"Dipped Headlight"

Every now and then while I'm driving, an error will come up on my dashboard with a headlight symbol, and it states "Left Headlight Dipped". When I get out of the car, the left headlight is not nearly as bright as the right one, it barely emits any light. It seems to auto-correct itself 95% of the time, but people do signal to me that a headlight is out.

 

Is it a fuse? or is the bulb dying? or is the bulb loose?

 

Does anyone have a fix for this?

 

Thanks in advance!

It might be the iris/apperature in the lens that emits the light. A true HID/Xenon in most high end cars has a iris inside it that, when flipped allows full strength of the beam to emit. The headlight is always burning at full strength in your car, it is a aperature inside the lends that controls how much comes out. Could be headlight fluid is low too... J/K

Could this just simply be that the headlight adjustment on that headlight is out of whack? The left headlight is pointing towards the ground? That would explain the loss of brightness....But it would not explain the auto-fixing of itself, unless the headlight alignment is automatically self-levelling on these cars. I really have no experience with this, just guessing....

No it most likely not the high beam low beam cover (eye lid). But could be bulb or the ballast. Or bad ground and its drawing to much current or not enough. When the light goes dim what happens it you turn on the high beams. If you have some one stand next to it should be able to hear the lid open and close and dose the light get bright when you turn the high beams on?

carbuff - It is not pointing toward the ground, the main bulb is not "on" when the "Dipped Headlight" error message comes up. Some small emergency-esque light is on that barely has any power.

 

chrislamborghiniatlanta & anyone else - is this something I can fix myself? or must I wait until my SL goes to the dealership for servicing? I have a local Bentley dealer if you think they could handle it...

 

jefflambo - High beams work perfectly on left & right when I turn them on. Turning the high beams on & off, however, does not fix the "Dipped headlight" error/problem...

Did you guys figure out the cause of the dip headlight?

 

I am getting it when I hit a pothole. It causes the low beam to go dark, one side at a time. Both sides have this issue. After car restarts, the headlight turns out again just fine.

 

 

 

I remember it was something with the Xenon bulbs. It was covered under warranty when I had the car serviced. When I get off work I will look at the paperwork from the service and see if they mentioned what the specific issue was.

anyone else have any suggestion on what to look?

No it most likely not the high beam low beam cover (eye lid). But could be bulb or the ballast. Or bad ground and its drawing to much current or not enough. When the light goes dim what happens it you turn on the high beams. If you have some one stand next to it should be able to hear the lid open and close and dose the light get bright when you turn the high beams on?

 

You seem to have overlooked Jeff's Post.........

 

Look at the grounds around the area.

 

From my experience as a fellow lambo tech and am repeating Jeff's advice. I have seen bad bulbs, bad ballast, and in rare occasions slight loose grounds in the area that get disrupted from the body flexing while over speed bumps, rough roads, or unavoidable pot holes.

 

DJ Ant Live - Inspect these Items and let us know what was the failure.

Best of luck my friend.

 

You seem to have overlooked Jeff's Post.........

 

Look at the grounds around the area.

 

From my experience as a fellow lambo tech and am repeating Jeff's advice. I have seen bad bulbs, bad ballast, and in rare occasions slight loose grounds in the area that get disrupted from the body flexing while over speed bumps, rough roads, or unavoidable pot holes.

 

DJ Ant Live - Inspect these Items and let us know what was the failure.

Best of luck my friend.

 

 

Thank you Euro C. Where are the grounds located? What's the best way to get to the ground cables? I didn't find any diagram in the shop manual. Thanks!

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I checked my invoice from my SL's last servicing. To fixed my 'Dipped Headlight' they replaced the front compartment trim, they repaired the ground wires, and replaced a discolored bulb. I hope this can be of some help!

Thank you Euro C. Where are the grounds located? What's the best way to get to the ground cables? I didn't find any diagram in the shop manual. Thanks!

 

You need to remove the trunk "Tub" there are numerous grounds around the chassis points. There are some that are hidden by the ABS pump and by the cooling piping system.

Here is what you do:

1. Loosen Battery ground

2. Loosen ground bolts.

3. With sand paper clean contact points on chassis, ground wires, and bolt.

4. Secure ground bolts

5. Apply Dielectric grease in grounds to eliminate future contaminations

6. Reconnect Battery

 

Let me know results

 

Here is a layout of the connectors in the front

CD02.bmp

Thank you Euro C. It was ground cables that caused the issue. I am very happy that the problem is now solved thanks to you and ContinentalGT.

 

For anyone that may benefit from this in the future, here is what I did.

 

Tighten all the ground connections below:

 

- 3 ground cables on the driver side that were hiddlen under the ABS unit

- Battery tie down block with negative connector tightened (I think this is the main issue as it was a little loose).

- 1 wire connecting to each radiator

 

Whew! I thought it was going to be a major issue!

You are very Welcome!!! I am just adding on to Jeff's Post...

Thank you for letting others know the exact cause that you found.

Also to ContinentalGT for starting the thread and all others who imputed.

 

When ever you're in the Orlando area don't forget to pay a visit. Dj Ant Live.