[adutton]

Well I'm stumped.

My passenger headlight has stopped working, and my driver side headlight only turns on about 50% of the times I start the car. I spent all weekend troubleshooting the problem, which meant installing a new ballast/ignitor and switching bulbs/ballast/ignitor between headlights. When the passenger headlight is plugged into the wiring harness, the ballast begins to buzz. Even when the car is turned off.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'd rather figure this out for sure before I dump $700 on a new headlight (yea, one headlight). This also brings up another question that I haven't been able to find an answer to:

Can I downgrade from Xenon headlights to Halogen? If I buy two new halogen assemblies and install them, the connector should be the same as xenon, but I imagine there would be some Tech II adjustments that would need to be made.

Please help! I've been pulled over a few times already for having a padiddle, and I need to have my peace of mind back!

 

[Diggs]

Check the wiring. Not uncommon for it to be burned.

 

[aerojon]

Check the wiring. Not uncommon for it to be burned.

this only applies to the halogen h/lamps not HIDs,hence why they brought out the harness to replace the oe one fitted to the car in the factory..

check the earthing points on the harness for the HIDs are cleans..

 

[cavedudejeff]

this only applies to the halogen h/lamps not HIDs,hence why they brought out the harness to replace the oe one fitted to the car in the factory..

check the earthing points on the harness for the HIDs are cleans..

I will second the wiring issue. if you already tried a new balast and igniter than that means the wiring is shot somewhere. I had a spot where the wireharness was wearing through from rubbing against a zip tie that coused my drivers headlight to not always fire up. I was going nuts until I just dropped the front bumper and pulled the whole damn harness apart until I found the spot. three rolls of electical tape, 1 case of beer, and many hours of cursing later I had a good as new headlight.

 

[EuroStyle]

I agree that you need to pull the bumper (if you haven't already) and trace the harness. If you do have to repair anything, make sure you don't leave the bare electrical tape.....it should be covered over with friction tape so the electrical tape doesn't degrade from the elements. Also, friction tape can withstand chaffing a bit more. If the one ballast is buzzing when off, I think it's a ground.....


Sean

 

[AVguy]

And you should disconnect the battery before disconnecting or removing the headlight assemblies if that becomes necessary. This can avoid issues with the leveling system.

 

[adutton]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll pull everything apart (again) this weekend and check out the wiring. I'll post an update.

 

[adutton]

So I took the car to Swedish Auto here in Austin. It took a couple days, but they were able to track down the problem with the headlight.

The UEC, or Underhood Electrical Center (the fusebox), is faulty and needs to be replaced. They've been amazingly helpful and have let me order the part needed myself. They were going to charge $500 for a used UEC, but I found a used one for $275 on Goldwing Saab's site, which I HUGELY recommend. They were the only place on the whole internet I could find a UEC. Took about 5 minutes over the phone for them to ship the part to me.

I still haven't paid a dime to Swedish Auto, but I don't mind if they charge extra for labor, since they've been so helpful, and since I'm saving on the part.

One more update once it's fixed!!!

 

[9-3gotboostAERO]

Sounds like pretty good guys to me, and knowlegable to track it down to the UEC

 

[Vision i.T Services]

And you should disconnect the battery before disconnecting and removing the headlight assemblies if that becomes necessary. This can avoid issues with the leveling system.

+1

Please take this advice. I screwed up mine by forgetting to disconnect the battery first. Now it needs reprogramming with Tech 2. :roll: