Aleemzee

Another update. I switched back the fuses to the original numbers and the lights still work fine.

However still getting intelligent light systems inoperative.

I’m guessing it’s time to replace the left side module since the left side light is slightly higher than the right side

S. Madman

Wrong post.

EuroDriverSD

Hello there Aleemzee. Let me start by stating that although I have done extensive work on my own lighting system (converting from static LED headlights to ILS Dynamic LEDs), I have not delved this deep into diagnosing. I left that part to an expert.

However in doing my research for my conversion, I did happen to read some information that the "Intelligent Light System Inoperative" warning is sometimes caused by a sticking or broken motor inside the headlight (the motors that move the light projectors up/down, side-to-side). I don't remember if a stuck motor would cause a blown fuse, however it is worth checking. One suggestion I remember reading is via Xentry, run the diagnostics that tests those motors. If no malfunction is reported, it may not mean much as sometimes the sticking motor is an intermittent problem. Run the tests multiple times, as this workout sometimes manages to free whatever is binding the motor movement.

In my case, "Intelligent Light System Inoperative" turned out to be a bad voltage regulator and the rear level sensor, but it seems you already tested for that. I had a list of codes that included B178313 but not B284D71

I'm sorry that I cannot provide very detailed information on this, as it has been some time since I was involved with it. However I hope it it helpful.

Aleemzee

Thank you for your detailed response.

I did manually tried rotating and moving the motors and they were working fine. Could go in all directions. But they did not move when i tried the intelligent system which move the light according to the steering wheel position.

Also after months today in the afternoon the error did not showup shockingly. But it came on as soon as I restarted my car

Akoi

any updates on this? I have the same problem. Water got into my headlight and I’m trying to figure this out

Aleemzee

I never actually got the rotating motors to work but from all the information the big ballast device under the headlight needs to be replaced and recoded. There are two devices under the headlight.

As far as my headlights LED’s are concerned. I got them working by first replacing the headlight fuse to a higher amp and then after probably a month switched back to the original amp fuse and the headlights kept working.

If you have water try cleaning the contacts. This is an extremely common issue with these headlights

Akoi

thanks buddy, any chance you know which fuse it is that needs to be replaced? Or at least which fuse box? Front engine bay fuse box or rear fuse box

CaliBenzDriver

... your ballast got a soak and now you need Xentry to code a new module but that's not a complete fix until you prevent future REPEATS!!

The question is... how can water penetrate our best-in-class headlights:
1- cracked plastic enclosure
2- rear connector wire SEALS <<<<
3- light "bulbs/LED diode" access covers 2x
4- all of the above!


headlight harness connector = capillary channel

I am going to fix item#2 SEALS with black RTV silicone to prevent that failure... These cars practically channel rain water down each side of the hood on top of the hot headlights - What could go wrong??

The ballast controller is housed at the lowest point where a drain would be most beneficial.


quick RTV sealant fix
>> I am going to disconnect batteries before my Left/Right ballast miss one another and go into a safety one-eye mode default.

Left Coast Geek

fyi, I don't think the ILS headlight turning is tied to the steering wheel, rather, its tied to the camera's lane tracking system, it sees the road stripes bending up ahead, and anticipates the change of direction BEFORE you turn. on most roads, the amount you turn the wheel for typical turns is so slight that aiming the headlights would either be overly sensitive or not effective.

juanmor40

Just be careful and aware when changing fuses with a different rating as specified by the manufacturer. If you go lower it is possible that it is burnt/blown, but it will not damage anything else, if you go higher and by any chance (bad luck?), there is a short in the circuit you may end up with a blown electronic component downstream, $$$. Unless you are the one who designed the circuitry downstream, understand it extremely well or have very deep pockets, do NOT use a higher rating fuse than specified in the manual.

Once an HVAC "specialist" came to fix a problem at home. He left saying it was a minor fuse blown in the air-handler, and he replaced it ($75 visit ). In the middle of the night, a strong smell of burnt plastic, I went to the hallway and the thermostat was burning (literally fire coming out). The $%^&* had used a 5A fuse instead of the 3A fused specified in the panel (I guess he did not have a 3A in the truck). He could have burned the house because of "his expertise". Not sure what his manager did, but someone else came and replaced not only the thermostat but all capacitors in the compressor, air handler, contactors and a few other components. Total bill after the 2nd visit: "Nothing, our fault it will not happen again". From what I saw in the old components, the real problem was the contactors

Left Coast Geek

FWIW, fuses protect the WIRING and the power SOURCE, but not really the circuitry downstream.

juanmor40

With utmost respect. I am sorry, but to me, the fuses (in the general sense) are there to protect expensive/critical components downstream and prevent a fire if flammable materials are present when parts overheat. Otherwise, we would build houses w/o breakers and cars w/o fuses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuse_(electrical)

Left Coast Geek

if a component is drawing too much current, either the component is way out of design spec and already faulty, or the power source is supplying way too much voltage.

most electrical fires are from short circuits due to insulation failures, causing the wiring itself to massively overheat and burn.

juanmor40

Agree with that statement completely. But not knowing which component is going to blow downstream is a tricky business.

Let us say the last component in the circuit is faulty but it is on the other side of an expensive component that so far has tolerated the high current (but below the fuse rating), it will just break once the higher current is allowed to pass through the newer fuse. We now have two (or more components to replace).

Fuses are there to protect all the members of the circuit, not the one that is starting to fail.

Left Coast Geek

devices on a circuit are in parallel, each only sees its OWN current, but they all see the supply voltage.

juanmor40

"Some" devices on a circuit are in parallel. Not all devices in a circuit are in parallel unless you are limiting the word "devices" for only those that can be connected in parallel.

Left Coast Geek

what subassemblies in a automobile have their power wired in series ?

juanmor40

You might be right, and I do not have such a wholesome view of automotive circuitry, and I will need to research it to answer it properly. But as I said in my original statement, unless the person changing the fuse knows "a lot" of the circuit downstream, and be extremely familiar with the nuisances, it is not recommended. to just change a fuse without being aware of the consequences.

Not only from this thread, but I can tell you are not the kind "of the middle of the road" I was referring to. For those unfamiliar with "any area" I always use caution instead of asking for forgiveness when someone comes back saying "I did what you suggested and now I blew my XYZ".

From the Handbook of Electrical Engineering, 2nd Edition Chapter: Circuits, Page 38


Separately, to me, the word circuit is just an interconnected set of parts that can be structural (bridge with trusses), a water distribution system, electrical distribution grid, automobile circuits (as discussed here), pneumatic, etc. Fuses are present in nearly all "generic circuits" in one way or another "to protect" their components, and prevent further damage to the "whole system" whatever that might be.

Left Coast Geek

in that paragraph you scanned, the "overload" is too much current, which is exactly the same as the 'second condition', over current.

fuses melt when there's too much current going through them, period. the opening of the fuse prevents the wire from melting and potentially catching fire.

current is a function of voltage / resistance. too high of a voltage, or too low of a resistance, same thing, too much current.

CaliBenzDriver

Search for HL fuse:
I think it is the F-SAM that's responsible for feeding the headlights directly without a round trip to rear SAM.


Russian roulette :
The HL circuit blew its fuse because the load got greater than it's rating. What caused that is water pudling inside the ballast.

​​​​​​Not drying the soaked ballast is taking the chance it will develop crustees from metal corrosion ($$$$ fix).

Best thing to do would be to open up the ballast 4x screws ASAP to see if it can be saved by drying or cleaning ... otherwise it's new parts + Xentry coding.

Akoi

My vin is WDD2120012B283143 - what ballast module do I need to buy?

e220 w212 2015, facelift with Ils

konigstiger

Check both voltage regulator (current part # 2228700789) & CU (2189007306) for corrosion.

Akoi

Hey guys.

so I managed to get the ballast module removed. I also replaced the fuse for the headlight.

I haven’t yet coded the module as the shop is closed, and it opens on Monday.

I have an issue however, and I have been overthinking it. So perhaps an expert can confirm my suspicions or tell me it’s nothing to worry about.

as the technician was replacing the module, the headlight was still plugged in. As the ballast module was removed, the dipped beams turned on and when the new module was installed (and since then) the right headlight is not doing anything(as opposed to before, the dipped beams would work at least)

Should I be worried that my headlight shorted out while that swap happened or is this normal and functionality will resume after it is coded. Thanks a lot

Kirag

I have been through two previous headlights! One from condensation and the lights seemingly possessed and second time as a result of an accident! So now being ny third time having an issue with these lights I decided to Google and look at YouTube videos and all.
so this issue was very hard to find. Really depends on what words you use to Google. However, the issue was rare from what I found.
Third times a charm right?! Lol
I noticed one day at startup that messages started to pop up about my light. It said sidemarker inoperative, low beam inoperative, high beam inoperative, active headlamps inoperative etc. Like almost 6 or 8 messages about the light. Sometimes indicating one or both headlights in the messages. The next day when there was some light I visited by mechanic. We both noticed a small tiny Crack. Maybe cause by a rock or something idk. So he dried out the light and sealed it with a proxy. This still didn't fix the light but I kept hope because under the same circumstances the first time I had these headlights they wouldn't even turn on! At that time these headlight were $3,500 usd for one side!
Even when i changed the light setting from park to this to that, It didn't make a difference.
I thought it was the balast or operative module computer for the light. These two boxes are under each headlight. The boxes tend to go bad if there is condensation or extreme flooding or moisture of the light. They are at the bottom of the light so water coming into the light always goes down.
So I still drove with the halfway lighting. I have the matrix eyeball lights with eyebrows aka led lights
for some time. One side was high and low beam (the two eye ***** that roll around) and the other side the led lights (I say the eyebrows lol ) The light never changed.
I would typically put a thick garbage bag in place under the hood to cover the light whenever I saw rain coming.
I usually don't drive at night but given the fact that my inspection is up at the end of the month I was desperate to figure this out!!!!
so.....i went to the fuse boxes after process of elimination. There is apparently 3, I found 2 of them. One under the hood on the driver's side (left hand) and one in the passenger side of the trunk. Luckily I have all my books and manuals from when I purchased my car. On the diagram I saw the third it's somewhere in the front inside of the car. Buy either was it was fuse 110 and it was for heating and ventilation so that wasn't a concern for me.
I went to the diagram and the fuse box under the hood. The fuses were all there, in place, and working. No blown fuses there.
so I went under to the other fuse box in the trunk. There i found at least two fuses that needed to be replaced and that were blown or melted. Weird that one of the fuses was semi melted, but that was the one!!!!!!!! Indeed I found it. The fuse that had driven me crazy for almost over a month 😳 😩 it was kind of melted and it test that it worked but I replaced it.
Strangely I noticed that all the fuses aren't there or may be extra spaces etc. So it didn't look exactly like the diagram. Also, as you add on features to the vehicle like a dashboard camera or all around park tronics this would cause you to have more fuses or high amos in certain areas of the fuse box. So slots were empty that I thought should have a fuse but whatever! Everything else seemed to be working just fine before this light issue. So it was a task and hard to get some out especially at the top. I had to try to hold the top framing around the fuse box down to get to the areas on the top. I CHECKED EVERY LAST FUSE IN THERE. I REPLACED TWO. ONE WAS DEFINTELY THE CULPRIT IT WAS A 30 AND A 20.
The headlights started right up and litt right up!!! Unbelievable. I also noticed that I had a problem starting my car as if the battery was drained.
I don't know if this was a contributing factor or a seperate issue but i had the battery removed which was also tasking. I fully charged the battery it was at 68%. I had the battery placed back in and boom 💥 😎 the car headlights were working just perfect!!

You can probably tell from the fuse colors which ones i changed lol each one that doesnt have a clear glass looking color. I changed that bright green and the bright yellow down the row. One in the purple plastic fuse section and the other in the yellow plastic fuse section.

Rear trunk fuse box

These two! Not sure which one but if you look at the fuse diagram and the part numbers its associated with you'll know. I believe it was the green fuse.

ha071491

Hey brother, were you able to solve this? I just recently had the same thing happen to me! I don’t know what to do! If you can tell me how you fixed yours I’d appreciate it a lot!