suggestions as to why my headlight is not working?

[Shuvi McTupya]

I just bought a 2003 2.5 AWD X-type and the passenger side headlight is not working.

My neighbour put his test meter on it and tells me there is no power going to it so i have checked the fuses, to no avail.

Everything else is working fine and the car is in fine fettle.

What to check next??

Thanks in advance.

[paintman]

Fuse checked with meter to show it is actually OK?
Power to the fuse feed side?
Keep checking back through the wiring, looking for a break or poor connection.

Have to ask, you DID have the lights switched on - and the ignition if required? Yes, I KNOW its a silly question but........

[Shuvi McTupya]

paintman said:

Fuse checked with meter to show it is actually OK?
Power to the fuse feed side?
Keep checking back through the wiring, looking for a break or poor connection.

Have to ask, you DID have the lights switched on - and the ignition if required? Yes, I KNOW its a silly question but........

Didnt check fuse with meter, but tried different fuse.

Not sure about power to the fuse feed side.

And yes, the ignition was on, and the other head light was working

[LuS1fer]

Possibly a relay but I think with modern CANBUS (of which I know about zero) that if the bulb is gone, the computer won't send power to it.

[Pablo16v]

Have you tried fitting a new bulb?

[ean21]

Before you buy a replacement bulb - try the bulb from the other side?

[Shuvi McTupya]

Neighbour (engineery type) checked the bulb and says it is fine, but there is no harm in trying the other bulb in there i guess

[Shuvi McTupya]

Hmm, went out to the car tonight, turned the headlights on and the remaining good one flashed on for a second and then died...

Just spoke to my jag man down south and he just said "yeah they do that, X-types just eat headlamp bulbs, you need to get an HID conversion or you will forever be changing bulbs.."

So i guess i need to go go get some normal bulbs and try them out to see if he is right, and get onto sorting out this HID thingy hopefully before the next set goes!

Sounds a bit weird though..

[saleen836]

Can you get behind the bumper to see where the connector plug is from the headlight to the loom?
If you can pull the male/female connector apart and check the connections inside as they have possibly corroded.

[Shuvi McTupya]

saleen836 said:

Can you get behind the bumper to see where the connector plug is from the headlight to the loom?
If you can pull the male/female connector apart and check the connections inside as they have possibly corroded.

can i get behind the bumper? not sure, but i doubt it

I will pop down to a jaguar place tomorrow for some fresh bulbs and whether they work or not, i will order an HID kit.

I could use the extra light the HID kit will give me anyway, living out here in the middle of no where..

[Shuvi McTupya]

Well, i feel a bit silly now.

All it needed was new bulbs, so much for my engineery neighbour

[h0b0]

The bulb probably has 2 filaments and he only checked 1.

[Speed addicted]

Shuvi McTupya said:

Hmm, went out to the car tonight, turned the headlights on and the remaining good one flashed on for a second and then died...

Just spoke to my jag man down south and he just said "yeah they do that, X-types just eat headlamp bulbs, you need to get an HID conversion or you will forever be changing bulbs.."

So i guess i need to go go get some normal bulbs and try them out to see if he is right, and get onto sorting out this HID thingy hopefully before the next set goes!

Sounds a bit weird though..

My dad had an X-type for about three years. For the last 18 months of that it wanted at least one new headlight bulb a month.
Decent bulbs were fitted every time and the dealer coundn't find a fault.

[McSam]

And here I am a fraction too late to say that well over 99% of faults relating to bulbs not working are solved by, surprisingly, replacing the bulbs

Also, the point about X-Types eating headlight bulbs is crap, from my experience. They are occasionally (on diesel models) a little awkward to fit, and as a result are sometimes fitted poorly and get grease or dirt on the bulb, and then they fail early. The type itself has no problems that I've ever seen.

That said, you do sometimes have a particular example (of any sort of car) that has grounding issues that cause it to get through bulbs.

[Mr2Mike]

Speed addicted said:

My dad had an X-type for about three years. For the last 18 months of that it wanted at least one new headlight bulb a month.
Decent bulbs were fitted every time and the dealer coundn't find a fault.

Many dealers would be hard pressed to find their own arse in the dark. Clearly there IS a problem causing the lights to fail so quickly.

[Speed addicted]

Mr2Mike said:

Speed addicted said:

My dad had an X-type for about three years. For the last 18 months of that it wanted at least one new headlight bulb a month.
Decent bulbs were fitted every time and the dealer coundn't find a fault.

Many dealers would be hard pressed to find their own arse in the dark. Clearly there IS a problem causing the lights to fail so quickly.

I totally agree, the car seemed to have rather a lot of electrical issues and required 2 new rear wiring looms because the boot kept opening of it's own accord. It also needed a new turbo and associated parts at three years old. It did seem to be far more trouble than the much older cars I was driving at the time.

He did the only sensible thing and bought an S-type. That's had the fuel sender, gauge and complete dash cluster replaced under warranty.

[Shuvi McTupya]

Speed addicted said:

My dad had an X-type for about three years. For the last 18 months of that it wanted at least one new headlight bulb a month.
Decent bulbs were fitted every time and the dealer coundn't find a fault.

Well, two new bulbs today. let's see if i have the same issue!