Hi,

I own a Yellow mk1 Octavia vRS which has done 50,000kms. The stanadard xenon lights(only the right side) in my vRS flicker and sometimes even go off. Do I need to change the xenon bulb or the ballast as well? How much would these cost? Can I source them from outside or should I get them done at the skoda service station which is a pretty expensive affair.

If I can source them from outside can anybody post some links where I can buy them from and get them shipped down here(or give me the specifications so I can pick them up here in India). I would like the bluish glow in my headlights. Is that possible with xenons? Can the halogens also be changed to white lights rather than the yellow glow(I dont need fog lamps here in India with the warm weather).

Cheers

Flickering can be a bit characteristic of Xenons. It might be worth cleaning up the contacts, and checking you don't get moisture ingress before spending money on new parts.

If you want a more blue Xenon light, you need to get "bulbs" with a higher light temperature, going to at least 6_000K.

Unless you drive at night in fog or falling snow, there's really no point in using fog lights. All they do in most conditions is create a bright pool just in front of the car, and actually reduce how far you can see! That said, you should be able to get H1 bulbs that don't have an active yellow tint to them.

Yes you can get white light in those fixtures. Im sure you will find them in lots of places here in India, shouldn't be too much price difference.

Flickering might go away with cleaning but check all contacts, I had aftermarket kits on my Tucson which I meddled while doing an oil change and the right away flickered and went bust.

Well the problem is that the xenon light on the drivers side switches on when the car is started but upon running for about 10 minutes or so it switches off. What do you think it is? Bulb going bust? Do the ballasts need to be changed as well or just the bulb? How much would this cost me?

If the unit is switching down predictably after 10 minutes, it's the unit I think. Can you try switching the lights down and back up, and see if it re-strikes immediately or not (if it doesn't it's definitely the unit)?

As for costs, no idea (clue as to why in the location).

When the xenon bulb goes out the yellow fog light stays on. But when i put it off and put it back on it works fine for the next 10-15 mins or so. I think it might just be the bulb. What do you think?:confused:

The fog and headlight bulbs are on different circuits; the only connection (assuming Indian and UK wiring is the same) is that you must have the sidelights on before either will work, and with the UK wiring that's actually a mechanical control, not an electrcial.

I think this is probably a bulb issue. So if you want a bluer light this would be a good time to do it. One word of warning though; the standard light temperature was picked to give the best light range. Higher temperature units, 6000K and above will look blue or even purple, but won't illuminate an unlit road as well if that's an issue for you.

The passenger side seems to be fine. So what do I do? Change the bulbs on both the sides or just the drivers side? How much would a set of xenon bulbs set me back back by? Any idea which website I can order them from? Is it a DIY(in a local workshop) or its better I get it done in a skoda service station. People down here have scared the daylights outa me saying if anything happens to my lights it will wipe out my bank account.

You can change one unit only, for another standard one. My reason for saying this was a good time to change the light temperature if you want to is that you need to replace one unit anyway.

I don't know anything about availability, legality etc of units in India though!

Again, on the presumption that your law is similar to ours, your Xenons are automatically self-levelling with vehicle load, and this requires a specialist computer to set up when you change units. Provided you make sure the units are cold before starting, the main issue with changing the units is the need to remove the headlight, due to lack of space behind it.

We dont have too many laws here for headlights as xenons are pretty new here. What do you mean by unit? Is it the bulb/complete headlight/bulb+ballast you talking about? How much will 1 unit cost me(in pounds)? If its not too much I might as well change both at the same time so that I can choose the temp I want.

The passenger side seems to be fine. So what do I do? Change the bulbs on both the sides or just the drivers side? How much would a set of xenon bulbs set me back back by? Any idea which website I can order them from? Is it a DIY(in a local workshop) or its better I get it done in a skoda service station. People down here have scared the daylights outa me saying if anything happens to my lights it will wipe out my bank account.

This may be a stupid idea, but can you not swap the bulbs over left to right and see if the problem follows the bulb, or remains where it is in which case the ballast becomes prime suspect.

This may be a stupid idea, but can you not swap the bulbs over left to right and see if the problem follows the bulb, or remains where it is in which case the ballast becomes prime suspect.

44 screws to undo/redo in total for the 2 headlamps :eek:

Much easier to swap ballasts and check if the problem follows ballast, "only" 18 screws in total