure the ones you buy are new and not used and when installing never touch the glass.

wvadam

before you spend hundreds on new ballasts try getting 2200uF capacitors and putting one each in parallel with the 12V power source going to the ballast. That fixed my aftermarket from going out or flickering and cost me a few dollars.

samaritrey

don't do that unless you have aftermarket headlights or put the bix in yourself which seeing that you have such a low post count your car came with the bix.

just thought of something else when the lights have problems do they flicker or fire then go out then refire? do you get any errors in your instrument cluster? to bad you don't live closer i would gladly help you diagnose or test with my bulbs to fix your problem. if you have any trips to the dc area let me know and we will solve your problem i know us IT people are not always the best car mechanics thank god my family are car people.

if you don't mind me asking what type of IT work do you do. i am young but love the hardware side of computers and was going to base my career on it until i decided i wanted to be a police officer but since i am 19 i can't do anything till i am 21 so i am reduced to getting a job at best buys geek squad at least i will be paid well. please no jokes about them i know that anyone that knows anything at all runs from them but i will be doing customer service for the geek squad at the geeks quad pay rate so i won't complain.

krisv420

DUDE the dog just wanted to be with his friend.... thats saddd

samaritrey

hope the dog was alright i hate when animals get hurt
unless they taste good !!

DaddySS

It just seems odd that they will wiork for months and then be extremely temperamental and then work for months again.

They never flicker or go out, they just fail to start. The DIC reads "Low Beam Lamp Failure".

I manage the Global Network for a large international bank, and thanks for the offer to help.

samaritrey

that is exactly what my bulbs were doing when i got my bix. i was scared that it was the igniters or ballasts which cost big bucks. then i replaced the bulbs because a member on here said it fixed his problem which was just like mine and now my bix are perfect again. ok more questions do they go out together or sometimes together sometimes not? and of course they work fine for a while then stop that is just to make you angry and harder to diagnose. but as i said before if you haven't replaced the bulbs ever that is where i would start because they are the cheapest/easiest thing to do. if it turns out not to be bulbs you can switch the ballasts from side to side to try and diagnose that.

lol didn't read your response to your second quote ok i would say bulbs or igniters. the ballasts usually fail completely or cause flickering and going out and coming back on. that is what mine did when it failed at least. another thing is that i can't even remember reading on here about a ballast failure. they always seem to have ignitor problems which are a pain.

Networking nice that is something i enjoy working with but hardware is more of my passion. what certs do you have i assume some networking and security? my only cert right know is A+ and i don't have any plans for any others.

DaddySS

OK, I guess I'll try a bulb - I just hate parts swapping as a diagnostic approach. I prefer to test and take action based on results but I suppose I don't have a lot of choices here.

samaritrey

yeah i do too but as i said before if you have not replaced bulbs yet you really should after a few years to get peek performance. + i would keep the old ones to have in emergency even if they are the cause of your problem i have 3 or 4 extra d2s bulbs in my car . even the dealer would start throwing parts at it they usually start with bulbs and after that some will just say to buy a new light but others will tell you about getting a new ignitor or ballast. unless anyone else has any ideas i would replace the bulbs and then post pics of them curious to see if they did what mine did and had a really burned part that looked like if i had left it any longer would have blown up. if you need any help installing i could make you a hd video. just got a new cheap hd camera and want to test it out gl hope this is an easy fix for you and doesn't end up being a pain to fix.

dam it i just had an idea for you; but your corvette uses d1s bulbs oh well.

DaddySS

OK, well I replaced the r/h side bulb and it's still intermittent, which do I try next - igniter and where's a good place to find them?

suprasv

The problem here is not the bulbs. You mention they work sometimes for days and then stop working, then work again...This is a problem with the ballasts or the wiring connectors that is not making good contact. I've had this problem with aftermarket HID and fixed it by replacing the ballasts only. I'm not familiar with the OEM Bi-xenons so I don't know if you can use aftermarket ballasts on them. I'd have to see what type of connector goes to the oem ballast.

DaddySS

I was skeptical about the bulbs but the reason I think now it must be the igniter is that they never falter once they work, they are steady, bright, never flicker etc.

samaritrey

Sounds like the igniter to me but it is hard to say. Sorry that it wasen't your bulbs but they were still a good idea for two reasons. one they were getting old and two they are the cheapest thing to replace igniters are expensive.

d1no

couldnt he just get an aftermarket hid d2s kit in there if all else fails.. i mean the projectors are there he could just hook it up as if he had halogen lights and was putting an hid kit.. the light output would be like stock hid correct?

samaritrey

he could but you would have to get a power source from somewhere to power it and get the connetor from the ballast into the headlight. i thought about this becase it was cheper but i really didint want to moddify the bix in any way becase they are worthy of a lol you could either cut the dust cap or go in through the stock ballast hole. but as far as i know the light output should be stock aslong as you use the same bulbs in both sides.

if you need to save some cash and don't mind cuting wires and moddifying the expesnive light go for it. if you are like me and really don't want to modify the housing or cut any wires do it the right more expensive way. that is all up to you though becase it is your car.

d1no

^^ i dont think you would have to cut anything other than the dust cap because the hid kit would get power from the d2s bulb connector.. dust cap is cheap tho.. im just saying lol id like to keep the expensive bix stock too but i dont even have bix only the depo bix lookalike which i plan on retrofitting and makin them sick

samaritrey

could you please explain to me how you will get 12v from the d2s connector? if you did you would end up with the power going through the oem ballast through the oem ignitor then into the aftermarket ballast/igniter then to bulb. i would tap into the harness outside of the light then go in through the dust cap.

d1no

i have personally not seen a bix headlight opened up but i have my stock w203 lights all taken apart for something i want to do and all the wiring is inside the headlight housing. you know that connector that you plug the plug from your cars wiring to the headlight.. well when you open the lights up there is wires on the other side of it.. 2 wires for the turn signal, 2 wires for the high beams and 2 for the low beams, im guessing its pretty similar for the bix except the 2 of the wires lead to the oem igniter and ballasts.. and the other wire goes to the cuttof shield that activates the solenoid for the high beams in the projector. the wires going to the igniter and ballasts should be a 12v right? so this 12v source can power an aftermarket hid kid that has igniters and all that built into the balllasts.. so wires connect to hid kit and then hid kit gets power from wires and its all good from there..

im just saying all this in theory lol.. it would require some skill to get it to work but if your really dont wanna pay the price to fix the igniters and whatnot then you could yank it all out and run an aftermarket hid kit like someone without a retrofit would and it wouldnt throw codes since your car is XENON PRESENT i assume..