Failure of automatic headlights on W222 S Class
04-11-2023, 11:32 AM
#1
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S Class W222
Failure of automatic headlights on W222 S Class
Hi, hopefully someone can help me who has experienced a similar issue.
I was driving the other day and randomly a message appeared telling me the automatic headlight function was inoperable. I then started receiving over the course of the next 30 minutes various messages about different lights not working. Such as right dipped beam, right and left parking lights, and when I used the indicators instead of them blinking at the usual speed, the clicking noise to indicate the blinking was twice as fast. At one point even though I was not indicating, the indicator stayed on and was blinking at double speed. Thankfully these issues have now stopped and all warning messages vanished. What remains however is the auto headlight function is still inoperable. Does anyone have any ideas?
I was thinking I might try replacing the ballast control unit as they seem pretty cheap parts on ebay, but I have no idea how to locate where it is on my car. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
I was driving the other day and randomly a message appeared telling me the automatic headlight function was inoperable. I then started receiving over the course of the next 30 minutes various messages about different lights not working. Such as right dipped beam, right and left parking lights, and when I used the indicators instead of them blinking at the usual speed, the clicking noise to indicate the blinking was twice as fast. At one point even though I was not indicating, the indicator stayed on and was blinking at double speed. Thankfully these issues have now stopped and all warning messages vanished. What remains however is the auto headlight function is still inoperable. Does anyone have any ideas?
I was thinking I might try replacing the ballast control unit as they seem pretty cheap parts on ebay, but I have no idea how to locate where it is on my car. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
04-11-2023, 12:00 PM
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2008 GL420 CDi and 2015 S500
Sometimes on modern cars with lots of electrical gizmos a main battery issue can cause all sorts of warnings to come up, not just mercedes but jaguars are common for it as well. How old is your car, is it still on the original battery ? Has it been stood for a while resulting in low battery voltage ?
Just a suggestion to maybe look into before delving any deeper.
Just a suggestion to maybe look into before delving any deeper.
04-11-2023, 01:06 PM
#3
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While your auxiliary battery is a possible cause, I feel that the condensation in your headlight more likely caused this issue. That is a common issue for the W222.
04-11-2023, 01:28 PM
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Thank you to both of you above for the tips and advice. I had the battery replaced almost exactly 1 year ago. I had it done at Halfords so they used an after market battery. I dont see any condensation in the headlights. I was thinking it must have been a control unit or sensor in the windscreen that detects the oncoming traffic ?
04-11-2023, 03:37 PM
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2008 GL420 CDi and 2015 S500
Thank you to both of you above for the tips and advice. I had the battery replaced almost exactly 1 year ago. I had it done at Halfords so they used an after market battery. I dont see any condensation in the headlights. I was thinking it must have been a control unit or sensor in the windscreen that detects the oncoming traffic ?
