2004 CLK - Flickering Xenon

[JimCross]

Hi,

My Dad's got a 2004 CLK 260 with Xenons, and has been plagued by one of the headlights flickering for the last few months.
The independent specialist he goes to said it could either be the headlight unit or the housing, but they couldn't be sure which, and neither is cheap to replace.

Has anyone experienced this before, or heard about it being a common problem?

Cheers,

Jim

[ruggles]

My father had an '04 CLK 240 with zenons which had exactly the same problem, the dealer had trouble identifying the problem and car was sold before it was fixed. It was annoying though as people thought they were being flashed when it happened, very intermittant though.

[Dilligaf10]

It happens on a 2001 S Class that I sometimes drive for another company. You're right it is annoying and with the dark mornings and nights fast approaching needs to be fixed quickly

[r129sl]

My 1999 SL is on its third offside headlamp due to similar symptoms. I am afraid that my experience suggests xenons are not as robust as we were told (a bit like CDs), and are difficult to diagnose when they go wrong. The general cure seems to be to buy an entire headlamp unit but this is not very satisfactory when they cost £800+ and are made up of four basic components.

[JimCross]

Thanks guys, very useful...sounds like there's no known fix then, which is a pain.

[SLacKer]

This is a known problem and is caused by the CAN BUS Ballast generally. The car thinks the bulb has gone and tries to shut it down.

Here's a replacement (make sure your vehicle is right for the spec though)

http://www.autolights.co.uk/view/372/

Of course this is a known issue but for your situation it may not work. Cheaper than an £800 light unit.

Edited by SLacKer on Friday 16th October 14:16