360 My Headlights Have a Mind of Their Own

When I first saw my car for sale, I noticed that one of headlights was out. So, when I purchased it I came equipped with two things: a new battery (I've learned to always replace the battery on a new car) and a set of bulbs. Well, I turned on the lights to test them and they worked! No bulbs needed. Fast forwarding to today, the lights occasionally go out on both sides intermittently. I'll be driving and the right one will be out, so I'll turn them off and back on and the left one will go out, then both will go out, then they will both light up fine. Very strange. This can happen with the car running or off. I replaced one bulb to test yesterday and the same thing happened.

My instincts say the ballasts are bad but it's odd that both lights are failing and at different times. Relays too. The problem must reside somewhere prior to the lights, ballasts, relays, etc. Does anyone know if there's a common ground for both headlights, and where is it located? Any input will help!

 

Thank you for your help! I'll look at the linked documents.

It happens every time I turn on the lights. If I turn them on, they come on about 80% of the time with both lit. If I turn them off then back on again, only one will lite. Sometimes only the left, sometimes only the right. Sometimes both will be out, then I have to turn the switch a few times to get them both to lite. When that happens, they will flicker then stay out, until I turn the switch on and off a few times. I know it is not the switch because the lights are failing independently of one another.

When I say "ballasts" I'm referring to the ECU modules, which I suspect are ballasts, since these are Xenon lights and the bulbs are wired directly to them, 6 inches away.

Bad ballasts cam cause this but sometimes going over bump will cause a light to go out. If I drive the car hard at night, the right light will immediately go out. No joke, this happens 100% of the time.

 

That’s correct, the ballasts are only supplying the low beams, typical of that era.

The striker circuits are likely bad inside the ballasts, which would explain the erratic behavior when lighting. Hella says they’re good for 2000 strikes, so if you have a showy car driven by it’s owners primarily at night, you’ll get 10 years tops.

The ballasts are used in other cars including the xenon-optioned VW Passat. They’re available new for a fraction of the price of the Ferrari taxed units.

One way to resolve the issue is to simply switch out the bulbs to LED units. LEDs don’t require a strike to lite and assuming the board solders haven’t separated internally, it should carry a constant current and the problem will disappear.

I ordered two Chinesium D2S LED replacement bulbs and should arrive today. Cross your fingers!!!

 

Led headlights solved the problem! No striker circuit needed. Just plug n play. Since the ballast and it’s electrical draw are unchanged, the car can’t see the difference so no warning lights. If anyone else has a ballast issue, now you know LED headlights are an easy work around.

 

They are Hella. Definitely a quality product but I guess everything has a useful life.

btw, a tip about Osram products. Osram, a very good company in Germany, was purchased by Sylvania, a company with plants primarily in china . The Chinese bulbs are junk. The German made bulbs are the best. Now that all the Osram bulbs have been repackaged to Sylvania, you MUST read the back of the package (lower right) to see the country of origin to tell who made it - the Sylvania plant or the Osram plant. Germany = Osram; China/Asia = Sylvania. I found this important to know because in my foreign cars, an Asian bulb will last 2 months tops while a German bulb will last years.