Hi all, bit of a squinty problem - 94 VDP, rectangular âstyledâ headlights.
On daytime running/dip setting [same thing on Canadian model, really] right hand lamp a bit less intense/bright than LH. Not very much, but definitely not as bright. Both reflectors are in excellent shape so itâs not that. No warning light for bulb out BTW.
Swapped bulbs left to right, same result, LH burns brighter âŚguessing bad ground causing higher resistance? âŚor do you think this could be the RH bulb fail module on the way out?
Hard to tell if high beams are affected as Iâm in the process of aiming the lights and the high beams are converging ATM, but good bet the high beam is also affected.
Probably wouldnât have noticed the problem but took out LH headlight to dehumidify/re-seal the reflector/glass and on re-fitting, noticed the alignment was off. When I tried re-aligning the beams against a wall the RH was definitely less bright.
Bryan, both of the links you posted in THIS thread, (pics and thread links) do work, no problem there âŚitâs the link WITHIN the thread that you linked to that doesnât work, hereâs the extracted text and link you posted from post #2 in that thread, try opening it - I cut and pasted it below: âŚ
Sorry - misunderstood the problem. Yep, all I get when clicking on that old link is the J-L forum home page, not the thread itself.
Hereâs a link to my original post/thread on that subject although it bears a different number to the âfailedâ link which I can no longer find. Wonder what it said!
Very educational and amusing thread, Bryan - thanks for posting!
Boy you were lucky that little b*stard was not too far up the harness (great diagnosis though) - Iâll be doing some wire wiggling along with some continuity stuff today.
I have a spare RH BFM from my 69,000km parts car so I might try swapping that out too - itâs not a problem to remove on the Canadian model. The Canadian flavour module is of course a bit more hard-working as it monitors and controls the day-time running headlights.
Basically, on a Canadian car, the dip headlights are on from the moment you crank the car over to when you park it at the end of the day. My car just turned 212,000km so those modules have been âonâ for quite a while.
On a side note, the failed link we talked about isnât just an isolated incident - since the migration, seems as though quite a few links to other J-L threads within old-site thread postings are failing - I reported the issue to Andrew so Iâm sure the boys are working on a fix âŚ
Swapped out the BFM on the RH side today as the spare was at hand and a 5 minute job.
No difference though, still brighter on LH side.
Iâm thinking it could be a problem with a not-so-good solder joint in the RH fusebox? I had to reflow them years ago when my blowers quit but I canât recall if I just flowed the cracked joint or the lot âŚthinking maybe only the blower joint âŚ
Havenât put the meter on anything yet though I know thatâs probably the best next step, seeing if I get the same voltage at both dip bulbs.
Iâm guessing the BFM will report a bulb out error if I switch on the headlight with the bulb removed and the meter hooked up to the terminals?
Really? Thatâs weird! I would have thought that would be one of the primary functions?
On my RHS module, the names of all the bulbs on the RH corner, Hi-beam, Dip, Fog, Side Marker & Turn are clearly named on the label and the harnesses emanate directly from this module âŚStrange that it wouldnât report the headlight was out - it sure reports if a fog light goes down!
I could be wrong, but if my memory hasnât completely gone (itâs close!), I had always assumed that the Jaguar rationale for omitting the headlamp bulbs from the BFM monitoring was because they figure it should be pretty obvious when a headlight wasnât lighting!
Well I suppose I could unplug them and find out, eh?[quote=âBryan_N, post:13, topic:351952â]
I had always assumed that the Jaguar rationale for omitting the headlamp bulbs from the BFM monitoring was because they figure it should be pretty obvious when a headlight wasnât lighting!
[/quote]
Absolutely, everywhere but Canada I suppose - Canadian cars all have DRLâs so maybe not so obvious?
So unplug I did, and guess what? Bulb fail Icon illuminates on dash.
Enough of that!
So the real story of my idiocy begins when I finally hook up the meter to the Right and Left bulb sockets to measure my âmissingâ voltage âŚvoltage all present and correct, ~14.4v with both sockets reading within 0.01v of each other on the 20v scale!
Now what, thought I? Lets try changing the bulb âŚyou guessed it, storm in a teacup ⌠everything is illuminated - âŚat least I came to my senses before removing the fusebox and/or unwrapping the harness âŚ
So move along folks, nothing to see here except an old one-eyed fool - me!
When in doubt - use a meter! Pleased you have it sorted.
As much as I donât mind being proved wrong about the BFM not flagging a warning for headlight bulb failures (grits teeth!) I did wonder why, when I had my headlight problem I did NOT get a BFM warning when the high beam didnât work whereas on your car, when the dipped beam failed you did get a BFM warning.
OF COURSE! On US/Canadian cars I believe you have separate bulbs on âstyledâ headlamps for main and dipped beam whereas on UK cars (and the rest of the civilised world) we have dual filament single bulbs for both beams.
I suspect that the BFM only monitors the dipped beam circuit which is why yours flagged the warning but on my car only the main beam had failed to illuminate hence no BFM warning.
Larry, please be a good chap and remove the main beam bulb on your car to see if you also get a BFM warning for that - the world awaits!
BTW, that Canadian tea video you included - another example of âFake Newsâ?
Ah yes, those VALEO single element lamps were fitted to some of the earliest Canadian cars (~VIN 54xxxx) but the error of their ways was soon spotted and weâre all very thankful the wider and way cooler HELLA twin reflector styled lamps replaced them forever âŚ
Incidentally, I have a reasonably decent pair of those early NA VALEO styled lamps (JLM 10873 etc) in the spares locker if anyone needs them âŚPM me for details
Bryan - Iâll be checking the BFM/High beam function very shortly - Iâll try and get back to you before your bedtime as I wouldnât want you to lose any further sleep over this issue!
I had another go at the headlights today (parked and shone both dip and hi-beams at the wall)
Both the hi beam and the dip on the RH side of the car are less bright despite the voltages being equal and the reflectors being clear.
Iâm no electrician but I thought that if the bulbs are the same wattage R to L and the voltages within .01 of each other then shouldnât the output be the same? When I told a friend the figures he said the amperage could be different - not sure I understand âŚHELP!
- 94 VDP, rectangular âstyledâ headlights.
