socalbenz555

Has anyone had this problem? Right headlight went out but the bulb is still good. All fuses are ok. Bought new bulbs(silverstars). Still no light. Also checked all other bulbs and sockets, everything looks brand new all other lights work and all sockets are clean. Ground wires are all good, plug connectors are clean and fit tight. "defective Lamp" only goes on when I turn on the headlights, and again when I turn off the ignition.


1997 E420

carlsson9

probably check the parking lights, or even the high beam lights..its probably the H6W parking lights though..

maybe it could be your fogs too....

how bout your rear lamps?

socalbenz555

I checked all my lights and they all work. Fog lamps, tail lamps, high beams,side marker lights, License plate lights, reverse lights, all are clean and work great. There is no evidence of arcing or corrosion, only the right front headlight is not working. I can use a jumper wire running from the left headlight to make the right one work, but I still get the message. I also checked the plug that goes into the right headlight and get no voltage. I checked and replaced the fuses. all fuses are still good but replaced them anyway.BTW the Sylvania silverstars (H7ST) lights are really nice. They look very very bright. They look super white, but not like that stupid blue crap you see on Ghetto monkey cars.

E430 George

This is a known problem, something with the old wiring that was updated later on when the facelift came out. The dealer said something about the wiring harness not sending enough power there or something, had to be updated, the dealer should know about this and do it for u. Hope this helps.

Big J

Why not try the left bulb on your headlight to the right just to make sure that the bulb on your right headlight is really ok. then it could be the wire or relay. hope this help

socalbenz555

Thank you. I guess its up to the dealer to fix this thing.

socalbenz555

I did that with the old bulbs to make sure they worked. Then I bought new bulbs anyway and tried bolth bulbs in the left one and they both work. Just no power to the right one.

boisehomes

Did you ever find a fix for this anybody?

Thanks,
Troy

boisehomes

I am getting a little frustrated....called dealer and got service managers voicemail!

Thanks,
T

E-Klasse

I was having a Lamp Failure issue. Like you described about only the one headlight going on instead of both sides. Mine was doing that with the parking lights.

I replaced my headlight switch and all problems went away. The switch must have failed internally.

Some times the circuit would be open and other times shorted to a different contact for another light. I would turn my lights on to just the parking position and my drivers side light would not come on. Then when I turned my fog lights on, it would come on.

The new headlight switch works great. I would say to change it in your case.

fju2112

I know the source of mine...it's the rear fog lamp. I've replaced the bulb and the blue bulb housing...out of ideas...anyone know how to troubleshoot this particular lamp? 2002 e320.

E-Klasse

The system only checks if a bulb is good after it turns it on. If the correct current is not measured then a fault is displayed. If you do not turn on the rear fog light, then you should not get the fault until you do.

Turn the headlight switch to position 1. If a fault is dispalyed, stop and check what bulbs should be on. A lot of times it is the license plate light or a side marker light if a bulb being out is hard to detect. Then try the all of the switch positions until a fault is displayed.

If the fault is not displayed until you step on the brakes, then you have the common tail light socket problem.

In my case, the headlight switch module itself was bad.

my E430 rocket

the system does not check the rear fogs...

fju2112

It absolutely does check the rear foglight. As E-Klasse mentioned above, you receive the message when the light in question turns on. I should have elaborated, but I'm familiar with this system and had this issue on a front fog lamp before; problem was fixed. This ONLY happens when I click out twice to turn on the rear foglamp...and the rear foglamp is the only light on the car that is not working. after replacing both the bulb and the housing, i'm out of ideas...

fju2112

Is there a fuse for just the rear foglamp? after replacing the bulb and the blue bulb housing, i'm out of ideas; the light does not illuminate and when i pull the knob back two clicks i get the error message.

E-Klasse

If the light doesn't even come on with a good bulb and socket, then you may have a break in the wire of a bad headlight switch. Check the fuses on the headlight switch. Take the side cover off of the dash next to the headlight switch.

ProV1

my sidemarkers were burnt out so i was getting the f##King 'lamp defective' messages. i changed the bulbs and got sylvania's, and now the lamps work fine but i still get the malfunction message.

is it possible that only oem bulbs will make the message go away? all other bulbs are fine.

E-Klasse

As long as they are the same wattage as the original ones, they should operate the same. LED replacements for example will light up but still give the warning because they draw less power so the system still measures that the bulb is bad.

KINGGLORY

Silverstars are awesome but I had the same issues..Go to an OEM bulb and the problem is fixed. I am not sure why but been through all kinds of strange issues.

I also tried Silvers on my Jaguar and kept blowing bulbs every 3-7 days. This happened about 5 times. I went to the OEM and all was well.

I also put them on my GMC truck and had no problems at all.

Go figure

fju2112

One reason I don't think that's the issue is because the little indicator light by the headlight switch turns on, but the bulb itself does not. I had this happen in my 430 and replacing it with a new bulb worked...is there a fuse specifically for the rear foglight?

fju2112

FINALLY figured this out, which confirms that the rear foglamp is checked by the system.

I was tooling around again with the new bulb and housing i bought for the rear foglamp. since the trunklid has to be up for one to get at the housing, and it's been cold out, i haven't even been looking at the light AS i screw the housing in. today, since it was a little warmer, i started lowering the trunklid before i had screwed the housing completely in, and saw the bulb go on briefly. then i realized, i had to twist the bulb housing in completely - then twist it back the other way a millimeter or so. this allowed the current to get through and the bulb to illuminate. not sure if this has to do with corrosion on the contact that's hitting the new bulb housing or what? but in any case, it seems the problem is solved. i'm just hoping the housing doesn't get jilted out of place since it's not 100% "in there" (it's about 99% twisted into place). No more error message and the rear fog now works.

anyone else ever have this problem with any of the rear lights; is it something that i have to worry about?

E-Klasse

If you use the rear fog light a lot, the contact it the origianl spot could be burned. This happens to the brake light sockets as well with the 21W bulbs. The rear fog is on constantly so it is possible that it got burned in that spot. That has been a fault with the taillights on a lot of Benzes. You are turning it slightly so that it makes contact in another spot.

ggharek

I have this problem too, and this happens very frequently, and it says "LAMP DEFECTIVE." So I tried out all the lights, and all of them are good except for the Rear Right (passenger side) fog light. How much will it cost to repair/replace the fog light? Also, how can I repair it myself? I drive a 1998 E430 (non-sport). Thank you.
ggharek@gmail.com

ohlord

you only have one in the rear the other is a dummy socket,that way in the fog people don't think you have applied the brakes when you have not.Keep looking,and look up gregs210 post on tracking down light warnings over on benzworld.org
ohlord
"GOT CODES?"

E43 S

damm I have the same problem---my passenger side parking light is out((small front light)). I changed the bulbs, but it still dosent turn on??

From reading this ---Im guessing that my Light Switch is bad huh?
Can i replace that my self?? and how much is this part?