Headlight & tail light questions

[Codename Duchess]

Hi all!

One of my headlights on the '07 HSE is very weak, and shuts off in minutes. If I jiggle the lamp switch, it will go back to dim, and then die again. At first I suspected the bulb, but does this sound more like a ballast issue? I intend on doing some poking around to narrow this down, just curious what your experiences may be.

Second issue, my brake lights are burning out constantly. As in I'm replacing one every 2-3 weeks. The filaments look ok TBH, I just swap the upper/lower for the time being, and it works great. I just noticed yesterday that one of them went again :/ I'm not using the LR parts, I just grabbed some replacements from the dealer. Thoughts?

 

[tlt]

Something does not sound right, perhaps a rub short or something else going on.. What are the voltages Engine off and running.

Has the vehicle been flooded or wet?

The bulbs go bad eventually--

Has your brake light switch ever been replaced (I'm not implying this is the problem) but they do have problems.

Dealer check to see if Xenon is enabled in the CCF, Car Configuration File.

Battery -- suspect
Alternator -- suspect
Primary Ground -- Check for corrosion

I'll give you an example, of having a a bad battery. It might start ok most of the time, but will not properly take a charge. As a result, the alternator puts out more and more voltage, until eventually you will go over 15 volts. At that stage things start to blow because it is not really good for it.

So, get a multimeter out and start investigating.

 

[Codename Duchess]

Thanks for the reply!

I plan on having a boo at it this weekend, I really appreciate having the chance to talk it out beforehand.

I had electrical trouble 6 months or so ago, I replaced the alternator for no good reason at all, as it was a bad ground strap that was the culprit. The battery is fairly new, maybe 1.5 years old, and it tested ok 6 months ago when I was troubleshooting. Motor current was within norms when I checked at that time as well.

The brake light issue has been going on for a while, I've never changed the switch, and I hear it does go bad.

In regards to the headlamps, yes I did have a good dunk a few weeks ago and that could be a very good reason I'm having issues now. I'll check all the voltages, and clean up the connectors as best I can. If it's no dice I'll start swapping parts and see where i get.

 

[Codename Duchess]

OK, looks like my headlight woes are a faulty bulb. I swapped bulbs and ballasts across the lights to troubleshoot last night and it's definitely the bulb.

In regards to the tail lights... I took out the bulb, put it right back in and works great now.

:/